Remote Car Starter integration?

Thanks @rleonard55. That’s super cool!!

I’ve done a bit of obsessing over this and have come up with 3 options for getting Alexa to start your car. Please friends let me know if you can think of others.

Expensive
Viper Smart Start.
Purchase the Viper Smart Start add-on to your remote starter ($150) and a cellular service plan from Viper ($189 for 3 years) and use the above DH or create your own integration based on the unofficial web API’s for Viper. Seeing as these are unofficial they could disappear at any time, have not been updated in 2 years and there is no support from Viper themselves.

  • Most elegant. Most expensive. Security risk. You don’t lose a key fob. Could go away at any time.

Mid Range
Use a MicroBot Push to physically click a key fob.
Set up a project box somewhere in your house that contains your remote starter key fob and the MicroBot Push finger/button device ($30-$50). You will need also need the Prota Hub ($90) to make the connection to IFTTT/Alexa. (It does look like you could install the hub software on a RPi3 ($35+) as well.) I would expect some lag from IFTTT. Also not sure if the microbot retracts fast enough. On my key fob, if you press and hold, it unlocks the doors instead of starting the car.

  • Lag with IFTTT. Lose a key fob. Admittedly haven’t tried it.

Cheapest
Hack the key fob.

  • Requires a bit of engineering know how. You’re putting your key fob (and maybe more) at risk. Cost of a zwave switch ($30) plus some extra parts ($10?)

Interested to hear what you all think about these options?

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Thanks for the effort. I have a Viper Smart Start installed. Does this still work?

Is this installed as a device or smart app?

It’s a device handler (ie not a smartapp) and works fine for me. I use it with the native google home integration to lock/unlock/stop/start my truck regularly. If you have any trouble let me know and I’ll do what I can to help out.

-Rob

Thanks Rob. I’ll give it a try this week.

Lee

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Hey all,
So I went with the mid-range option above (using the Microbot Push/Prota) and having pretty decent success. I built a cradle for it out of a small piece of wood and a decora light switch cover. (one of the screwless kinds for a cleaner look) I put a little rubber bumper on the key fob to make it easier for the Push to do it’s job.

I went with a Raspberry Pi 3 as the hub for the Push and installed the free ProtaPi OS. ProtaPi seems to run very sluggishly. Set up is not trivial either. You don’t need to know how to code, but using the mobile app to configure the hub is a major PITA. I have to assume buying the ProtaS is at least easier on the setup side. Still, the cost is hard to beat and Naran has confirmed they’re working on a version of ProtaPi to support the RPi Zero W. So it would be even cheaper.

I wanted to integrate this into ST, because I wanted to literally say the words, “Alexa, turn on the car.” I created a virtual switch in SmartThings called “Car.” SmartThings is not needed to make this work however.

So here’s how everything talks to each other.

“Alexa, turn on the car, please.”
Alexa - SmartThings - IFTTT - ProtaPi - Microbot - Key fob - Car

It seems like a lot of steps, but there is acceptable latency. Consistently getting about as much as the video above shows. I just tuck the pi and the cradle away out of sight.

Note: You do not need Smartthings for this. You can simply use IFTTT directly since there is a native Alexa channel. I imagine it probably shaves some time off of the response as well.

“Alexa, trigger the car, please.”
Alexa - IFTTT - ProtaPi - Microbot - Key fob - Car

Would love to hear your thoughts!

And here are links to buy the stuff used in this project:
Microbot Push: http://amzn.to/2rRxAMo - $50

Prota S Hub: http://amzn.to/2s1ReHD - $90
or
Raspberry Pi 3: http://amzn.to/2sJ1ylI - $35 - with Prota Pi OS: https://prota.info/prota/pi/

Decora light Switch cover: http://amzn.to/2skkvxK - $5

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@rleonard55
Thanks for providing the device handler. Its working fine for me. But would like to know how you are using it with Google Home? What separate commands do I need to tell to lock, unlock, start etc?

How secure is the ST SmartApp infrastructure? I’m not sure how I like storing my SmartStart credentials considering it has access to my vehicle and its GPS location.

Wonder if someone can throw together something to shut the trunk if being open for more than x amount of minutes. Sometimes while sitting on the couch the aux key on the fob gets pressed and opens the trunk.

figured it out… now i wish i can do that trunk close thing
//Where do I enter my login info?

i just got it to work with google home. changed the nikname and assigned a room “car” and saying “hey google turn on my car” does it

I am feeling way too new :wink: How does one implement a event handler? I’m assuming I did this wrong. I imported this in as a device handler and published it through the IDE but I am having a brain fart on how to access/use it (or if I did this completely wrong. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Edit: Ok so I added the Device Handler and tried to create a device to use it however it asks for a device network ID when creating a device so I’m still feeling new :wink:

Edit: One last one although I wont know if it worked until I get to my truck. I created a device, assigned my own network ID and then changed the login credentials etc. It shows up good so hopefully I did this right. My truck right now is 7 blocks away so I’ll verify when I leave work later.

In the meantime, you can always have your wife call you and have her put her cell phone by the car as you engage your key fob by your cell phone. The signal should open the door and/or trunk depending on the command sent.

First things first, this is awesome!

I have a few questions. I am hoping someone has already played around with this, if not I will do the leg work to test and figure it out.

  1. Is there a way to integrate the device handler into WebCore? I am trying to build a failsafe…if car starts then open garage door.

  2. How does Alexa interact with the device handler?

@rleonard55 I just got smartstart and am trying this and it doesnt work. I notice https://colt.calamp-ts.com as the login url but that is an installer url and since viper is installed by partners only I can’t log into this. Thoughts?

Looks like its been a while since last reply. I would love to be able to use on-star to start via this app (and eventually Alexa). since I haven’t seen a skill from GMC/Chevy/On-Star…

Disregard… I figured out the problem.

I take it this is no longer working or a viable device handler?
I have it setup up but in the Smart Things app shows a GROOVYX.NET.HTTP.HTTPRESPONSEEXCEPTION:UNAUTHORIZED.WWW.AUTHENTICATE

Any help greatly appreciated

Mark

In case anyone here in interested, based on the advise of some others I have added a seperate post to release the “2.0” version of the Viper Smart Start device handler.

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Rich, I apologize it has been so long (somehow update notifications weren’t getting through before). You are mostly right that the colt.calamp-ts is a ‘vendor’ site. That is what viper uses in the background to power “SmartStart”. If you are still interested you should take a look [Release] Vehicle Remote Start (SmartStart) Integration it is updated in a lot of ways and should help you get going. FYI the viper smartstart login credentials should work both in the DH and at https://colt.calamp-ts.com/ directly if you want to give it a go. Best of luck.

-Rob

FYI - In case you are sill trying to get this working you might want to try [Release] Vehicle Remote Start (SmartStart) Integration as it has updated allot since the version here. Also don’t forget to use the gear cog and enter your SmartStart credentials (I’m guessing that was your original issue) either that our you had a special character in your password that doesn’t parse to a web address nicely (that happened to me originally)

I have the viper smart start app too, is there a way for (bixby) the galaxy note 9 (alexa) to auto start my car with smart things???