YAY! It’s a hack this time on hackaday =]

Posted at 2:09 pm on Nov 15th, 2009 by stealthmonkey

Note, this is a LIDAR tester, not a RADAR tester. No RF to be seen here, just another arduino flashing a led at 238Hz.

But if you have a need it seems like a good solution to your problem

Posted at 3:00 pm on Nov 15th, 2009 by ...

Can I use it to make speeders slow down?

Posted at 3:28 pm on Nov 15th, 2009 by gyro_john

@gyro_john:

That seems like a great/hilarious idea for those annoying drivers that rely to heavily on those radar detectors!

Posted at 3:36 pm on Nov 15th, 2009 by Tuckie

… Is correct. This is a LIDAR testing unit. That’s also an Infa-Red emiting Diode, not just a standard LED.

Posted at 3:46 pm on Nov 15th, 2009 by RF_Monkey

Oops. Forgot. In many states, its illegal to have a Lidar/Radar jamming device. ;-)

Posted at 3:47 pm on Nov 15th, 2009 by RF_Monkey

Radar (from the cops) is in a part of the RF spectrum that is not open for folks to “play in”. If you do decide to play around in this part of the spectrum you are opening yourself up to getting to know the local FCC “agent”. The FCC, however, does not “own” the part of the spectrum which “light” comes from so you can hack away there as much as you want. This is why you can find legal laser jammers but no (or very few) legal radar jammers.

If you want to test your detector’s LIDAR capabilities just go follow a later model GMC around; their brake lights emit light in the LIDAR frequency range.

Then when you figure out that your RADAR/LIDAR detector sucks go get yourself a Valentine 1. ;)

Cool project nonetheless.

Posted at 3:58 pm on Nov 15th, 2009 by Greg

Happened to find this if anyone is interested in more about this topic:

http://www.guysoflidar.com/

Some crazy tests there.

Posted at 3:59 pm on Nov 15th, 2009 by darksim905

What if you mounted this in the back of your car and had it constantly running a ‘test’? Would that screw with any LIDAR you passed? I mean the way it would work in my mind is that it would receive your signal far before it would receive it’s own back, so it would read your speed as being, say, 500MPH. It might still send you a ticket if it’s one of those systems that mails them automatically, but I don’t think that would be a very difficult one to contest…

Posted at 5:42 pm on Nov 15th, 2009 by Urza9814

@Greg: What is with all the people lately? Everyone’s going all “let’s be safe!” and “don’t break laws!”. GAH! That’s not the hacker spirit!

Posted at 6:02 pm on Nov 15th, 2009 by Pilotgeek

@Urza9814:

Didn’t read the Instructable that closely, but I would assume this device has a very limited range, as the IR LEDs here must be putting out many times less energy than what is used in a real LIDAR gun.

Presumably that could be addressed with a larger LED array and more powerful driver though, if you really wanted to aggravate law enforcement.

Posted at 6:10 pm on Nov 15th, 2009 by MS3FGX

Cyclists could have some fun with this, embedding IR LEDs into existing bike light setups so it doesn’t look like you’ve got any additional devices.

Posted at 6:11 pm on Nov 15th, 2009 by Haku

I can see the intentions in this and every other radar detector.. But the plain and simple fact is- if we don’t have our radar on the front or back and it is on standby, IT IS NOT TRANSMITTING. Some might say that it still transmits a minute signal, but still.. the case of the radar is metallic so that would block anything from getting out

Posted at 6:54 pm on Nov 15th, 2009 by incognito53

@incognito53

…which is why detectors are damn near pointless.

…unlesss….
Ok, for our next hack, someone rig up a radar detector to either a rig to flip/change your license plate (james bond style), a rig to flash a _really_ bright light, a smoke screen, or a HERF gun. So the automated camera either can’t get your plate number or can’t get a picture of you.

