Guess what we did??
11-01-10, 01:56 PM
#17
Moderator
Thread Starter
Just so you folks know, we're not just intentionally leaving you hanging on this. Well, OK...maybe we're intentionally leaving Mr. Blister hanging a LITTLE.
We promise that a full description, parts list, and photos are forthcoming...we're just still in the process of tidying things up and getting the system mounted in a project box small enough to be tucked away inside the car somewhere.
As seen in the video, version 1 works quite nicely! But, there were a number of obstacles we had to overcome to get it to work that pretty.
We promise that a full description, parts list, and photos are forthcoming...we're just still in the process of tidying things up and getting the system mounted in a project box small enough to be tucked away inside the car somewhere.
As seen in the video, version 1 works quite nicely! But, there were a number of obstacles we had to overcome to get it to work that pretty.
11-02-10, 08:04 PM
#19
Rats! You really had me going on the "no modification" original statement Habious!
I was hoping with the extinction of the Luxlink that you wizards have come up with something that the everyday schmo like me could install/buy/use.
For now, I guess Viper is the only thing you can actually "buy" to do remote start and top that has apps for it on your mobile, am I correct? $499 plus installation...has anyone done this yet?
I was hoping with the extinction of the Luxlink that you wizards have come up with something that the everyday schmo like me could install/buy/use.
For now, I guess Viper is the only thing you can actually "buy" to do remote start and top that has apps for it on your mobile, am I correct? $499 plus installation...has anyone done this yet?
11-03-10, 10:33 AM
#20
Moderator
Thread Starter
Rats! You really had me going on the "no modification" original statement Habious!
I was hoping with the extinction of the Luxlink that you wizards have come up with something that the everyday schmo like me could install/buy/use.
For now, I guess Viper is the only thing you can actually "buy" to do remote start and top that has apps for it on your mobile, am I correct? $499 plus installation...has anyone done this yet?
I was hoping with the extinction of the Luxlink that you wizards have come up with something that the everyday schmo like me could install/buy/use.
For now, I guess Viper is the only thing you can actually "buy" to do remote start and top that has apps for it on your mobile, am I correct? $499 plus installation...has anyone done this yet?
It really is the *essential* mod for this car.
I'm familar with the Viper system and it's iPhone app. Do we know for sure that it'll let you drop the top? That's a very specific thing to do...especially sans LuxLink.
(By the way...No, we're not just stringing you guys along here. JohnnyCake and I are getting together this weekend to HOPEFULLY finalize this project and be able to show you a completed system.)
.
.
11-15-10, 08:01 AM
#22
Moderator
Thread Starter
Finally, the reveal!
OK, apologies for the long wait. We literally JUST finished this up yesterday afternoon!
There was a lot of prototyping. The video we posted was done with the first version of the system, just to prove our theory.
After that, we had to fine-tune the design, add some troubleshooting and programming features, and put it in a box that could be tucked away inside the car.
So, here we go...
Inside the car is a cell phone (JohnnyCake had a spare, activated cell phone lying around (long story)) which is kept in the center console.
The audio out of the cell phone goes into a DTMF decoder board (DTMF tones are the touch-tone sounds you hear when you dial a phone, or check your balance with your bank over the phone).
The decoder board we used on this project has 4 relays that can be triggered independently (there are boards out there that give you MUCH more expandability but, for this project, 4 was just the right amount).
The decoder board relays are then hooked into a modified SC430 key FOB that we bought from eBay. We bought the FOB, programmed it so the lock, unlock, and trunk buttons work, then we tore it apart and soldered wires directly onto the switch pads, so we could use the relays on the decoder board to trigger the buttons as-needed.
One relay triggers the lock, another triggers the unlock, another triggers the trunk.
The final piece to the puzzle is making the top go down. Those of us with a LuxLink know that you have to press the unlock button and HOLD it for a certain amount of time (until the windows roll down part-way) and then release.
