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Quick car detection

Allows quick and easy detection of your car without the 10 mile walk

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I was in the mall today doing some well-earned retail therapy (cough), and came out feeling satisfied with the fact my mother's bank balance had been healthily reduced, when my moment of contentment was cut short. For, once again, we 'couldn't find the bloody car'.. My idea is to install the car with some sort of identification device to save all this unnecessary hassle.. At the push of a button (much like those used for unlocking car doors), an infra-red signal which is unique to your car is sent out. This is detected by the device and triggers it to protrude out of the car (possibly roof) and catch the attention of the owner by spinning and sending out some kind of noise. The owner detects the car, switches off the device and saves a good 10 minutes hunting round for their own.. Devices can have a personalised sound to avoid confusion if two are set off at one time.

—	deoxyribonucleic, Jan 07 2007

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I think Radio based system would work better as infra red has 2 problems, 1) its line of sight so you could only use it if you could already see your car. 2) it is short range so not only would you have to see your car you would have to be standing very close to it.

Make it radio and you get my bun.

Oh and something like a large pinwheel or a beenie with a propeller would be cool.

—	jhomrighaus, Jan 07 2007

Ok, scrap infra-red and go with radio waves. As well as the personalised sound, you can also choose your own protrusion so yes, a large pinwheel or beenie with propeller could be a good possibility.. :)

—	deoxyribonucleic, Jan 10 2007

You can already get car alarms with multiple relay outputs you can control using your remote fob. You can start the engine, flash the headlights and sound the horn to catch your attention. I think they use 433Mhz @ 10mW output, which is all you are allowed on this license-free band so the range of these devices is relatively low (you always boost it a bit by holding it against your head when you press it). A high power mode for these little emergencies would be nice. Or you could get a small pocket GPS and set a waypoint when you park (if you are in open air of course lol)

—	ollie2000, Jan 10 2007

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