Recently I purchased the brand new Model 3 from Tesla. This fully electric vehicle is smaller and more affordable than Tesla's original Model S. But - being the techie that I am - I was REALLY drawn not only to the fully electric motor, but the advanced software capabilities that Tesla has in their vehicles. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the Tesla cars are more software than car!
Just some of the advanced features include:
- Automatic driving
- Automatic parking (both in a parking spot and parallel parking)
- Unique user identification
- Continuous internet connection
- Remote control through mobile app
Inspired by the amazing software development that Tesla has put into the Model 3, I decided to do something a little crazy. I wondered, "Could I create a Node.js browser interface to control my Model 3?"
The answer was a resounding, "Yes!"
You can see the result in the following video:
In the video, you'll see how I used my company's new Node.js-based product - Profound.js - to control the Tesla Model 3. This was relatively easy to do because the Tesla Model 3's remote control app uses REST API and JSON to communicate with the car.
The interface I created was built using the Profound.js Visual Design tool and Node.js. This allows me to see the battery gauge, measure the inside and outside temperature of the car, find the location via Google Maps, honk the horn, flash the lights, lock and unlock the car, and open the charge port and trunk - all from my Profound.js application!
