Garage of the future?

[vash]

an alarm that goes off when i start showing some butt crack.

[Randy Webb]

There will be a lot more electronics and compu-gear -- wifi for sure.

BTW, if Dqwn Stover, the Science Ed. is your ed. on this, then say hi to her for me (The "sage grouse" guy).

PS is getting a lot more eco-ware over the last few years, so I agree with the comments above re parts cleaners, etc.

[on-ramp]

this may be pushing it but, forget about lifts.

How about anti-gravity levitation....drive the car in, push a switch, and car floats up 8 feet in the air, ready to be tinkered with.

[doozer]

Two Requests

How about a ultra hot robot tool girl that dispenses wrenches , beverages, snacks, 10w-30, and such? Sultry voice - Maybe with built in radio

Wall mounted big screen plasma / video, pay per session, tech support experts - a know it all who can see my car by video and tell me what to look for or what I did wrong - and I can see him on the big plasma screen so he can hold up a part or a tool and say "right there bone head"..

[john70t]

Popular Science is, and always has been, an awesome magazine!!!! Remember though, the stuff they print is generations of technology old. Think about the potential we have today! Amazing.

They already have the instant auto-dark shades using LCD film(that's being developed but forever waiting to be released) for home windows, and wasen't there a Japanese ion film being developed for self-cleaning by anti-charging the dust?

I personally would patent it first and then discuss it (no country-club for me yet), and think the manufacturers will electronically lock-out any shade-treeing of the future(there has already been a massive lawsuit by the independant shops to get access to fix the new cars), but then again I'm a pessamist about these things.

[john70t]

In terms of personal repair abilities:

-the ability to move any machine in any position.

-the ability to have every tool to manipulate any material in any fashion.

-the ability to access any information(OEM or self-prioritized links to "old-school" wisdom) in any format, and a non-invasive warning system when my own system is outside parameters.

-probably the most important in the long run...the ability to be comfortable, see everything, and remain focused on the end result.

As weekend mechanics, we will never get beyond the human abilities of those who first went into space in a tin can.

[bigchillcar]

hmmm...

a pulldown hide-a-bed would be nice...it would be grand to be able to sleep in the garage. imagine...dim the lights...just you and the p-car (or share with a suitably well-built p-car afficianado). last thing you see at beddy bye before nodding off...into p-car dreamland...

who needs the rest of the freakin' house? just more superfulous **** to have to pay to air condition?! i'm presently single and looking for a garage with minimum house...
ryan

[Chuck Moreland]

Cordless air tools

[bigchillcar]

Cordless air tools

chuck,
all my large tools are already the cordless air variety...i grunt and breath hard...
ryan

[Rob Channell]

You said:
"How about a device that plugs into your car and runs a complete mechanical diagnosis. That machine will also provide a step by step solution to the problems it discovers along with identifying potential problems."

I've got one of those. I call him Charlie. Hydrocarbon based and runs on money.

Rob

[doozer]

Stationary virtual test track - like a rolling dyno with cones

[Paul Franssen]

How about some kind of pencil-like tube with a bottleneck-wide "head" at the end of it, which you can fill with a biological herbal substance, and when applying an open flame to it, it produces smoke which you can inhale, leading to all sorts of fantastic dreams like Porsches floating in the air and girl-robots tickling the mechanics...
;-))))))

Driving the darn car, is another (p)age, though!

[svandamme]

Paul , i'll send you a pic of my bong when i'm ready manufacturing it
i'll use my old upper valve covers for it 2 intakes, 2 exhaust

nothing like high performance car parts, to make a high performance bong

[RickM]

Originally posted by john70t
They already have the instant auto-dark shades using LCD film(that's being developed but forever waiting to be released) for home windows

I'm aware of a product which has crystal layers sandwiched in glass but not of a film that can be applied like today's DIY film window tint.

Edmund Scientific used to sell the glass. You can control tint from clear to zero light.

[HawgRyder]

How about the ecology angle...a device that plugs into the engine or transmission that recirculates the oil/lube to clean and restore.
That way you never change the lube...just renew it.
Come to think of it...why oil in the first place....why not silicone based lube for the engine?
We also need the big screen for technical info...or perhaps a hologram of a master mechanic to guide you through repairs.
How about a self contained power source driven by magnetic energy that you can carry around like a battery?
You could have that unit power a hydraulic pump for tool power instead of air or elecricity.
Perhaps the same type of power unit could be used to run the car instaed of gasoline...that would shake up OPEC !!
Bob

[304065]

Steve,

I'll echo some of the stuff above but try to think within 10-15 years from now;

Cordless electric torque wrenches that automatically adjust to the size of the bolt AND will pre select the appropriate default torque value from an internal table, and will also do things like angle torque automatically, without the use of a protractor. Could also incorporate a bar code reader to pick up information from the bolt head itself, e.g. a security code so you know it's a genuine Porsche bolt, not a cheap counterfeit, the recommended torque setting, and for a stretch bolt, the tool would memorize that particular bolt's barcode and refuse to torque it a second time!

Following up on the eco idea, how about a bioreactor in the garage that will turn hydrocarbon-based waste (oil, brake fluid, used gas) into an inert substance that is capable of being landfilled. If you project the direction of future environmental regs, it's highly likely that there will be a clampdown on the generation of even minute quantities of hazmat that either make it illegal or prohibitively expensive to DIY your oil change. Or change out your proton exchange membrane, probably.

[RickM]

Originally posted by john_cramer
Following up on the eco idea, how about a bioreactor in the garage that will turn hydrocarbon-based waste (oil, brake fluid, used gas) into an inert substance that is capable of being landfilled....

http://www.cleanburn.com/cb1500.cfm

[Randy Webb]

"small, portable x-ray machine "
- these already exist: research scientists, some vets, and many engineering profs have them. I sure wouldn't trust a DIYer with one tho -- I didn't even trust grad. students to be safe with a radiation machine (much less the idiots that used to spill radioactive liquids as they walked past my office to the scintillation counter... I haven't even gotten to the cretins with virulent pathogens yet....)

Oh yeh -- we will soon see small fuel cells powering laptops. As they get cheaper, we'll see them in power tools and... we will be able to dump that heavy lump of electricity out of the car.

PS - I mean the battery, not the girl friend.

[Bill Verburg]

Radiant heat in the floor, my own DynaPack, built in lift

[Cerbin]

What about some sort of dyno? Amongst other things, that would be sweet.