We've seen some interesting ways people have tried to meld iPhonewith car, but this one might top them all. Meet Jon's Mazda RX-8, controllable from anywhere in the world using an iPod touch over WiFi. As demonstrated on video, his custom web app can be used to lock and unlock the doors, start and stop the engine, and open the truck. A telemetry window provides data such as fuel level, battery voltage, RPM, speed, and temperatures. It's even got a GPS so you can track the car's wherabouts with Google Maps. All of this is accomplished with computer hidden in the trunk, hooked up to the on-board diagnostics, and equipped with a 3G modem to stay constantly connected to the interwebs. There's no indication on whether he plans to take the mod further, but if so, we can only hope it involves some well-placed cameras and a tilt-controlled steering mechanism. We pity the foolish thief who tries to steal this "haunted" ride. Check out the video demonstration after the break.
Still not sure how great this is.. a car alarm can do most of those things and not have the delay. Not sure why I'd need to lock/unlock/start my car from anywhere in the world.
Think of it as a personal Onstar. If you lock your self out, loose your phone, have a dead phone battery, etc, just call a trusted person to unlock the car for you.
Sure its neat to be able to do that from "anywhere," though besides locking the car if you forget/aren't sure you remembered I can't really see getting much other practical use out of this, even if it is pretty cool.
He probably just disconnected the sensor on the floor under the clutch that detects whether the pedal is being pressed, and just left the car in neutral. Then tapped the remote start.
I made I own remote starter in 1987 and my new car was stick, I did the same thing bypassing the safety feature on the clutch and leaving it in neutral. It was great until one day it was left in 1st and the hand parking break was not fully on, it jumped forward and actually started and rolled into the house. :(
Buddy did this on his friend's Accord. They were at a party and someone kept playing with the remote. Turns out the car had been butting into the garage door repeatedly causing damage to both. Good times.
trunk comes from the middle english word, "trunke." Which comes from Old French, "tronc." Which means the end of a pointed or projected object. aka car.
The April Fools day timing was just unfortunate! This is real, it was seen demonstrated live to hundreds of people at linux.conf.au in January where it was featured in a talk, and also when it was on display at Hobart casino. More info on it at http://www.geekmyride.org/wiki/index.php/Jon's_RX-8
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posted April 1st 2009 3:31AM
I love it!
Until you park for more than a few hours and your battery dies.
Check out the links; he thought of "NEARLY" everything, the computer runs on it's own dedicated battery.
Yeaaaa... I just read that.. oops.
Still not sure how great this is.. a car alarm can do most of those things and not have the delay. Not sure why I'd need to lock/unlock/start my car from anywhere in the world.
Think of it as a personal Onstar. If you lock your self out, loose your phone, have a dead phone battery, etc, just call a trusted person to unlock the car for you.
...wow..
That is amazing..lol and people praze that shit blackberry lol
Fantastic. Until it vaporises into nothing at midday on 1st April.
rx-8 is a crap gadget!
Dr. Horrible, anyone?
A man gotta do what a man gotta do!
Dammit, you beat me to it! Which reminds me, I really must download those episodes...
his iPhone could drive the car... and a remote control drone! The GUI was way better.
Any article concerning a vehicle being remotely controlled by an iPod touch that doesn't reference Dr. Horrible is an epic fail!
Wow! If I had a car I would totally do this. I wonder how much time and money he spent on this.
Hmmm, remote control cars always seem to go on sale on April 1st.
saq,
That's quite an interesting point. And oddly enough, he kept "missing" it a couple of times.
Haha,
Cheers.
That guy must put the home-brewed app in the app store!
Theives take note, his car can easily be stolen using WEP/WPA cracks.
And then you can easily be caught when he tracks the car with the gps locator.
Not if the thief jams the signal with a microwave oven.
Definitely dangerous with the latency he was experiencing and that he missed the buttons a few times, hah.
@Daza, Reminds me of Florida Voters.
Sure its neat to be able to do that from "anywhere," though besides locking the car if you forget/aren't sure you remembered I can't really see getting much other practical use out of this, even if it is pretty cool.
How did he start the car if it's a stick? I thought starters only work for automatics?
You gotta leave the car in neutral when you turn it off.
He probably just disconnected the sensor on the floor under the clutch that detects whether the pedal is being pressed, and just left the car in neutral. Then tapped the remote start.
I made I own remote starter in 1987 and my new car was stick, I did the same thing bypassing the safety feature on the clutch and leaving it in neutral. It was great until one day it was left in 1st and the hand parking break was not fully on, it jumped forward and actually started and rolled into the house. :(
Buddy did this on his friend's Accord. They were at a party and someone kept playing with the remote. Turns out the car had been butting into the garage door repeatedly causing damage to both. Good times.
So how long till someone hacks his car and really starts messing with him?
@Ross Miller
How on earth can he open the truck with his Ipod? Perhaps you meant Boot, or as the Yanks say...Trunk
dude hoosiers say trunk too.
a boot is something you wear on your foot.
trunk comes from the middle english word, "trunke." Which comes from Old French, "tronc." Which means the end of a pointed or projected object. aka car.
boosh
he was pointing out the "truck" instead of "trunk" typo....
LOL nice one engadget
could totally be a hoax, e.g. all the demo'd function could be performed by a buddy with the real remote control...
Arduino can do anything it seems.
First of all nice 8.. I drive a 05. I wish he actually remotely drove the car though.. like forwards. But that's probably too dangerous.
Definitely dangerous with the latency he was experiencing and that he missed the buttons a few times, hah.
"...and open the truck."
???
Ohhhh! Trunk!
The boot you limey bastard
he should have said boot, since he's Australian
but then you would have said
"and then we open the boot"
BOOT???????????? oh BOOT.
I see the guillibility factor has tripled this morning...
geez i hope that batmans ok i mean if anything happened to him. Oh well he will come out something even more chese like a bphone or a pizza
And another lame april's fool joke...
I doubt it, as the original article was posted 31/03/2009
James Bond.
I saw him do this 10 years ago with a Sony Ericsson
Just what you need to steal your very own Wonderflonium!
The April Fools day timing was just unfortunate! This is real, it was seen demonstrated live to hundreds of people at linux.conf.au in January where it was featured in a talk, and also when it was on display at Hobart casino. More info on it at http://www.geekmyride.org/wiki/index.php/Jon's_RX-8
His car is from Ringwood Mazda, Melbourne
Now all you need to do is steal some Wonderflonium, just watch out for Captain Hammer.