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A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

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Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#331

Post by Brusco_RF »

talldatethrow wrote: post #281
Brusco_RF wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're considering the entire battery lifecycle. So the correct way to think about this change is: More energy required to start engine --> Minimum battery health required to start engine increases --> battery lifecycle decreases.

I don't see how this could possibly reduce the battery lifespan. Flashing the lights takes a few watts. The vehicle will then be started and charged and never reach any lower level of discharge where damage would occur. Yes, if you flashed your lights everytime 500+ times and got your battery to a meaningful low voltage where it barely started every time, sure. But not in the use case presented here.

Consider two cars with fading batteries at the end of their lifecycles. They are on their last start before needing to be replaced. They both have exactly enough energy to start the car with nothing left over, however one car has this system installed so it needs to flash the headlights/wipers/windows first. That car fails to start

Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#332

Post by thomastjeffery »

elzbardico wrote: post #232
matsemann wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, never considered valet parking to actually be a real thing. Isn't it annoying having to wait for someone to drive your car? I'd almost pay more not to have to do it.

Pal, I've seen wallet parking across several countries in the world. Latin American, Western, and Eastern Europe, I just got curious about where you live to never have seen it. And to answer your question: No, valet parking is usually useful because the parking place is far from where you're going (usually a hotel or restaurant). Having the valet saves you the walk from the lot to the place where you're going. It is…

I suspect you are parking your wallet in the most tourist-equipped areas of each country you listed. I would bet that within a 5 mile radius of each, you could find 1,000 people who have never used valet parking in their lives.

Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#333

Post by EGreg »

Terr_ wrote: post #201
EGreg wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, let's intentionally omit locks from equipment that is designed not to fall into enemy hands. Let's not have a kill switch, either. Sure, makes sense for an agency with more money to spend than every corporation in America!

> Sure, let's intentionally omit locks from equipment that is designed not to fall into enemy hands. Slow down there with the sarcasm and think about the actual requirements or use-cases first. Your average operable military vehicle is in one of three situations: 1. Actively occupied or guarded from theft by current owners/operators with guns who will not tolerate strangers getting close. 2. Parked somewhere in the m…

How many tanks and materiel did Ukrainians take from the Russians? On October 2022 it was an estimated 453 Russian tanks. I guess 1, 2, 3 don't work that well in battle

https://www.newsweek.com/how-russian-tanks-captured-ukraine-...

Also for other things too:

https://nypost.com/2023/05/11/ukrainians-strike-russians-wit...

Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#335

Post by hunson_abadeer »

There's a lot of people remarking about this not being novel or the grant being too high, but I'd make two other critiques.

First, what happens if the electrical characteristics of your vehicle change in some way? New vs old battery? Busted headlight? Phone plugged into an outlet? Diesel air intake heater grid kicking in on a cold day? What if you need to jumpstart your vehicle? It just seems so finicky in the real world.

Second, what's the point of using this analog signaling system to begin with? I don't see the supposed simplicity of it. Both the transmitter and the receiver are more complex than would be needed for digital. The other argument is that it is somehow more "hacker-proof", but using analog signals doesn't make it so. You can have a similar scheme operating on the CAN bus with no added risk. In fact, I bet there are devices on the CAN bus that can both measure and modulate battery drain, so the isolation may be illusory.

Ultimately, it's not about not having the technology. It's just that your average customer favors convenience features over having a fortress on wheels. Plus, the returns on sophisticated defenses are diminishing, given that a car can always be loaded onto a tow truck, the hood can be popped open, or the whole thing can be stripped for parts with a Sawzall (as catalytic converter thieves tend to do).

Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#336

Post by jrockway »

maratc wrote: post #295
jrockway wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best locks offer is that you have to plan a break-in in advance; i.e., you have to have your lockpicking tools with you. That said, you can pick master locks with a paperclip; I've done it. So it's not much of a barrier. That said, just because people have low-security locks on their house doesn't mean that better options aren't available. I have Medeco locks. They are harder to pick than what you get at the hard…

Number three is binding, we've got a nice click out of three! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fh6IHCr7uo

It has a couple of spools. Step above the no-security-pins hardware store locks.

Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#337

Post by boobsbr »

oxfordmale wrote: post #103
gruez wrote: post #16

>At the end of the three-year project, the team aims to have a commercially viable prototype that can be scaled up to commercial production, first as a theft deterrent device, and potentially later as a complete vehicle entry and control system that could replace traditional keys and fobs. What's the point of this? Modern cars already have engines that are cryptographically tied to keys[1]. They're not perfect, but i…

What about a classical mechanical key? I am referring to a laser cut key, the type that can't be easily lock picked, other than in Hollywood movies. The problem is relay theft, where thief's relay the signal of your fob key inside the house to the car via a simple antenna and amplifier system. Cryptographically signing won't help. However, this can be fixed by adding a motion sensor that makes key fobs go into a slee…

Why not put a button on the fob, like old car alarms had? Car won't start unless button is pressed on the fob, enabling the embedded radio.

Re: A surprisingly simple way to foil car thieves

#338

Post by andirk »

borski wrote: post #321
brk wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is obvious in retrospect because this concept has been around for 30 years. A common killswitch mechanism that I remember being implemented in the early 90's was a system that tied into accessory devices. On my friends car you had to put the key to ACC, then turn the cruise control on and off, and then engage and disengage the parking brake before the car would start. No other obvious lights, buttons, switches, et…

Dropbox wasn’t a new idea either. rsync had existed for many years.

I love rsync. Used it to batch some few million image files for Sephora makeup company to a couple different servers.
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