81–90 of 305 posts
I know this is going to sound stupid, but I wrote a pretty detailed business plan for this exact same idea. Glad that these guys decide to run with it. An interesting link from the past: http://37signals.com/better/motors/index
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think what he meant was, can't the device shut itself off in software to appear as though it is unplugged. Not having the user unplug it himself.
Oh I see what you mean. I bet it could. But how would it ever turn its self back on? I mean if it is receiving OBD-II information then it knows when the car is running, but if it isn't (which it wouldn't be if it is "off") then it couldn't know to switch its self on. Kind of a chick/egg problem.
You could run something like this for months/years on a car battery.
I feel like the Beta flag next to Crash Alerts gives a new twist to what you can expect from a beta version.
I would also be concerned (this seems to be an extreme edge case) that off-roading may trip the sensor. I try not to break my equipment, but I've seen some guys running their daily driver pretty hard, and it's not uncommon to have some extreme jarring going on if you hit a jump wrong or run over a log going a bit too fast. I can see a good deal of this functionality from the device being applicable even off the road, but having 911 pay you a visit down in a mud pit because your tire hit a rock and bounced off doesn't seem like a positive.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It can read the code but that doesn't give you much to work with. You won't be able to clear the code and you will have to pay for the replacement parts and undertake the repairs yourself. I'm not sure what the situation is in the US but here in the UK, if you took your car to a mechanic purely for the sake of reading the code then it would only cost about £50.
According to the video you can clear the code, the example if if the code reports "Loose gas cap".
The Automatic Link includes a built-in accelerometer that can detect many types of crashes. Automatic uses your phone's data connection to immediately report the crash to 911 with your name, location, and vehicle description. Now this fascinates me. I wonder what parameters are required to trigger the automatic emergency notification.
Does the onboard computer report that the airbags have deployed? Sudden deceleration + airbag deploy = 911?
Airbags are dangerous. Not as dangerous as not having one when you are in a car crash, so don't go taking yours out. I'm related to an engineer who worked on deployment, and the manufacturers worried a lot about only doing it in cases of true crashes. They aren't perfect but nothing is.
I wonder, could a malware on my phone issue a command such as "ENGAGE BRAKE FRONT-LEFT" while I'm going 130mph on the autobahn?
As I understand it, no. ODBII is a read-only data port that surfaces information about the state of your car. I don't believe it lets you enter commands. That being said, there have been man vulnerabilities in car software which is all proprietary and hasn't undergone any public review, so I guess it is possible.
I mean at the very least it is used to control car keys. I know that because MANY cars are being stolen locally via the keys being reset using the OBD-II port.
They target particular models of a car. They drive around, find that car/model, then use a slim jim to open the door, plug into the OBD-II port, and reset the key to one in their possession - then they can just drive the car away as if it was their own.
Wait, so this 69$ little contraption can read the code behind a check engine light? That's $100 in savings that would otherwise go to the Car Mechanic Mafia. Pre-ordered.
Try befriending your local mechanic. That'll be the real savings.
Does this also connect to the CAN Bus, if so will you offer a simple high level API to it. I would buy one now if it did. Background: I showed Lockitron to my dad a while back, and he wanted it for his car. ie unlock/lock from his phone, or even by just walking up, like keyless-go on the mercs. I did a bit of googleling, and it seemed like it should be pretty simple. Connect a dongle to the diagnostic port (inc CAN b…
Liability hell.
So it's a $10 elm327 ? http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=elm327&_sacat=0 With a Torque clone? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torq...