Raspberry Pi Starts Car Remotely Using A Smartphone

Using a Raspberry Pi to start a car
(Image credit: Insane Inventions)

Makers and developers, start your engines--remotely using your smartphone with this Raspberry Pi project! This project was created by InsaneInvention and integrates an application called Telepot to communicate with Telegram to start a car.

You can send the signal to start the car using any smartphone through Telegram. Once the message to start has been received in Telegram, it's transmitted to the Raspberry Pi via Telepot. The Pi is connected to the car and uses multiple relays to start the engine.

The Raspberry Pi is configured to verify the gear shift position before sending a command to start. In Insane Inventions case, they have a stick shift. If the Pi determines the gear shift is in neutral, it will start the car. If it isn't, the Pi won't start the car but instead relays a message to Telegram indicating the current gear shift position.

This process is checked with an MPU6050 chip which also provides temperature information for the Pi to use. The project uses two relays: one for the electricity and one delayed a few more seconds for the starter.

If you want to see this project in action, you can check out InsaneInvention on YouTube. You can also follow him on Reddit for future Pi projects. 

Ash Hill
Contributing Writer

Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.