Center Tray Retrofit
First post here. Figured I’d redeem myself after getting in trouble for the horse and carriage buggy photo 😂
I’ve been frustrated with the touch buttons on the Android head unit. Specifically, the tiny touch responsive volume buttons and prev/next buttons on the Apple CarPlay Home Screen. At first, I bought a cheap universal Bluetooth steering wheel control, dremel’d out all unnecessary plastics to slim it down, but it didn’t work for me. Poor industrial design, volume knob component was actually a tiny plastic flipper. Gave up on this project for a couple of days.
I had just bought an expensive macro keyboard for work, Creator Macro 2 Pro. Figured I’d research to see if somebody has hacked macro keyboard for Android head units and sure enough someone did for a Honda. Bought the smallest macro keyboard I could find on Amazon that had software configurations to control multimedia applications. Programmed three buttons and volume knob, plugged it into the USB adapter and it worked. Zero issues, input is very responsive (instant). I cut out of a rectangular hole on the bottom side of the tray and used a right-angle USB-C cable. Wedged it into the tray perfectly without having to secure it with any glue, tape or fasteners.
Planning on cutting more at the bottom side of the tray out and plastic weld some support so that the controller can sit at an angle to help with the accidental touches. Would have loved to put the macro keyboard in the middle where the heated seat buttons would go, but I currently have manual switches therefore the air suspension.
FYI, the knob and blue light is the bass control for my subwoofer amp. When I took it out of the metal casing, I discovered that the control board was a perfect fit inside the USB/AUX component. The last 2 images, I’ve torn apart the car so many times within the 9 months that I’ve had the car, but this time when I was installing them head unit controller, I found a custom FR-S diecast that matches the car perfect. I guess the previous owner lost it back there behind the center tray and forgot about it.