User:Dross4565/enes100/My Work

TEAM PAGE: Car Hack

Write problem/project Goal
Hack aftermarket car remote in able to use voice command on phone to unlock vehicle

My First Task
Research all possible ODP software available. Find the best, yet cheapest ODP to use. Start figuring out how to translate codes in the software, and how to create plug-ins for voice command.

Summary of actual work over first weekend
Planned to research OBD and how it worked, which I did, but the goal of our project changed. Still used to research I did, to our advantage.

Week1 Narrative
Over the weekend, I researched how to make a car faster without using modifications. I found what was that an ECU is a computer that modern vehicles use to control everything on the car from brakes, the fuel injection, the speedometer, carbon dioxide out put, etc. and how you can used the codes with the ECU to reprogram it and adjust the RPM of the engine increasing the car's initial speed and make it faster. Also found how to read the ECU using an OBD connection with the vehicle to a laptop or cellphone and then that reads the all the codes with the ECU and makes it simple using software to make different gauges and "titles".

My Second Task
Go to junk yard and try to find ECU to bring into class in order to start reading the ECU using the OBD to read it. Also research different ECU program for the car model that we are going to use in order to understand the codes within ECU

Summary of actual work over second weekend
Picked up ECU and tested OBD

Week2 Narrative
Got the ECU from the junkyard this weekend for $10, but the cables usual attached to the ECU were gone. Right now researching cables that connect directly from ECU to OBD to compensate for this, but Martin said OBD software for computer didn't work with the software. So also researching free OBD software or app for phone that is compatible with the wifi on the OBD connector we have now. Professor also suggested new idea in hacking the wifi in a car that communicates the psi in a car's tires to the dashboard for the driver, but noone's car has that technology so unsure about that project.

My Third task
Try to get cables for ECU and test OBD connector with wifi app on phone and read diagnostics from car on app. Look up codes people have already used in programming their own ECUs concerning the car's motor inorder to save time and/or improve their work with our project. Also look into this whole wifi psi reader in car and look into hacking that.

Summary of actual work over third weekend
Found out that the OBD connector that we had originally didn't read the ecu codes from the 2002 Toyota corolla that we are using in our project. It's not that the OBD connector doesn't work properly, but it's for older model vehicles using OBD I software not OBD II. When trying to pick up the wifi from the OBD from laptop or phone in order to read codes produced by ECU, wifi would "die off" before even opening the application used to read the codes.



Week3 Narrative
Professor asked us to start putting pictures of the tools that we used in the project on wikiversity, so went to Lowes to take pictures of equipment. Also since I figured out the problem with the OBD connector, researched OBD connections that would work with the 2002 Toyota Corolla being used in the project. Found a OBD II connector that connects directly to the laptop (so we don't have to worry about the wifi disconnection) and comes with software to read the codes from the ECU directly from the car that I purchased for $10 off of amazon. Also researched basic car hacks for the 2002 Toyota Corolla by back tracking the TEDX video located in the discuss page on our Car Hack page. Found that we can use the arduino to simplify the codes from the ecu and make the MPG for the vehicle better (which is better than trying to decipher total ECU) in a forum Toyota Nation in which other people have already figured out the codes with the ECU. So we have the location with all the codes that the ECU provides in which we can start "experimenting" with in order to make the MPG better for the car.

My Fourth task
This week, I receive the new OBD 2moro. So will install new software to laptop and read original MPG from vehicle. Next, will start deciphering and changing the codes within the ECU using the arduino in class (since we can't literally bring a car in the class room) because using the html conversion of the ECU code with the arduino is easier to rewrite since I have lots of experience with html and java. Once I figure out the codes, I can use the OBD to continuously read the MPG given off by the ECU for the car until it increases slightly or exponentially. Actually want to finish project and give the next group a foothold instead of just figuring out "what does what".

Summary of actual work over fourth weekend
How is what you did different than what you planned?

Week4 Narrative
Received the new OBD connector for our vehicle on thursday, and tried to lodad software onto laptop to start testing but software only runs properly on windows and not mac, which is on fortunate seeing how I only have a macs within my household. So downloaded another software called Parallels Desktop which allows the user to run windows and mac simultaneously on a mac. Once downloaded, I tested the OBD connection to the vehicle and opened the software within the windows settings I just downloaded using Parallels Desktop and "WA-LA" success in reading the ecu from the vehicle is a go. Because all ECUs are different depending on manufacturer and the codes used to program the ECU, I did research finding forums through google of people already trying to reprogram the ECU in the same car model, and year to give my group a direct set of codes to start decoding instead of running through the thousands of codes the ECU has within it. I FOUND SOMETHING BETTER! We can use an arduino to simplify all the codes with a ECU by taking all that code and convert it to html which the arduino does automatically. However, I found out that the ECU within the vehicle runs on a 12v communication network while the arduino translates using a 5v. So you have to use a resistor divider to knock the ECU voltage down to 5, then communication between the two is a go.

Complete Project Page
Follow the "project done" format.