OpenWrt Customization

OpenWrt is a GNU/Linux distribution targeting router-like embedded devices: it is the perfect choice to use as the “brain” of our Wi-Fi Car.

The device we chose is the TP-Link WR703N – a pocket-size router with reasonable price tag. However, you may use any OpenWrt-compatible router with a USB interface to do the job.

The WR703N has only 4MB of flash ROM, meaning you must be very careful with your software selection

Pre-compiled images are available on our downloads page.

sudo apt-get install subversion build-essential
svn co svn://svn.openwrt.org/openwrt/trunk/

Download and install feeds using feeds script.

cd <path to trunk>
./scripts/feeds update -a
./scripts/feeds install -a

make menuconfig

If you get errors with 'make menuconfig', try installing the following packages.

sudo apt-get install libncurses5-dev zlib1g-dev gawk unzip git-core

The TP-Link WR703N is based on an AR7240 SoC, so chose Atheros AR7xxx/AR9xxx as the target system.

Target System  -> Atheros AR7xxx/AR9xxx
Target Profile -> TL-WR703N

To support USB storage with the ext4 filesystem, choose the following options.

Kernel modules -> Filesystems -> kmod-fs-ext4
Kernel modules -> USB Support -> kmod-usb-storage

To support UVC-compatible USB webcams, choose the following options.

Kernel modules -> Video Support -> kmod-video-core
Kernel modules -> Video Support -> kmod-video-uvc

To support the Arduino USB console, choose the following options.

Kernel modules -> USB Support -> kmod-usb-acm
Kernel modules -> USB Support -> kmod-usb-serial
Kernel modules -> USB Support -> kmod-usb-serial-ftdi

To mount the USB storage under the root filesystem, choose the following options.

Base System->block-mount

To add video streaming, choose the following option.

Multimedia -> mjpg-streamer

Check this to enable setting the speed of serial communication via stty

Base system -> busybox -> Coreutils -> stty

To add web server function, choose the following option.

Network -> Web Servers/Proxies -> nginx