Ok, so it’s been a week since I installed the SMS interface. I took the car out to Winter Park for a week of sliding down the mountain and gave the system a real world test. (Tried it from my hotel room while the car was outside) and it worked!
I just gave it another test run and the car started perfectly. Now that the system has stayed working, I’m planning to develop the backend code a bit more. In addition, I have some more tricks up my sleeve… 
I whipped up a clean schematic for my current version of the SMS responder. I left out the iphone dock connector because I used a breakout board – and really, it’s easier that way, you can cable over to the iphone. Click to view the entire schematic – my blog trims the images (I don’t like scaling them!)
A quick update on the SMS remote start using my old iPhone… It works! I can now start my Subaru outback via SMS command from wherever I am.
I used an older Arduino simply because I wanted a quick and dirty 3.3v source for the iphone to arduino serial interface. The perfboard has a tip120 to drive the remote start, all the interface wiring for the car, power supply and the iphone interface. I tossed in a .01 cap at the power source just for extra filtering. The power supply is a switching charger from a broken iphone car charger. Efficient and free!
This is my quick build schematic. (Click to see the entire thing) The voltage divider on the left is so that the arduino can report the system voltage. it’s made of 3 10k resistors since I always have those on hand. The result is 1/3 of the 12-14v DC that the car has. From this, we can infer the state of the car: >13 is started. I plan to toss in a ds180 1 wire temp sensor later on as well. The pink highlighter was used as I wired things up.
Important: There’s an error in the schematic – I fixed it on my board but forgot to update it! The diode should connect on the other side of the resistor that connects the iphone serial RX and the Arduino 3.3v source. If you connect it this way, you won’t get any serial input on the iphone. It’s not lethal, just important!
(update 2: You can get the clean version of the schematic here: )
Requirements:
An old jailbroken iPhone, an Arduino, iphone breakout board (I used a PodBreakout Mini) 4x 10k resistors, 1x TIP120, a 5 volt switching supply cell charger (easier than building one), some wiring ability and a general understanding of unix/perl/arduino. (See the packages on my dev phone in this post.
The code:
You can get the code to make it all work here. (SMSresponder.pl, com.SMSresponder.startup.plist and
SMSresponder is a perl script that runs in a loop. Every 30 seconds it checks for a new message since the last time it ran. place it in /var/root/bin/ (you’ll need to create that directory) as this is where the startup system looks for it. You can put it somewhere else, just edit the plist to match.
Make it work all the time:
Copy com.SMSresponder.startup.plist to /System/Library/LaunchDaemons on the phone. This will start the script at boot.
The Arduino:
RemoteStartController.pde is a quick program that I wrote based on all sorts of other source I already had on hand. Notably, most of the code was adapted from Motokomp. I’ve added hooks for additional commands, but haven’t updated the iPhone perl script to do anything with the output.
How it works in real life:
I send a text message from my phone with the phrase: “Start 1234″ (1234 would be the password in the phone script). The phone gets the text then tells the arduino via serial interface to start. The arduino grounds the wire to the remote start that activates it. Meanwhile, the phone sends back a SMS saying ‘Executed’ to let me know that it got the message and is acting on it. In the future it’ll send back a message confirming that the start was executed as opposed to the I told him to do it method.
Project comments:
This thing works very well. I can probably get away with reducing the polling time on the iPhone, but I wanted to conserve resources. I spent two weeks testing the SMSresponder script running on the phone with perfect results every time. I still need to add some handshaking between the iphone and arduino, (iPhone: start dude. Arduino: OK!, iPhone: great let me sms that back to the man in charge.) Right now, the iphone sends the command and prays that the arduino got the message.
The remote start I’m using is an Avatal 3117 purchased via Amazon. (There are additional things added to make the subaru’s computer happy about missing the key) the main reason I bought this remote start is that it has an input wire for starting! When you ground it, the remote start will start the car. If you ground it again, the car will turn off. That’s how the arduino activates the remote start. In reality, there’s also a serial interface on most RS units today, but getting documentation on them seemed difficult. Besides, who wants to implement a new protocol just for a one-off build?
I’m seriously considering building a kit version of this hardware. It would include the iphone dock connector, programmed atmega, etc: it would tie all the prototype hardware into a single build – and maybe add a nice box and harness to make it work. (I used extra wiring bits from my remote start install to add a nice modular connector to the prototype)
I’ve built a perl script to enable SMS remote start of my car. The script checks the SMS database for new messages and if the message meets the criteria, it will send a command out the serial port, log the event and send a reply sms for confirmation.
