LCA2009: geeking your ride

Sam Varghese
Friday, 09 January 2009 05:22

Opinion and Analysis

Not for nothing is Jonathan Oxer known as Australia's geekiest man. Practically every aspect of his life at home is controlled by software - he even uses an RFID chip implanted in his arm to open his door.
His watering system at home, his front gate and mailbox, to name a few things at his home, are all electronically controlled via the internet.

Now he has turned his attention to cars - and his experiments form the subject of a paper he will be presenting at the forthcoming 10th Australian national Linux conference (LCA 2009) to be held in Hobart from January 19 to 24.

Oxer has named the project Geek My Ride and is working on it with Jared 'Flame' Herbohn, a friend, fellow enthusiast and hacker.

Known for his software work - he runs a web development company called Internet Vision Technologies and is a developer for the free Debian GNU/Linux project - back in 1990, Oxer was very much into auto electronics.

Mainly working with rotary-powered vehicles at the time, one of the more successful products he developed was a turbo timer that kept cars fitted with aftermarket turbochargers running for a few minutes after the ignition was turned off.

"Turbochargers have different parts made of different metals and they cool down at different rates. There is a chance that parts may get damaged if they cool down at different rates, so a turbo timer keeps oil circulating and allows it to cool down gradually" he said.

Other products he developed included an emergency fuel cutoff system to disable fuel pumps in race cars if they crash and a head-up tacho that displayed engine RPM on the windscreen in front of the driver. His products were sold throughout Australia but eventually he drifted into working with software for many years.

CONTINUED