New cell phone app: Tesla Tattler --- works on all cell phones

[SByer]

Worked, thanks.

 

[markwj]

Great project. I'm new to TMC, but have 25+ years of software development experience under my belt. Embedded Linux is my day job. Let me know how how I can help.

 

[NigelM]

Is the project alive and can it work on a BB?

 

[scott451]

Is the project alive and can it work on a BB?

Yes and Yes.

I got the OK from work to release the tatter a few weeks ago. But I have been swamped at work and on other projects, so I haven't spent as much time as I would like finishing up the tattler...

As far as using a Blackberry goes, Yes it works. We used the BB as the lowest form of "web browser capable" phone for all our testing. Particularly the GPS command.

 

[zack]

Is the demo turned off now?

 

[NigelM]

Yes and Yes.

I got the OK from work to release the tatter a few weeks ago. But I have been swamped at work and on other projects, so I haven't spent as much time as I would like finishing up the tattler...

Cool. Can't wait to get it and try it out!

As far as using a Blackberry goes, Yes it works. We used the BB as the lowest form of "web browser capable" phone for all our testing.

Now that's embarrassing - my BB is the lowest form of phone life... :redface:

 

[doug]

Here are some of the supported features:

Help: help on all commands
Alarm: lock, unlock, valet, SMS message when alarm tripped,
Charge: start, stop, mode, top off
monitor: sends charge updates every xx% or xx miles, or xx minutes. message at start/stop/error/done.
Cooldown: [a battery feature, more on this later]
Location: sends GPS lat long and an http link to Google maps.​

The command structure is designed to be simple and SMS/T9 friendly. E.g. "charge stop", "stop charge", and "stop" are the same.

Any way to force the alarm to sound?

 

[scott451]

Any way to force the alarm to sound?

After seeing bonnie1194's post, I was thinking the same thing.
Yes, I think so... [EDIT: BUZZ wrong, see below] I believe the vms monitors the switch pack (doors) on the ESS bus, but the alarm is on the IP bus, which is the same one the tattler uses. Tomsax was in town and we had a nice discussion about the Tesla. One of the things he mentioned is if the "alarm is set and you open the trunk with a key (or screwdriver), the alarm doesn't go off!". So I should be able to do both. 1) Monitor the trunk state and trigger the alarm if it is opened. 2) Add a "Panic" command to the SMS parser. As a side note, at one point I was looking at setting off the alarm via SMS as a way to "find" the car in a parking lot.

EDIT:
So I spent some time in the car sniffing the IP CAN bus. From what I can tell the alarm is not on the IP bus. I can enable/disable the alarm and I can set the 3rd key fob button to panic/trunk/homelink, but I can't trip the alarm. Bummer

As for the tattler, I can still send an SMS message "ALARM:TRUNK OPEN" if the trunk is opened and the alarm is set.

 

[tomsax]

Tomsax was in town and we had a nice discussion about the Tesla.

Indeed! We were chatting in a restaurant about the Tattler and Scott popped out his phone and starting showing it in action. First, he showed me the state of charge, then did the GPS command, got back a link to Google Maps, followed the link and there was the pin right where his car was parked. He showed me how it does all of the obvious stuff that Tesla should have done by now: notify if a charge is interrupted, notify when a charge completes, setting the current limit to 30A so you can get maximum bang out of a J1772 charging station with a dumb J-to-1450 adapter, even have the car cool the battery pack when you plug in after a hot drive but wait until your preferred (off-peak) time to charge.

Meanwhile, Tesla takes nine months to make a simple J1772 plug adapter and doesn't even bother testing it with the only J1772 station made that supports 70A charging.

If bonnie1194 hadn't been charging at a ChargePoint station, she wouldn't have known hoodlums were messing with her car. With the Tattler, you can get messages for unplug events even if you are charging at a dumb charger or even an RV park outlet.

I can't wait to get a Tattler in my car. Once you've seen it in action, you'll wonder how you ever drove the car without it.

 

[TEG]

Cool that the two of you met in person. As far as I know, you two are tops when it comes to re-engineering things of this nature.

 

[doug]

So I spent some time in the car sniffing the IP CAN bus. From what I can tell the alarm is not on the IP bus. I can enable/disable the alarm and I can set the 3rd key fob button to panic/trunk/homelink, but I can't trip the alarm. Bummer

As for the tattler, I can still send an SMS message "ALARM:TRUNK OPEN" if the trunk is opened and the alarm is set.

Any chance the alarm chirps if you quickly enable a second time? (Like pressing lock button twice on the key fob seems to do for most cars.)

 

[doug]

He showed me how it does all of the obvious stuff that Tesla should have done by now...

No idea why Tesla hasn't implemented these simple things yet. Especially since it's something customers have been asking about for a while now. My only guess is they don't see it as a good return on investment. Has Tesla ever made an official statement about it?

 

[markwj]

No idea why Tesla hasn't implemented these simple things yet. Especially since it's something customers have been asking about for a while now. My only guess is they don't see it as a good return on investment. Has Tesla ever made an official statement about it?

The annoying thing is that the current (2.x) roadsters have all the hardware necessary. Computer+Display connected to the right busses, with a GPS and GSM modem. All they need is software, a backend server, and an API. The front-ends would be written for them.

The older roadster would need hardware.

I guess the problem is the limited market. A few hundred sales - even if the work is limited in scope.

 

[vfx]

Indeed! We were chatting in a restaurant about the Tattler and Scott popped out his phone and starting showing it in action.....

It is indeed impressive. Not being a tech guy (at least at the level of Tom and Scott) I found it too be a bit over my head. The added costs were an issue to but I'm just cheap that way.

 

[bonnie]

I want one when it's ready.

 

[Jaff]

me too!

 

[AndrewBissell]

And me

 

[efxjim]

Me three

 

[Doug_G]

Me five!

 

[scott451]

Any chance the alarm chirps if you quickly enable a second time? (Like pressing lock button twice on the key fob seems to do for most cars.)

Good suggestion. I was able to command the car to "lock" four times in a row and I got three taps on the horn. It's not as loud as the solid honks of the alarm, but it's better than nothing. I should be able to honk out "SOS" using the pauses between the honks as the long/short.