Everything is done in perl! My script directly reads the SQLite sms database, writes to the serial port via Serial::Device, sends confirmation SMS messages via sendSMS and logs to a log file with a quick and dirty file write routine. I’d like to add a serial port logger for convenient data logging from my hardware interface as well as some feedback info for the reply sms: cabin temperature will be the easiest to add…
First, the phone needed some packages. Here’s my current install list:
iPhone:/var/log root# dpkg --get-selections adv-cmds install apr-lib install apt7 install apt7-key install apt7-lib install apt7-ssl install base install bash install berkeleydb install bzip2 install ch.ringwald.springboardaccess install com.saurik.iphone.ske install com.saurik.substrate.safemode install coreutils-bin install curl install cy+cpu.arm install cy+kernel.darwin install cy+lib.corefoundation install cy+model.iphone install cy+os.ios install cydia install cydia-lproj install darwintools install debianutils install diffutils install diskdev-cmds install dpkg install essential install expat install findutils install firmware install firmware-sbin install gcrypt install git install gnupg install grep install gsc.accelerometer install gsc.all-features install gsc.any-telephony install gsc.app-store install gsc.application-installation install gsc.armv6 install gsc.bluetooth install gsc.cellular-data install gsc.contains-cellular-radio install gsc.gps install gsc.hw-encode-snapshots install gsc.hw-snapshots-need-purplegfx install gsc.international-settings install gsc.location-services install gsc.microphone install gsc.mms install gsc.music-store install gsc.not-green-tea install gsc.opengles-1 install gsc.peer-peer install gsc.proximity-sensor install gsc.ringer-switch install gsc.sms install gsc.stand-alone-contacts install gsc.still-camera install gsc.telephony install gsc.telephony-maximum-generation install gsc.unified-ipod install gsc.voip install gsc.volume-buttons install gsc.wifi install gsc.youtube install gsc.youtube-plugin install gzip install jp.ashikase.mousesupport install jpeg install libgpg-error install libstatusbar install libvncserver install lzma install minicom install mobilesubstrate install ncurses install openssh install openssl install org.thebigboss.repo.icons install p5-archive-extract install p5-archive-tar install p5-archive-zip install p5-attribute-handlers install p5-autodie install p5-autoloader install p5-b-debug install p5-b-lint install p5-bignum install p5-cgi.pm install p5-class-isa install p5-compress-bzip2 install p5-compress-raw-bzip2 install p5-compress-raw-zlib install p5-constant install p5-cpan install p5-cpan-checksums install p5-cpan-meta-yaml install p5-cpanplus install p5-cpanplus-dist-build install p5-data-compare install p5-data-dumper install p5-db-file install p5-dbd-sqlite install p5-dbi install p5-devel-ppport install p5-device-serialport install p5-digest install p5-digest-md5 install p5-digest-sha install p5-encode install p5-encode-locale install p5-encoding-warnings install p5-exporter install p5-extutils-cbuilder install p5-extutils-command install p5-extutils-install install p5-extutils-makemaker install p5-extutils-manifest install p5-extutils-parsexs install p5-fcgi install p5-file-fetch install p5-file-find-rule install p5-file-homedir install p5-file-listing install p5-file-path install p5-file-remove install p5-file-temp install p5-file-which install p5-filter install p5-filter-simple install p5-getopt-long install p5-html-parser install p5-html-tagset install p5-http-cookies install p5-http-daemon install p5-http-date install p5-http-message install p5-http-negotiate install p5-http-tiny install p5-io install p5-io-compress install p5-io-zlib install p5-ipc-cmd install p5-ipc-run3 install p5-ipc-sysv install p5-json install p5-json-pp install p5-lib install p5-libnet install p5-libwww-perl install p5-locale-codes install p5-locale-maketext install p5-locale-maketext-simple install p5-log-message install p5-log-message-simple install p5-lwp-mediatypes install p5-math-bigint install p5-math-bigint-fastcalc install p5-math-bigrat install p5-math-complex install p5-mime-base64 install p5-module-build install p5-module-corelist install p5-module-install install p5-module-load install p5-module-load-conditional install p5-module-loaded install p5-module-pluggable install p5-module-scandeps install p5-module-signature install p5-net-http install p5-next install p5-number-compare install p5-object-accessor install p5-par-dist install p5-params-check install p5-parse-cpan-meta install p5-pathtools install p5-pod-escapes install p5-pod-parser install p5-probe-perl install p5-safe install p5-storable install p5-switch install p5-sys-syslog install p5-term-ansicolor install p5-term-ui install p5-test-harness install p5-test-script install p5-test-simple install p5-text-balanced install p5-text-glob install p5-tie-refhash install p5-time-local install p5-time-piece install p5-unicode-collate install p5-unicode-normalize install p5-uri install p5-version install p5-www-robotrules install p5-xsloader install p5-yaml install p5-yaml-libyaml install p5-yaml-syck install p5-yaml-tiny install pam install pam-modules install pcre install perl install perl-base-modules install preferenceloader install profile.d install readline install saurik install sed install sendsms install shell-cmds install system-cmds install tar install top install uikittools install ultrasn0w install veency install vim install
I highly reccommend installing apt strict – you can install needed packages via apt-get install bleh on the command line.
I’m still tweaking the script, but the first working version loads on phone startup vi starup plist. So far it seems to be somewhat robust. Testing will tell.
I tried to get a telemetry sim via the diydrones guys, but they were out! I opted for my old friend, the pay as you go t-mobile setup. I just picked up a $20 phone at walmart, then activated the sim with the iphones imei. You don’t have to do that. You can activate the new phone and update the imei later on. If you have a questionable project phone, you should activate the new cheap pay as you go phone then move the sim. You need a working phone to get the login to manage the account!
