pcu

Configure your vehicle PC in software.

pcu, short for Platform Control Utility, configures and monitors the hardware on In-CarPC vehicle PCs: ignition power sequencing, digital I/O, and live status and diagnostics. It talks directly to the on-board hardware and runs entirely offline, as a desktop GUI and a scriptable CLI.

Works offline
GUI + CLI
Windows
Linux

Get Started GUI Overview CLI Reference

What pcu does

Ignition power sequencing

Anti-crank, boot, shutdown, and force-off timers control how the vehicle powers the PC up and down. Every write is verified and survives power loss. See Ignition Timers.

Digital I/O

Watch inputs and the ignition line live, and switch outputs, from the app or the CLI. See Digital I/O.

Status and diagnostics

Platform, MCU identity, hardware revision, and firmware at a glance, with a live dashboard in the app. See the GUI Overview.

Automatic platform detection

pcu identifies the board and re-checks it before every write. Features gate themselves to what the hardware supports. See Supported Platforms.

GUI and CLI

The same features in a desktop app and pcu-cli, with JSON output and clean exit codes for scripting.

Windows and Linux, offline

Runs on both, installs its own hardware access, and works entirely offline. Install on Windows or Linux.

The GUI at a glance

Everything pcu does without a terminal. Type a timer into a field, toggle an output with a switch, and watch inputs and the ignition line change live. Values are read straight off the hardware and every write is verified, so the app shows what the board actually holds. Same app on Windows and Linux.

See the GUI Overview for a tour of the window and its pages.

Scriptable from the shell

Everything the app does, in one command you can put in a script. pcu-cli prints JSON on stdout, has a quiet mode for unattended runs, and exits 0 on success, 1 on error, and 2 when the platform does not have the feature. Enough to provision a batch of machines or check a board on the line without anyone watching.

pcu-cli

status --json on a CQ20 reports the platform, MCU identity, and current ignition timers as a single object:

{
  "platform": "In-CarPC CQ20",
  "cpu": "Intel Atom x6425E",
  "mcu_identity": "CQ20 MCU",
  "hardware_rev": "DTB-IGN-MCU VER:10",
  "firmware": 12,
  "ignition": {
    "mode": 1,
    "ign_on_delay_s": 6,
    "sw_on_delay_s": 4,
    "sw_off_delay_s": 300,
    "pw_off_delay_s": 120
  }
}

See CLI Scripting for flags, quiet mode, and exit codes.

Browse the docs

Install on WindowsInstall pcu and the PawnIO driver on Windows 10 or 11.

Install on LinuxInstall pcu and set up unprivileged hardware access via the i2c group.

GUI OverviewLaunch the app and find your way around the window and its pages.

CLI ReferenceEvery pcu-cli command, with usage and real terminal output.

Platforms: CQ20 vs CQ40The supported vehicle PCs, how pcu detects them, and which features each provides.

TroubleshootingFixes for hardware not detected, dropped connections, and unverified writes.