I’ve always wondered if you could make a kit to swap out a cars computer with a… Raspberry Pi or something. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a car where you know what hardware it has, what software it’s running and who gets data from it?
It’s not that hard to make a car to run with an aftermarket ECU, there are already companies that make modular kits. However it’s basically impossible to get a car with an aftermarket ECU through inspection. I live in a US state with no vehicle inspection, seatbelt or helmet laws so I can die a free man as god intended.
Every little thing in the car has a computer and they have kilometers of wire connecting it all. You would need hundreds of Raspberry PIs with CAN and LIN communication capabilities.
While developing a new car each of those computers has a team of developers and testers working for two or more years on that single thing, so in total a few thousand people have touched just the electronics in that car. Even if they cared about your privacy no single person would ever be able to know for sure what software is running on what hardware in every corner of that car.
The only way you’d get a feasible DIY car is with 1950s or 60s technology which is illegal to sell in most developed economies.
I’ve always wondered if you could make a kit to swap out a cars computer with a… Raspberry Pi or something. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a car where you know what hardware it has, what software it’s running and who gets data from it?
It’s not that hard to make a car to run with an aftermarket ECU, there are already companies that make modular kits. However it’s basically impossible to get a car with an aftermarket ECU through inspection. I live in a US state with no vehicle inspection, seatbelt or helmet laws so I can die a free man as god intended.
Every little thing in the car has a computer and they have kilometers of wire connecting it all. You would need hundreds of Raspberry PIs with CAN and LIN communication capabilities.
While developing a new car each of those computers has a team of developers and testers working for two or more years on that single thing, so in total a few thousand people have touched just the electronics in that car. Even if they cared about your privacy no single person would ever be able to know for sure what software is running on what hardware in every corner of that car.
The only way you’d get a feasible DIY car is with 1950s or 60s technology which is illegal to sell in most developed economies.