What can CANBUS control in cars?

[Lightning]

Hey Everyone,

I'm doing some research into electronic alternative controls for cars as part of a university initiative.

Despite my research, there is a massive hole of knowledge about in-vehicle networking. I believe that CANBUS is used as standard in all EU and US vehicles as part of their on-board diagnostic requirements (OBD/OBDII/EOBD standard).

Basically I would like to know what is possible to access/control with the in-vehicle networking (CANBUS) if I was to create a network interface node and plug it straight into the car?

Ideally I would like to control all secondary functions such as headlights and indicators plus I am also curious to know how much of the primary functionality of the vehicle I could control; accelerator, ABS etc (I don't think clutch is possible).

Any help would be appreciated as I am quite in the dark and I would like to have a solid basis before I go and stick my head in the engine compartment of all the vehicles at work and realise I know nothing!

Thank you.

 

[Memory_Leak]

I think the answer depends quite a bit on what kind of car you choose

 

[Minder]

You would need to modify the firmware, this is in the memory IC that you swap when replacing the computer.
M.

 

[shumifan50]

All bus protocols are designed to control the flow of data, either as a bit stream or as (very few these days) a parallel byte stream. What is carried on this protocol is decided by the designer of the software, unless a standard software protocol is used. A while back I was reading about vehicle control while searching for a totally different solution (I sidetrack easily) and seem to remember that there are some good specifications for in-car control.
I would not recommend accessing the manufacturers implementation(s) as you may not be aware of time-critical messages or safety/fallback implementations in their firmware - unless you can lay your hands on their full specification.

I would also recommend caution when interfering with things like accelerators, brakes etc, as failure of these can lead to casualties.

 

[Gryd3]

I would encourage you to look online and google 'car hacking'
http://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers-remotely-kill-jeep-highway/
There are a number of resources available that show which models are vulnerable, and which services you can control.
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-hackable-cars-on-the-road-today-2015-8

This is actually quite a large topic lately... as software and security can have a direct impact on lives.
You will find that some vehicles are already able to manipulate a vast number of resources in a vehicle as soon as you gain access to the network. Many are non encrypted due to the requirement of requiring physical access to the network... but you will also find a couple models that are vulnerable to remote manipulation. Usually by gaining access to the car's multi-media devices and installing an alternative firmware or malware that allows you to bridge the gap between the harmless network responsible for dome-light and media, and the 'protected' network responsible for ABS, self-steering, engine control etc.