- Joined
- Jan 17, 2009
- Messages
- 5,204
- Reaction score
- 1,547
Back in December 2010 I posted the source code for the program that runs on the microcontroller. I thought hard before posting it, and this is what I ended up with (the following is a cut-and-paste from https://nerdfever.com/?p=1116, posted 12/3/2010):
The code I’m posting today, like the earlier “Rev3″ code, does not include the navigation code. But it does include everything else - logging altimeter, parachute deployment, GPS, servo control, etc. Because of the “abuse potential” of the nav code (think of navigating things to places where they ought not to be), I don’t intend to make the nav source code public. Once it’s working well, I might be interested in working with reputable vendors to sell hardware that includes this function, but if I do, it’ll have some protections in place against abuse. The main protection I’m considering is to limit the target location the system will aim for – it has to be a place the unit has physically been since it was powered up (you won’t be able to program in some other location). That way, if you’re not allowed to go somewhere with a handful of blinking rocket electronics, you can’t land the rocket there either. I’d like feedback on this idea. (Yes, anything can be hacked if you put enough effort into it, but my goal is to make it harder to hack the system than for “bad guys” to build their own – there are, after all, books on the subject…
I hope this makes you feel at least a little more comfortable with what Boris and I are doing. FWIW, nobody other than myself has access to the navigation code
Yes, that definitely makes a difference. And is a far different tone about respecting these issues than came across in a previous message. The fact that it can NOT be programmed for any particular GPS coordinates, that is has to physically "be there" first, makes a big difference. Though I can think of a way that could be thwarted, but then you can probably very easily address that in the programming, once realizing the loophole.
I will follow up in private e-mail with some other comments and ideas. Might be a day or two before I can write it.
- George Gassaway