Costs:
$20 phone – I got around $4 in line credit with the phone. Sometimes they include extra minutes in the deal making it even better.
Buy at least $10 for the pay as you go plan. SMS will cost $.10/each. Not the best, but nice for low investment. $10 gets you 100 messages.
However, if you find that you’re using the heck out of it, you can upgrade to a $15/month plan that gives you UNLIMITED TEXT.
I’m working on a new car controller. It’s based on aftermarket remote start, a jailbroken iphone and some open source hardware. This post covers setting up the iPhone for that use. It’s really just a nice, cheap (if you have it) script-able serial telemetry platform.
I used an iPhone 3g, downloaded 4.2.1 iphone firmware and used pwnageTool_4.2 to build jailbroken firmware.
(then did it all over again to build unlockable firmware – update baseband to 6.10: (add link)
First stop was to configure wireless to talk to my home network.
Then I hit Cydia (the app that’s loaded when jailbroken.) and updated everything it wanted.
Get cell service (you can do this later):
Install ultrasn0w and get a pay as you go t-mobile account activated on it.
Install openssh via cydia.
ssh onto the phone and change the passwords for the root and mobile users.
I also install veency – it’ll allow you to vnc onto your iphone, making it much easier to do all your work from your computer. Set a password in settings if you like.
We want perl, so add the coredev.nl repo:
download http://coredev.nl/cydia/coredev.pub on your machine. Then scp it to root@yourphonesip:/var/root
ssh to the phone and run: apt-key add coredev.pub
then run: echo ‘deb http://coredev.nl/cydia iphone main’ > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/coredev.nl.list
Now when you load cydia next, you can get perl installed.
Use Cydia to install the following packages. Instead of confirm after each, just hit continue queuing and add things to be installed. Then you can go to manage or just hit confirm on the final package you want to install.
minicom
perl
perl-dbd-sqlite(search for dbd::sqlite)
perl device serial (search for device::serial)
vimproved (This is vim, find something else if you don’t do vi.)
Later we’ll want a command line sms sender, but for now I haven’t decided which to use yet.
Set up Minicom:
As root mkdir /usr/etc
Run minicom -s, set serial to /tty.iap, set 9600 N81, turn off flow control
Save config as default.
install vi (or vim for the search to work) (I like vim. deal.)
If you have a serial port dock built, now’s the time to test your port. My first phone had a bad dock connector, so no serial on it. Luckily I had a spare laying around with a bad home button. I swapped the screens and was good to go.
If you’re getting a data plan, it might be nice to ssh into the phone over the nat’d edge/3g/whatever you paid for:
install autossh.
Follow this how-to: http://llemarie.wordpress.com/2009/09/05/tip-connect-to-your-iphone/
install p5-Device-modem (which gets you device::serial)
Congratulations. Now you have the equivalent of a funky linux (yeah, it’s bsd. I know.) box with geolocation, 3g, wifi and a serial port. Muhahah.
So I bought a 5000mah 6s Lipo from hobbyking earlier this year and finally got around to using it. Shortly after setup I ended up with a slight – and I mean slight short in my motor wiring that resulted in a total failure of my motor/controller/batteries. After some testing I found that the battery pack had lost voltage between cells 4 and 5. After pondering the purchase of new batteries I opened up the battery.
This is what I found. I completely separated solder point inside the battery.
A short solder job later and I repaired the point. I added some wire for stability and it passed subsequent tests with motor load and charging.
Powercord labs is a new adventure in Laser engraving (and cutting) in Columbia, MO. Wish us luck! (And get your stuff engraved!)
We’re going open source on this venture, and we’ll be bringing some new products out as soon as we can.
I want to launch a new hardware/software platform for energy monitoring and usage. Check it out: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/willobrien/microhome-smarter-houses-save-energy
The project site is http://microhome.org
Quite a while ago, I spent quite a bit of time messing around with car pc’s. I was never truly happy with what I had. However, on my new car, I’m adding a pair of roof mounted LCDs and an iphone/ipad video cable. NO MORE DVDs in the car!
Since storage space is fairly limited on those devices, I decided that a video server would be a great addition to load up a bunch of movies that I won’t carry around on my devices. (Think Tinkerbell)
For now I’m using what I have on hand: a dual core ATOM Foxconn 45CSX (the network interface is crappy slow on it) I will be upgrading it to something with gig and a core 2 duo at least in the future. That’s stuffed into a case with a 12v power supply. An older 200gb laptop drive will soon become a new 500gb, but it’s not a big deal.
For the server, I decided to use ubuntu linux with the alpha air video server installed. It turns out to be really simple to do, thanks to a custom repository out there. I chose linux because it’s the most stable when you’re dealing with random power outages and it won’t waste the sparse cpu driving an unnecessary GUI.
Thanks to http://blog.frameos.org/2011/02/08/installing-airvideo-linux-server-in-ubuntu/ for the time saving writeup!
More later when I get the install together.