MS Windows for PRIUS

That reminds me of a joke that has been circulating about If Microsoft built cars... you would have to reboot them every few blocks...

Anybody knows if what displays on the MFD is embedded Linux? If it is, anybody out there that knows Linux and likes to experiment?

 

I agree.

I'm a software developer - when I'm going for building a secure system, I like to supplement known security software with my own protocols. Although the code may be a bit more proprietary, I can license it, and because it's based on already known and secure protocols, I know that if my protocol security gets broken, I'm still somewhat safe.

I wouldn't mind Toyota supplying us with some sort of API so that we could write our own software modules for the display. Too bad it probably won't happen...

 

Heh, heh. I heard that one as "How would you like a car that crashes 3 times a day?" :lol:

Either that or if the car won't work, everyone gets out and gets back in. This generally works and is considered normal.

 

It's not that they don't use a standard protocol for Bluetooth. The Prius's bluetooth option adheres to the Bluetooth standard, but Toyota has only implemented maybe one or two of the Bluetooth profiles on the Prius. Specifically, the ones for headset and the one for file transfer for Vcards for the phone book. Not much damage you can do with just those two.

The OS running the Prius's phone book is proprietary, so sending junk to your Prius will do you know good as really you can't get anything to executing on the Prius.

This would be a different story if the bluetooth stack ran on top of Windows CE for example.

 

That would be fantastic - as a .NET Solution Developer, I'd be in heaven.

Although, I'd be happy if we had some sort of programming reference to go by. I don't even know where to start. This would be a super-cool project though. I wonder if re-writing the Prius firmware would void one's warranty?

 

B)
I am also a software engineer.
I think it would be pretty darn kewl if there were a sandbox (physically separate from the critical core systems) to which useful applications could be installed.
Toyota could easily expose some system information to this sandbox in a read-only manner.

 

I do not know, when describing my impressions of the Prius to my fellow engineers, all I have to say is, "it's the Macintosh of automobiles" and they know exactly what I mean about reliability, ease of use, superb value for the slightly higher price paid, elegant industrial design, and intuitive user interface (once you "unlearn" all that last-century stuff from your previous cars).

I can only imagine the looks of disgust I'd get if had to say, "oh yeah, and its MFD software works just like Windows".

Of course I might be slightly biased.

 

A familiar interface..Windows? Don't know if I would like it..need a simulation to check it out.

Customizable look and feel would be nice! I dont think any of the color schemes except green look good 'because the buttons still remain green.

I think there are too many "clicks" as it is now, I don't turn on my heat anymore, I set it up! and please ..beep beep beep beep.. wish there was a way to turn it off!



What if Bill Gates built a car ...
THE MICROSOFT ROCKET

So you climb into your new Microsoft Rocket.

You turn the key. A Head-Up Display (HUD) on the windshield lights up with the following message:

Customer:>

Baffled, you open the owner's manual and look up "Starting your new Microsoft Rocket." The book says that when you see Customer:>, you should type the word AUTOS and hit the horn button. You do, and the windshield turns white, and little pictures start forming all over the windshield, about 1 per second, until the windshield is so full of them you can hardly see out of it. You look closely at these pictures and notice that they have words on them like "ENGINE," "TRANSMISSION," "FUEL SYSTEM," and "IGNITION SYSTEM."

Still the car has not started. The owner's manual says that you should now take your mouse (stored in the center console) and start activating all these systems by double clicking on each one of them. So you do.

After about 5-6 minutes since you first turned on the key, the engine in your Microsoft Rocket sputters to life.

Slowly you pull away, and everything seems normal as you cruise down the street. You decide to turn on the dealer installed radio. As soon as you turn it on, the engine dies, all four wheels lock up, and the car screeches to a halt. A message pops up on the windshield and says:

"System Conflict: An unknown accessory has been installed. You should turn off all systems and restart your automobile. Contact manufacturer of accessory and ask him what he did wrong. Do not contact Microsoft, nothing is our fault."

So you turn off the radio and start over.