We bought a relay delay board to do this little trick. When the decoder board receives the correct signal to make the top go down, the relay on the decoder board momentarily closes. This is tied to the delay board which, upon a momentary signal, closes it's OWN relay for a predetermined period of time. It took a bit of trial-and-error but, we got the duration of this to be just the right amount to partly lower the windows before releasing, thus triggering the LuxLink to make the top go down (or up).
Basically, you call the phone in the car...once the phone auto-answers, you can press "1" to make the top go down, "2" to unlock the car, "3" to lock the car, and "4" to pop the trunk.
And, because I KNOW there will be comments about it...we had a really hard time finding a box that would fit in the very-limited spaces we had available inside the trunk. We ended up having a relative build us a custom box for the project. The original plans did NOT call for it to be built out of wood paneling from 1974...we just got lucky with that!
Here's the box...
Across the top - the red button is a manual "lock" button, the black button is a manual "unlock" button (you need to be able to press the lock/unlock buttons if you ever need to program/reprogram the modified key FOB)...a test speaker, and a test switch. The test switch is for troubleshooting. When switched into test mode, the audio is routed to an audio amp and to the test speaker, so we can hear if the box is receiving tones
Along the side - connectors for audio in, power in, and telephone jack that connects the main box to the key box.
The inside of the box looks like this...
(from left-to-right...the DTMF decoder board, the delay relay board, an audio amplifier (for the test speaker))
We housed the key remote in a separate box, connected to the main box via a 4-wire telephone cable (for ease of maintenance - aka battery replacement). It looks like this from the outside...
The inside of the key box looks like this...
Here's what it looks like installed in the trunk...
And here's why we installed the key FOB into a separate, "disconnectable" box...
(The key box tucks away, invisible, in the cubby hole by the fuse box in the trunk. It's taken out here just to show you the accessibility of it.
Here's a close-up of Tom's screen of his cell phone (the one he carries around - NOT the one that's left inside the car).
Tom's got a few Android apps installed on both phones to make the system easier to use, and more secure. He'll cover the software side of things in a different post.
We're a little afraid to add it all up but, not counting the required additional cell phone inside the car, we think the whole system cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $300.00 to build.
The cell phone in the car doesn't need any kind of a complicated plan...no Texting needed, no Internet Data needed...just voice (and each time you use the system, it's well under a minute of talk-time used).
There was a lot of prototyping. The video we posted was done with the first version of the system, just to prove our theory.
After that, we had to fine-tune the design, add some troubleshooting and programming features, and put it in a box that could be tucked away inside the car.
So, here we go...
Inside the car is a cell phone (JohnnyCake had a spare, activated cell phone lying around (long story)) which is kept in the center console.
The audio out of the cell phone goes into a DTMF decoder board (DTMF tones are the touch-tone sounds you hear when you dial a phone, or check your balance with your bank over the phone).
The decoder board we used on this project has 4 relays that can be triggered independently (there are boards out there that give you MUCH more expandability but, for this project, 4 was just the right amount).
The decoder board relays are then hooked into a modified SC430 key FOB that we bought from eBay. We bought the FOB, programmed it so the lock, unlock, and trunk buttons work, then we tore it apart and soldered wires directly onto the switch pads, so we could use the relays on the decoder board to trigger the buttons as-needed.
One relay triggers the lock, another triggers the unlock, another triggers the trunk.
The final piece to the puzzle is making the top go down. Those of us with a LuxLink know that you have to press the unlock button and HOLD it for a certain amount of time (until the windows roll down part-way) and then release.
We bought a relay delay board to do this little trick. When the decoder board receives the correct signal to make the top go down, the relay on the decoder board momentarily closes. This is tied to the delay board which, upon a momentary signal, closes it's OWN relay for a predetermined period of time. It took a bit of trial-and-error but, we got the duration of this to be just the right amount to partly lower the windows before releasing, thus triggering the LuxLink to make the top go down (or up).
