GLK-Class (X204) Produced 2008-2014

Fun Idea: Remote Control the GLK

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Old Jan 8, 2014 | 01:51 PM
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2014 GLK 250
Lightbulb Fun Idea: Remote Control the GLK

Disclaimer: This is just a fun idea! I haven't actually done any work towards doing this, and I'm sure there are all sorts of legalities to contend with. But with that said, hey, let's explore the possibilities!

Often when I remote start my GLK from my cell phone, people are like "wow, can you drive it over here too?" And that got me thinking.

Anyone who has seen Mythbusters knows that turning a regular car into a remote control car is a lot of fiddling and hard work. Steering actuators, pistons on the gas and brake, etc. But in our GLKs, none of that is really needed! The car is ready to be remote controlled, pretty much out of the box:

  • Thanks to Active Park Assist, the car can electronically control the steering wheel, and turn left and right.
  • Thanks to Distronic Plus, the car has the ability to actuate both the brake pedal and the accelerator. Distronic Plus and BAS Plus also gives us a long-range forward-facing radar, to detect obstacles.
  • The engine start is electronic, with no physical key-turning required.
  • The gearbox and gearshift is electronic also, so going from Park to Drive doesn't require any physical levers to be moved, unlike a mechanical gearbox.
  • Thanks to Active Lanekeeping Assist, a high-resolution high-framerate forward-facing camera is available.
  • Parktronic also provides four additional cameras around the vehicle, along with ultrasonic sensors in all directions.
  • Lanekeeping Assist provides rear-facing radar to detect cars and obstacles alongside.
  • The Navigation system gives us an accurate GPS and directional heading via electronic compass. The nav system also allows the car to know where roads are.
Pretty much all of these features and devices are available on the car's CANBUS communications network. In theory, with enough R&D, someone could produce a single module that simply plugs in to the car and provides full remote control -- start the car, put it in gear, see all around the car via the cameras, drive, steer, avoid obstacles via the radar, and turn the car back off again.


Anyone else up for a little hacking? ;-)
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