A lot of technological milestones were reached in 2007. The first iPhone, for example, was released that January, and New Horizons passed Jupiter later on that year. But even with all of these amazing achievements, Volvo still wasn’t putting auxiliary inputs on the stereo systems in their cars. They did have antiquated ports in their head units though, and [Kalle] went about engineering this connector to accommodate an auxiliary input.

The connector in question is an 8-pin DIN in the back, which in the days of yore (almost eight years ago) would have been used for a CD changer. Since CDs are old news now, [Kalle] made use of this feature for the hack. The first hurdle was that the CD changer isn’t selectable from the menu unless the head unit confirms that there’s something there. [Kalle] used an Arduino Nano to fool the head unit by simulating the protocol that the CD changer would have used. From there, the left and right audio pins on the same connector were used to connect the auxiliary cable.

If you have a nearly-antique Volvo like [Kalle] that doesn’t have an aux input and you want to try something like this, the source code for the Arduino is available on the project page. Of course, if you don’t have a Volvo, there are many other ways to go about hacking an auxiliary input into various other devices, like an 80s boombox or the ribbon cable on a regular CD player. Things don’t always go smoothly, though, so there are a few nonstandard options as well.

Learn how a team of students created the first Google Android-based autonomous R/C car, able to detect lanes, avoid obstacles, self-park, and more.

Read more on MAKE

The post Build Your Own Android-Powered Self Driving R/C Car appeared first on Make: DIY Projects, How-Tos, Electronics, Crafts and Ideas for Makers.

Self-driving cars are in the news almost daily, but they are not exactly in my automotive budget for this decade. Today, that has changed. While this car might be smaller and not capable of giving me a ride, it’s still autonomous and, best of all, it is a project that I […]

Read more on MAKE

The post Self-Driving R/C Car Parks Itself Just Like a Lexus appeared first on Make: DIY Projects, How-Tos, Electronics, Crafts and Ideas for Makers.

While driving around one day, [Esko] noticed that the numbers and dials on a speedometer would be a pretty great medium for a clock build. This was his first project using a microcontroller, and with no time to lose he got his hands on the instrument cluster from a Fiat and used it to make a very unique timepiece.

The instrument cluster he chose was from a diesel Fiat Stilo, which [Esko] chose because the tachometer on the diesel version suited his timekeeping needs almost exactly. The speedometer measures almost all the way to 240 kph which works well for a 24-hour clock too. With the major part sourced, he found an Arduino clone and hit the road (figuratively speaking). A major focus of this project was getting the CAN bus signals sorted out. It helped that the Arduino clone he found had this functionality built-in (and ended up being cheaper than a real Arduino and shield) but he still had quite a bit of difficulty figuring out all of the signals.

In the end he got everything working, using a built-in servo motor in the cluster to make a “ticking” sound for seconds, and using the fuel gauge to keep track of the minutes. [Esko] also donated it to a local car museum when he finished so that others can enjoy this unique timepiece. Be sure to check out the video below to see this clock in action, and if you’re looking for other uses for instrument clusters that you might have lying around, be sure to check out this cluster used for video games.

The mechanics in dashboards are awesome, and produced at scale. That’s why our own [Adam Fabio] is able to get a hold of that type of hardware for his Analog Gauge Stepper kit. He simply adds a 3D printed needle, and a PCB to make interfacing easy.

Read more on MAKE

Read more on MAKE

A while ago, I got hold of a car alarm unit and its two remote control fobs. When i hooked it up to 12V I realized that it didn’t  work, not responding to any of the commands from the two fobs even though their batteries were OK. Naturally, I opened up the unit to start harvesting parts and noticed the RF module within (the one that sticks out perpendicularly) and I figured it shouldn’t be too hard to use the module with an Arduino.

read more

Codebits is the most geekest event in Portugal and surroundings!

read more

Here’s some amazing work from maker Blair Kelly:

Arduino Wifly Mini is a remotely operated vehicle that communicates over a WiFi network, can be controlled with an XBOX 360 or PS3 controller, or G27 steering wheel, or any other controller that can be manipulated with Processing’s ProControll library, and features force-feedback and a first-person view. Presently only the G27 wheel and a Logitech F510 controller rumble properly with force-feedback.

My favorite part is that the point-of-view camera inside the car can be set to pan in the direction that you’re steering so that you can see where you’re going. I also love that he implemented force feedback to the controller triggered from sensors on the car. If you’d like to know how he did it all, boy are you in luck. Blair documented this project in incredible detail. Nice work!