Sam Varghese
Friday, 09 January 2009 06:22
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
His current interest in getting back to experimenting with cars came about as a result of trying to connect various devices to the internet for a new TV series called
SuperHouse.
(The first eight half-hour episodes of SuperHouse are set to air sometime in the first half of the year on channel 31, Melbourne community TV channel. Oxer is looking for sponsors for the second and third series.)
As he kept experimenting, Oxer thought of connecting his car to the net, in order that data generated during its running could be collated, analysed and used for various purposes.
One of the first things he has done is to link his home entertainment system with that in his car. Now when he updates his home music collection, the collection in his car gets automatically synchronised.
He has a small computer, located in the boot of his car, a Mazda RX-8, called an
ALIX-1. It has a 500MHz LX processor and 256 MB of memory and runs GNU/Linux. It has a 4GB solid state drive and a lead-acid battery that charges when the car is running.
All the software Oxer uses is either free or open source; a cable runs from the computer, to which it is connected by an USB interface, to the front of the car where it is connected to the same port to which a mechanic would plug in a laptop for on-board diagnostics.
Oxer communicates wirelessly with the little computer in the boot. Other things he is working on include trying to provide a video feed from outside the car to the driver so that a 360 degree view is available while reversing out from a place where visibility is poor - say, a garden in which there are high walls or a gate which prevents one having a clear view of the road outside.
Given the increasing number of older people in Australia, this kind of view behind a vehicle is of tremendous significance.
"Another thing that can be done is to link the engine management system to the internet so that diagnosis of problems can be done remotely," says Oxer.
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