Basically, you call the phone in the car...once the phone auto-answers, you can press "1" to make the top go down, "2" to unlock the car, "3" to lock the car, and "4" to pop the trunk.
And, because I KNOW there will be comments about it...we had a really hard time finding a box that would fit in the very-limited spaces we had available inside the trunk. We ended up having a relative build us a custom box for the project. The original plans did NOT call for it to be built out of wood paneling from 1974...we just got lucky with that!
Here's the box...
Across the top - the red button is a manual "lock" button, the black button is a manual "unlock" button (you need to be able to press the lock/unlock buttons if you ever need to program/reprogram the modified key FOB)...a test speaker, and a test switch. The test switch is for troubleshooting. When switched into test mode, the audio is routed to an audio amp and to the test speaker, so we can hear if the box is receiving tones
Along the side - connectors for audio in, power in, and telephone jack that connects the main box to the key box.
The inside of the box looks like this...
(from left-to-right...the DTMF decoder board, the delay relay board, an audio amplifier (for the test speaker))
We housed the key remote in a separate box, connected to the main box via a 4-wire telephone cable (for ease of maintenance - aka battery replacement). It looks like this from the outside...
The inside of the key box looks like this...
Here's what it looks like installed in the trunk...
And here's why we installed the key FOB into a separate, "disconnectable" box...
(The key box tucks away, invisible, in the cubby hole by the fuse box in the trunk. It's taken out here just to show you the accessibility of it.
Here's a close-up of Tom's screen of his cell phone (the one he carries around - NOT the one that's left inside the car).
Tom's got a few Android apps installed on both phones to make the system easier to use, and more secure. He'll cover the software side of things in a different post.
We're a little afraid to add it all up but, not counting the required additional cell phone inside the car, we think the whole system cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $300.00 to build.
The cell phone in the car doesn't need any kind of a complicated plan...no Texting needed, no Internet Data needed...just voice (and each time you use the system, it's well under a minute of talk-time used).
Last edited by Habious; 11-15-10 at 08:06 AM.
11-15-10, 08:28 AM
#23
WOW WOW I have the desire to want it. I have skills, but thats a whole lot of work. I know you did it because you could . Really impressive amount of brainstorming. I will just have to live with just a remote key fob to work my luxlink. I am just so underpriveleged. Now if you could program the car to mix a martinin after it drops the top that I would consider. Did Q from the Bond series inspire you . You guys are just to much
11-15-10, 08:35 PM
#25
Software side
It was a really fun project to brainstorm and create. Hat's off to Habious who really carried the water on the project.
My original idea was to remove the little motor which causes the phone to vibrate and use its power supply as the "trigger." While that would have theoretically worked, it would have destroyed the phone and given us only a single trigger. The DTMF board idea was all Habious' and is improves the project 100 percent, imho. The hardware side was really his creation.
The software side is pretty easy using off-the-shelf Android apps. The calling phone (which I carry) has five "home screens," one of which is pictured above. I just flip to that page.
Each of the icons (top down, lock, unlock, trunk) is a widget called "Limit My Call," which provides one press access. It calls the number, waits for the call to be answered, presses the tone for the appropriate function, then hangs up. By using this app, I just press one time and then can put the phone back in my pocket. It takes care of placing the call, waiting, and then hanging up.
The receiving phone, which stays in the car, runs an app called "Auto Answer." This app has a whitelist so that it will only answer when a specificed number appears in the caller-id. This security feature is extremely important so that some bozo dialing the wrong number doesn't put the top down in the rain.
Which actually brings me back to the calling phone. My phone is set up via Sprint to automatically block my caller-ID information. So the calling phone also runs a really sweet app called "Prefixer." This app check to see whether the outgoing number is the number for my car and, if so, automatically adds *82 to unblock Caller-ID.
