Thursday, April 1, 2010

Remote control your car - the DIY approach

Have you ever thought it would be good to not have to leave your house to park your car or to move it into the garage? Have you ever thought it would be good to actually standing outside when trying to fit the car into a narrow parking space? Well, it's easier than you think. Thanks to the electronics in modern car and the drive-by-wire approach most car manufacturers choose to control engine, brakes and even steering, with a few electronic building blocks you can actually remote control your car just like you steer an RC model car from Tamiya. Just plug the controlling unit into the CAN bus of your car and an interface kit into a standard remote control with steering and throttle/break controls and you are done!
The parts can be purchased here.
It doesn't take an engineer to fit them to your car and instantly you can start, control and stop your car with the remote control. Impress your friends and make your life easier! It feels a bit like playing James Bond (remember the 7 series he controlled with a mobile phone?), but it's much easier with the controller shown here. And of course you can also do it from the back of your car, because having visual access is crucial! You should't hand over the controller to your kids also, as you can imagine.
If you have any doubts then look at the testimonials of people having already done it!

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