Shin and He believe their technology could transform the landscape of vehicle security.
They see two possible futures for Battery Sleuth — either an aftermarket product or a vehicle feature offered in partnership with an automaker. Shin and He have been granted two U.S. patents for the device, one for controlling battery output to prevent theft and the other for an anti-theft vehicle immobilizer using batteries.
He said the former option would likely result in the product debuting essentially as it exists now. With support from an automaker, however, the invention could become much more.
Battery Sleuth could control any vehicle systems that use electricity, He and Shin said. For example, the keypad could be installed in a vehicle’s door and used to control entrance. In this scenario, the keypad could also be replaced by any number of sensors, from a biometric fingerprint scanner to an employee ID-badge reader.
“This will be a solution to just get rid of keys,” He said.
Shin and He will now be getting out of the lab and into vehicles for testing at the University of Michigan’s MCity track.
Armed with a $1.2 million National Science Foundation grant, the research team will be testing the endurance and reliability of Battery Sleuth, while also ensuring it does not interfere with normal vehicle systems.
The team will also tackle a number of questions, such as what happens if an owner needs to take their car to a repair shop or if a vehicle has multiple users, such as a rental car, or what happens if someone forgets their PIN.
“Right now, you would have to walk home if you forgot the PIN,” Shin said. “We have to be careful.”
More staff will be joining the team this fall to assist in the testing of Battery Sleuth and to help answer those questions. At the end of the three-year project, Shin and He hope to have a commercially viable prototype.