All of this is my quest to live the life of George Jetson. My garage door has a phone number so that I can open it long before I get home. I have a switch in my house, so that I can have the top down and the garage door open before I walk down to the car. These mods may be silly (my wife sure as hell doesn't get it!), but where some opt for horsepower, I opt for fun technology.
My original idea was to remove the little motor which causes the phone to vibrate and use its power supply as the "trigger." While that would have theoretically worked, it would have destroyed the phone and given us only a single trigger. The DTMF board idea was all Habious' and is improves the project 100 percent, imho. The hardware side was really his creation.
The software side is pretty easy using off-the-shelf Android apps. The calling phone (which I carry) has five "home screens," one of which is pictured above. I just flip to that page.
Each of the icons (top down, lock, unlock, trunk) is a widget called "Limit My Call," which provides one press access. It calls the number, waits for the call to be answered, presses the tone for the appropriate function, then hangs up. By using this app, I just press one time and then can put the phone back in my pocket. It takes care of placing the call, waiting, and then hanging up.
The receiving phone, which stays in the car, runs an app called "Auto Answer." This app has a whitelist so that it will only answer when a specificed number appears in the caller-id. This security feature is extremely important so that some bozo dialing the wrong number doesn't put the top down in the rain.
Which actually brings me back to the calling phone. My phone is set up via Sprint to automatically block my caller-ID information. So the calling phone also runs a really sweet app called "Prefixer." This app check to see whether the outgoing number is the number for my car and, if so, automatically adds *82 to unblock Caller-ID.
All of this is my quest to live the life of George Jetson. My garage door has a phone number so that I can open it long before I get home. I have a switch in my house, so that I can have the top down and the garage door open before I walk down to the car. These mods may be silly (my wife sure as hell doesn't get it!), but where some opt for horsepower, I opt for fun technology.
11-15-10, 08:53 PM
#26
You and Habious are Tim Allen Home improvment guys. I wish I could share in these projects. If you guys were only closer to me. Some day I want to meet both of you and lets build something. I have good skills and work well with others.
11-16-10, 06:16 AM
#27
Moderator
Thread Starter
I give JohnnyCake full credit for the genesis of the idea...being able to call a cell phone in his car and make the top go down. I was just able to fine-tune that idea a bit with the use of the DTMF board.
I think the real beauty in what we came up with is that it doesn't actually control THE CAR...it just activates the $40.00 eBay key FOB. So, that means that this box/concept would work with ANY car that has a keyless entry system. It's not SC430-specific...not even Lexus-specific.
That's what I meant when I originally said that it doesn't modify the car. The box just needs power. Everything else is totally self-contained.
If, for whatever reason, JohnnyCake needs to temporarily disable the system some day, he just has to pop the fuse panel cover off and unhook the FOB box from the telephone cord.
The whole system can be removed in about 10 minutes...with 9 1/2 of those minutes being getting the trunk floor up to get access to the box. Once you're at the point where you can touch the box, it's literally 10 seconds to get it out.
I think the real beauty in what we came up with is that it doesn't actually control THE CAR...it just activates the $40.00 eBay key FOB. So, that means that this box/concept would work with ANY car that has a keyless entry system. It's not SC430-specific...not even Lexus-specific.
That's what I meant when I originally said that it doesn't modify the car. The box just needs power. Everything else is totally self-contained.
If, for whatever reason, JohnnyCake needs to temporarily disable the system some day, he just has to pop the fuse panel cover off and unhook the FOB box from the telephone cord.
The whole system can be removed in about 10 minutes...with 9 1/2 of those minutes being getting the trunk floor up to get access to the box. Once you're at the point where you can touch the box, it's literally 10 seconds to get it out.
11-16-10, 06:32 AM
#28
The idea & concept seems as simple as delayed wipers, Remember what that started .I think you guys are on to something . This could be an answer to a free north star system that could unlock your car for your as well as many other features. I smell patent
Buddy
Buddy
Last edited by mrblister; 11-16-10 at 04:42 PM.
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