This idea is kind of old (from the days where the GPS was not affordable for everybody). But it still applies for my city where there was an average of 50 carjackings per day last year. Not even counting the cars stolen from parking lots!
Not saying that somebody would want to steal my car now, but I want to add a better sound and better wheels, so a good security system is a good start.
I'm thinking in buying a 30 USD cell phone service and add 2 USD every 2 months just to keep it subscribed, so my car can send me a msg if somebody is opening the doors/trunk/hood when the alarm is set. Besides of triggering the horn and lights, of course.
In case of a carjacking, I can call the car and kill the engine from the distance by keeping a key pressed for certain time. This one may not be necessary, I can set the microprocessor to do that for me automatically. But it would be a cool feature to have
So I will need:
1) Subscribe my old cell phone - 30 USD
2) A microprocessor board -Check
3) A bank of rechargeable batteries from an old laptop to be independent of the main battery (in case they make a short in the terminals) -Check
4) Remember to keep adding 2 USD for the phone service before it expires!
5) Have a lot of fun with this new project!
I will not mess with understanding the cell's communication protocol. I will electronically "press" the buttons
a) hang on,
b) navigate through the msg-to-mycel menu and
c) send
Modifications to the cell's keypad will be required and of course, a program in the microprocessor to do the job.
Above's is the basic idea, but I know there are cell phones out there with GPS, so the car could reply me its GPS location everytime I call it.
I'll start with the basic first and leave the GPS thing for later.
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