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[on:]

I want to do two projects. I have and arduino mega now and i have a raspberri pi on the way. i need help deciding which project to do with which one.

1. Project with my car. Kind of a do it your self custimization. I want to control my door locks, trunk pop, possibly my windows later, and maaaybe. if i feel froggy then i may even piddle around with remote start. Now i do have a manual transmission so it would be very precise sensors. That's to worry about later though.

2. I want to make a universal remote. for everything from my xbox, to replace a media remote, to my tyelevision, to my cable box, to my vcr, dvd player, home audio system.


now here's the catch. I'm going to make apps on my phone to control them both. And i want them to be wireless to the control devices.

Suggestions and thoughts?

[Reply #1 on:]

The Arduino should be able to do all of these things, both projects

Plus, your phone can do any sort of heavy processing that you might want, it's probably more powerful than the Raspberry Pi

[Reply #2 on:]

i was just thinking. it is dead simple to add wifi to a raspberry pi. the downside is that i think i may need more i/o than the raspi has. adding wifi to the mega is still pretty simple but more expensive.

[Reply #3 on:]

Right now, there is more infrastructure around the Arduino than the R-Pi.  It may be in 6-9 months time there will be much more support for physical devices on the R-Pi, but right now, I would go the Arduino route.  It may be with all of the stuff you have planned, you may eventually outgrow the Mega, and the bigger address space + faster processor on the R-Pi may be needed.  Or you create multiple specialized Arduino's that handle specific tasks.

In terms of a universal IR remote, there is this tutorial from Lady Ada (i.e. adafruit): http://www.ladyada.net/learn/sensors/ir.html.

Do remember to always have a manual override, in case things go haywire, or your batteries run down.

[Reply #4 on:]

yeah, i was thinking that i would try to incorporate some sort of data logging into the car one (why not) and a voltage sensor to put the device into a shutdown mode to prevent the battery going too low and preventing starting and restart once there is sufficent voltage.

[Reply #5 on:]

For data logging, you pretty much need to write to a SD card, since Arduinos don't have that much memory, and if you wanted to save it in memory preserved across no power (EEPROM), it is even smaller.

[Reply #6 on:]

Just trolling the wonderful instructables site. I kind of think i want to add RFID to my car.....More research to research.... also more storage that i would need. Is there a limit to the size that an SD card can be read by arduino? Raspi can do up to 32 well and i could use wifi to make the data transfer faster. Mostly im interested in the idea that i could use NFC as a unlock for my car door. in addition to the wireless app that i could show off.

[Reply #7 on:]

Okay summary of possible ways to do this stuff.

1. Raspi with wireless dongle. can do the RFID/NFC with a USB reader and have the database on the raspi's card. data logging on card as well. Interfacing with the car's electronics through relays off of GPIO pins. Multiplexing if i run low on pins.

Downsides: Would have to configure the raspi to watch what wireless networks are available. and when it doesnt see my home network it would need to run it's own. Do-able but also means that my app has to manage what wireless my phone is connected to. sounds like it will get complicated quickly. Would need to do some kind of an interface or A/D converter to read car battery voltage to prevent causing the car to not turn over.

Upsides: I usually have wifi on on my phone anyways. The RFID would work with my phone and be managed completely by the raspi.  One of the least expensive options. Debugging with a interface


2. Raspi with bluetooth dongle.

Downsides: bluetooth would be an additional wireless signal my phone would have to run, lowering battery life. Offloading of the logged data would take longer. Easily rectified by just making sure it transfers at night though.

Upside: Bluetooth being seperate from wireless, i wouldnt need to manage the wireless networks in the raspi switching back and forth. Only connecting to my home.  Also one of the least expensive options. debugging with a interface


3. Mega with serial bluetooth interface. This means that the RFID would have to be either a serial connection of some kind. voltage reading is straightforward enough. as are relay interfacing with the car.

Downsides: RFID modules arent cheap. all of the data would have to be stored on the SD card. Still means an additional signal coming from my phone which means less battery life. difficult to debug

Upsides: No wireless network managing.


4. Mega with wireless interface and RFID interface. 

Downsides: wireless managing on the arduino isn't a fun idea, neither is trying to run a network from the arudino. debugging