Of course, all of these ideas are just more likely to get you arrested…especially if it’s a cop sitting hidden on the side of the road rather than a mounted camera…

Posted at 7:54 pm on Nov 15th, 2009 by Urza9814

@Urza9814
Or you could drive the speed limit and not run red lights. Just a thought.

This is a cool hack, though the guys of lidar link above is really all you need to know about detectors.

Posted at 1:19 am on Nov 16th, 2009 by Spork

The best defence against lidar is a laser parking sensor. Fit it to the front of the car to help when parking. Also happens to disrupt police lidar guns, but is 100% legal as it is a safety device.

Posted at 3:21 am on Nov 16th, 2009 by MoJo

@mojo

that is like using a tv remote as a mirt.

supposedly you can get a certain make of universal remote and program a tv to 911 and viola you can now turn all the lights green

Posted at 5:10 am on Nov 16th, 2009 by ejonesss

i saw that device with IR diodes and NE555 to turn traffic lights green when in range. here it is i-hacked(dot)com/content/view/176/44/

Posted at 5:47 am on Nov 16th, 2009 by markii

As previously stated by incognito53, RADAR, when on standby, the mode in which most experienced officers run it, is not detectable in anything but laboratory conditions. LIDAR detectors are a joke, since most of them are also off, until the officer is actually tracking a violator. Since it operates at light speed, the violator’s speed will already have been checked by the time his detector alerts and he reacts. Again, the best method to avoid detection is to not drive like an idiot.

Oh, and have a nice day. :p

Posted at 7:37 am on Nov 16th, 2009 by The Arbiter

@Greg: That’s not entirely true. K-band radars use the 24 GHz ISM band, which anyone can play in without a license. Intentional interference is illegal, however. (Tripping someone’s radar detector…probably OK. Jamming police radar…probably not OK.)

The 10 GHz X-band is off limits (unless you have an amateur radio license), and the 34-35 GHz range used by photo radar is also only for licensed use.

Posted at 11:20 am on Nov 16th, 2009 by Orv

Maybe harder in the states given that your plates out metal embossed, but in the UK I wondered if it would be possible (expensive though) to build plates from an LED screen?

You could have some crazy refresh rate on the screen that obscured the whole plate value (perhaps scanning left to right).

Just something I thought about on one of my long commutes.

Posted at 2:15 pm on Nov 16th, 2009 by tehgringe

@tehgringe

I also have thought of an LCD screen that is transparent, but flickers between dark and transparent at a certain rate that cams can detect it.

Posted at 3:04 pm on Nov 16th, 2009 by aguiluz

The point of a radar detector isn’t to detect when the cop is pointing the gun at you. It is to see when the cop is pointing the gun at someone ahead you, preferably as far ahead as possible. I’ve had radar hits 5 miles away with my Valentine 1. Most of the time, though, it’s just beyond line of sight, which still gives me plenty of time to slow down.

When I read the title, I thought that this would be a device that tests radar detectors for VG2 detection. Some radar detectors have very noisy oscillators that can be “heard” from far away. My V1 has picked up on noisy off brand detectors many times. It can be annoying if it is someone heading the same direction as me on the same road. I generally end up speeding up or letting them pass to get away from them.

Posted at 6:22 pm on Nov 16th, 2009 by Min

@Orv: thanks for the clarification. My muddled point was that there can be legal issues “playing” with RF (K, Ka, etc.) but that you can do anything that you like in LIDAR range.
@Min: yup the V1’s are the best money can buy! The newer versions even detect that they are detecting a crap detector (oscillator noise) and give an audible as well as “J” (for junk) indication.
@Arbiter: yes, not driving like an idiot will save you in more ways than one. However I would not trade the situational awareness that my V1s (plural) provide. Agreed most of the time LIDAR is detected its aimed at you and you are already “cooked” – so to speak. But my V1 has saved me numerous times – not because I was driving like an idiot but because I was driving faster than the posted limit (there is a difference).

Posted at 9:58 pm on Nov 16th, 2009 by Greg