Soon after this, you are again cruising down the road. Up ahead, you see a stopped school bus. So you take your mouse, and move the cursor on the HUD to the menu item that says "TOOLS."

Clicking on that item, a drop down menu drops down, and lists several items, one of which is "VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEMS."

You click on that, and several other menu items come up, one of which is labeled "BRAKES." But "BRAKES" is in gray letters, not black, and you have this sickening feeling that you forgot to turn this feature on.

So you quickly hit the escape key and move the cursor to "SETUP." A few more quick clicks and you see the menu item called "ACTIVATE BRAKES." Just as you are about to hit the mouse button, you hit the bus.

Now imagine what General Motors might do if cars were bought like computers...

Helpline: General Motors Helpline, how can I help you?

Customer: I got in my car and closed the door, and nothing happened.

Helpline: Did you put the key in the ignition slot and turn it?

Customer: What's an ignition?

Helpline: It's a starter motor that draws current from your battery and turns over the engine.

Customer: Ignition? Motor? Battery? Engine? How come I have to know all of these technical terms just to use my car?

Helpline: General Motors Helpline, how can I help you?

Customer: My car ran fine for a week, and now it won't go anywhere.

Helpline: Is the petrol tank empty?

Customer: Huh? How do I know?

Helpline: There's a little gauge on the front panel, with a needle and markings from 'E' to 'F'. Where is the needle pointing?

Customer: To 'E'. What does that mean?

Helpline: It means that you have to visit a petrol station and purchase some more petrol. You can install it yourself or pay the petrol station to install it for you.

Customer: What!??! I paid $12,000 for this car, and now you're telling me that I have to keep buying more components? I want a car that comes with everything built in.

Helpline: General Motors Helpline, how can I help you?

Customer: Hi. I've just bought my first car, and I chose your car because it has automatic transmission, cruise control, power steering, power brakes and power door locks.

Helpline: Thanks for buying our car. How can I help you?

Customer: How do I work it?

Helpline: Do you know how to drive?

Customer: Do I know how to what?

Helpline: Do you know how to drive?

Customer: I'm not a technical person! I just want to go places in my car!

Helpline: Where do you want to go today?

Helpline: General Motors Helpline, how can I help you?

Customer: Your cars suck.

Helpline: What's wrong?

Customer: It crashed, that's what went wrong!

Helpline: What were you doing?

Customer: I wanted to run faster, so I pushed the accelerator pedal all the way to the floor. It worked for a while, but then it crashed and now it won't start!

Helpline: It's your responsibility if you misuse the product. What do you expect us to do about it?

Customer: I want you to send me one of the latest version that doesn't crash anymore!

(you can read this at http://www.computerpranks.com/jokes/default.cfm?ItemID=2946 if you want to get a bunch of cookies and pop-ups)

Me thinks NOT

 

Please say you were just joking. I try to get away from Windows as much as I can and the last thing I need is MS Windows in my Prius.

 

I have thought about building a MS embedded piece of hardware into a Prius. It would be like a computer in your car - pull up into a Holiday Inn parking lot and surf the web, or sync your Outlook and return emails from your Prius. It'd be a cool tool for a lot of traveling businesspersons.

 

Siemens provides an API for the BMW iDrive system. I saw them demo it at least year's JavaONE, and it was fantastic. No .net support as yet, last I heard they were sticking to viable languages.

 

I guess you are talking about that alleged operating system under development in Redmond. I hear they are getting closer to a viable product. Why not a UNIX based system?

 

Like the Mac, Prius owners are a very loyal and passionate group, but they seem much better informed about their purchase than most Mac owners. Unfortunately, the most vocal proponents of the Prius are often the most misinformed, much like the Mac (thankfully they are far less often encountered on this forum than that "other" one).

 

Culled from varoius web sites:

If Microsoft build cars:

For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.

Every time they repainted the lines on the road, you'd have to buy a new car.

Occasionally your car would just die on the motorway for no reason, You would have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the car windows, shut it off, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this, restart and drive on.

Occasionally, executing a maneuver would cause your car to stop and fail to restart and you'd have to re-install the engine. For some strange reason, you'd accept this too.

Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

You could only have one person in the car at a time, unless you bout a "Car 95" or a "Car NT". But then you'd have to buy more seats.

Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, twice as reliable, five times as fast, twice as easy to drive - but it would only run on five percent of the roads.

The Macintosh car owners would get expensive Microsoft upgrades to their cars which would make their cars go much slower.

The oil, engine, gas and alternator warning lights would be replaced with a single "General Car Fault" warning light.

People would get excited about the "new" features in Microsoft cars, forgetting completely that they had been available in other cars for many years.

We'd all have to switch to Microsoft petrol and lubricants but the packaging would be superb.

New seats would force everyone to have the same size arse.

The airbag system would say "Are you sure?" before going off.

If you were involved in a crash, you would have no idea what happened.

They wouldn't build their own engines, but form a cartel with their engine suppliers. The latest engine would have 16 cylinders, multi-point fuel injection and 4 turbos, but it would be a side-valve design so you could use Model-T Ford parts on it.

There would be an "Engium Pro" with bigger turbos, but it would be slower on most existing roads.

Microsoft cars would have a special radio/cassette player which would only be able to listen to Microsoft FM, and play Microsoft Cassettes.Unless of course, you buy the upgrade to use existing stuff.

Microsoft would do so well, because even though they don't own anyroads, all of the road manufacturers would give away Microsoft cars free,including IBM.

If you still ran old versions of car (ie. CarDOS 6.22/CarWIN 3.11),then you would be called old fashioned, but you would be able to drive muchfaster, and on more roads!

If you couldn't afford to buy a new car, then you could just borrow your friends, and then copy it.

Whenever you bought a car, you would have to reorganize the ignitionfor a few days before it worked.

You would need to buy an upgrade to run cars on a motorway next to each other.

Every time Microsoft introduced a new car, car buyers would have to learn to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

Microsoft would require all car buyers to also purchase a deluxe set of Automobile Association Road maps (now a Microsoft subsidiary), even though they neither need nor want them. Attempting to delete this option would immediately cause the car's performance to diminish by 50% or more.

You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.

 

I really don't mind what language the software is in - I jsut want some sort of programming API - from there, the possibilities are endless.

 

if they use Outlook...
I bring my laptop with me and do this already
I don't want any junk mail on my Prius

 

I understand the claim that the car could become unsafe if third parties were able to tap into the drivetrain programming even through an API.

However, the MFD is on the AVC network which is totally separate from the drivetrain network (CAN). Now there is a gateway ECU that links most (if not all ) the networks together, but it can be set up, if not already done, where the AVC would have read only access to the CAN data, with minimal write access. The gateway would act as the firewall as well as the router it is now. OK, it isn't a router, but a gateway (hence the name) since you have different network protocols, but you get the idea.

I have to check but I think the AC ECU (amplifier) is on the CAN, and the MFD which is on AVC has to control it, so thats the only bridge I know of where MFD sends data to CAN.


EDIT: Just looked at the repair manual, the AC ECU is on the BEAN (body network). The amplifier has to contact the inverter to turn on the compressor and/or the heater core valve as well as the coolant electric pump to feed heat to the heater core when the ICE is not actually running.

 

If you check out this link...

http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArt...s/J2ME/TLA.html

They describe exactly how the Siemens Java API is implemented on BMWs. What's really exciting about this is that it's documented, and relatively open. And Java itself can only access a limited subset of the car's functionality.

But some of the stuff you could do, and they sort of mention is, use a bluetooth attachment for your iPod to stream bluetooth audio (stereo headset profile) to the car. You'd just have to write up the code. Or use your MP3 capable cellphone, create a bemused server to sit on it, and then a bemused client on the car so you could control your playlist and MP3s via BT. Or hell... use your cellphone as a DUN gateway to stream audio to the car.

Use the phone to display weather alerts right on the nav screen, using the built in GPS to get a location reference. Got a long trip planned? Use the destinations and route to get weather alerts or traffic alerts for roads you'll be taking.

The possibilities here are really limitless.