Whats all This about?

Time to apply that engineering school know-how to something useful. After a quick search through my junk pile and an online shopping spree it was decided relatively quickly that my truck is in desperate need of improvements.

After I got a little carried away using Adobe Premiere Pro this trailer was the result.

Sneak Peak: First attempts to communicate with my loyal companion:

The truck has enough electronics of all sorts to be experimented with and a after a brief moment of hesitation I quickly decided that my vehicle is in dire need of new features. Given that I knew my way around basic 12V car systems from several DIY repairs and Sound system installs I was eager to see what can be done with this unusual hybrid of expensive, thoroughly tested car electronics and an off the shelf $49.99, put together in the garage, arduino.

The Ideas of features that I want to implement are as follows in perceived levels of hardness (going from easy to WTF_BBQ...)

• Daytime Running Lights - run some leds only when the mainbeams are off
• HID protection - Protect my xenon lights from being turned/off to quickly
• Strobe Mode - Blinky Blinks... Make the car flash all sorts of colors and patters. Basically the Pin13 flasher program on steroids.
• Brake Light Suppression - Not Brake lights (this is for testing purposes only, don't try at home bla bla bla)
• Stealth Mode - Suppress ALL Exterior lighting with the push of a button. Perhaps turn on some IR leds and an NVcamera to still see where you are going.
• Pushbutton Start/Ignition System (perhaps even remotely!)- Make the arduino start and stop the engine. While this might seem simple this is safety critical so it gets bumped up some levels.
• Remote Control - control all the functions remotely with my Android phone
• Bluetooth - via a serial module
• SMS
• RFID/BT Anthitheft and Keyless Entry - If and Only If my phone is is within RFID range of the car unlock the doors and enable the starter. If phone gets out of range lock the doors.
• Communicate with the CAN BUS of the vehicle, Duplicate and HiJack onboard signals.