Ford Transit CamperControl: Cerbo GX + Node-RED + Ford SYNC 3 + GX/WASM

Node-RED
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1

Hello everyone,

I combined this post into 5 image boards to stay within Victron Community limits, with repository links in plain text.

CamperControl runs in my Ford Transit and turns an already-installed Cerbo GX into a single central camper control point for:

  • energy and battery management
  • lighting and ventilation control
  • climate and heater control
  • fresh water status and pump control
  • weather and North Sea tide information
  • networking and basic system diagnostics

All interfaces share one GX/WASM source design, so state is consistent across:

  • native Victron gui-v2 pages on Cerbo GX / GX Touch
  • the same code as WASM in browser and Remote Console
  • a QML app in Ford SYNC 3

The original Victron interface stays available for normal Venus OS setup and service work.

CamperControl day/night views and the original Victron interface
CamperControl day/night views and the original Victron interface1648×1008 237 KB

Ford SYNC 3

After SYNC starts, a small Transit icon appears and opens CamperControl without replacing normal SYNC flow.
The app is adapted to the 800×480 view area and shows live Cerbo state (battery, solar, INDEVOLT, temperatures, AUTOTERM, MaxxFan, lights, weather, tides).

CamperControl entry, live Ford SYNC display and day/night views
CamperControl entry, live Ford SYNC display and day/night views1648×1008 236 KB

The Cerbo GX is the source of truth. Node-RED reads Victron D-Bus/local Node-RED nodes, normalizes external devices and serves a local restricted API used by GX/WASM/SYNC clients.
No GPS logging/persistence is stored; there is no command shell exposed to the user UI.

Current hardware in use:

  • Cerbo GX with SmartShunt, 3x SmartSolar MPPT, Orion XS, MultiPlus Compact
  • Safiery STAR-Power (12 channels), INDEVOLT, Starlink
  • AUTOTERM Air 2D, MaxxFan + VanTurtle Smart Controller
  • Ruuvi sensors, Shelly 1PM Gen4 for INDEVOLT AC feed, three fans on the cerbo relays

Energy consumers, energy sources and fresh-water view
Energy consumers, energy sources and fresh-water view1648×1008 98 KB

Ford Transit lighting views from both sides in day and night mode
Ford Transit lighting views from both sides in day and night mode1648×1008 306 KB

Climate, weather, tides and system views in day and night mode
Climate, weather, tides and system views in day and night mode1648×1504 303 KB

Repositories

  • Flow: github.com/Slinghorse-Ship/campercontrol-node-red/blob/main/flows/CamperControl_NodeRED.json
  • Node-RED: github.com/Slinghorse-Ship/campercontrol-node-red
  • GX/WASM interface: github.com/Slinghorse-Ship/camper-gui-v2
  • Ford SYNC QML: github.com/Slinghorse-Ship/sync3-camper
  • Releases: github.com/Slinghorse-Ship/campercontrol-release

This is a personal project shared for inspiration, not as technical documentation. And yes AI -Codex- was a good programmer ;).

4

Impressive project.
If you want to take some pics of the actual equipment installation, you are welcome to post it in our show us your system category.

(posting restrictions lift in 24 hours, it’s an anti-spam protection, or you can add additional posts to the topic with images)

5

I’d better not, because then I’d get a lot of backlash about my cable management. I will update later

6

True that. We do take our cabling and connections seriously. :slight_smile:

7

Oh yes! Campers and boats — always the same problem with the wiring and layout. But your software integration really deserves credit! :+1: