Shell Oil Company in its gas station offers loyalty program under name Shell ClubSmart. Members collect points which can be later used to get rewards. In 2020 they have offered a collection of die-cast car models under name Shell Motorsport. All models of the colletion are equipped with electrical motor. One of the models - Nissan Formula E Gen 2 Car - contains a battery that can be used to control a model remotely over Bluetooth. In some markets a battery with a remote controller is available separately.
Shell offers an application for smart phones named Shell Racing on Google Play for Android and App Store for iPhone and iPad. It primarily offers a game to race with a cars. In Shell Racing Club section of the application ClubSmart members can add their membership card which will allow them race to get reward points. The same application can be used to remote control cars. The application is available by third party company BrandBase that provides very good explanation how Shell Motorsport Bluetooth Remote Control Collection is used as a campaign tool.
Shell Racing application requires internet connection for the first start:
and even later for any subsequent start:
The car cannot be controlled if internet connection is not available or game server is not reachable. The application collects information about use of remote control that is tied to device and could be connected to person who owns membership card.
I believe a player should be able to control models they own in a way they desire without being monitored.
Lastly it is interesting to look into the hardware that I have in the possesion.
Dimmensions:
- 28mm wide
- 40mm height
- 5mm width
Hong Kong regional Shell website provides following additional information:
Bluetooth® remote control distance: 8-10m
Battery charge time (full charge): approx. 30mins
Battery life: 20mins
Has Shell and Bluetooth logos.
Components:
- on/off switch
- green/orange/blue LED
Components:
- two white LED
- two pairs of connectors - each with + and - sign underneath
Text:
Brandbase
Bluetooth Remote
Control Battery
3.7 Volt 86mAh
Follow instructions
Made in China
FCB0880
MSBT LIPO
Components:
- micro USB connector
USB port is used only for charging. Data lines are not connected.
Devices use MAC Addresses with OUI 00-3C-A0.
hcitool leinfo provides
following information:
Handle: 3585 (0x0e01)
LMP Version: 4.0 (0x6) LMP Subversion: 0x709
Manufacturer: RivieraWaves S.A.S (96)
Features: 0x01 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
The most useful service and characteristics:
| Handles | Service > Characteristics | Properties |
|---|---|---|
0010 -> 001c |
fff0 |
|
0012 |
d44bc439-abfd-45a2-b575-925416129600 |
WRITE |
001b |
d44bc439-abfd-45a2-b575-925416129601 |
NOTIFY |
For completeness other services and characteristic:
| Handles | Service > Characteristics | Properties |
|---|---|---|
0010 -> 001c |
fff0 |
|
0015 |
d44bc439-abfd-45a2-b575-92541612960a |
WRITE |
0018 |
d44bc439-abfd-45a2-b575-92541612960b |
WRITE |
001d -> 0022 |
fd00 |
|
001f |
fd01 |
WRITE |
0021 |
fd02 |
WRITE, NOTIFY |
And standard Bluetooth LE services and characteristics for with data of
hyphotetical device with address 00:3C:A0:AA:BB:CC.
| Handles | Service > Characteristics | Properties | Data |
|---|---|---|---|
0001 -> 0009 |
Generic Access (1800) |
||
0003 |
Device Name (2a00) |
READ, WRITE | QCAR-AABBCC |
0005 |
Appearance (2a01) |
READ, WRITE | Unknown |
0007 |
Peripheral Preferred Connection Parameters (2a04) |
READ | Connection Interval: 300 -> 320 |
| Slave Latency: 4 | |||
| Connection Supervision Timeout Multiplier: 600 | |||
0009 |
2aa6 |
READ | 00 |
000c -> 000f |
Generic Attribute (1801) |
||
000e |
Service Changed (2a05) |
READ, INDICATE | 0100ÿÿ |
After power on a device sends advertising packets.
There are two advertising
packet types of type LE Meta (0x3e), LE Advertising Report (0x00) that
differs in Event Type.
Payload format of Event type: Connectable Undirected Advertising (0x00):
Type Flags:
| Byte offset | Length in bytes | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 0x02 |
Length |
| 1 | 1 | 0x01 |
Type |
| 2 | 1 | 0x01 |
Single mode device, non-connectible, undirected |
Device Name (shortened):
| Byte offset | Length in bytes | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | 0x0c |
Length |
| 4 | 1 | 0x08 |
Type |
| 5 | 11 | Device Name - string "QCAR-" followed by 6 upper case hex suffix of MAC address |
Manufacturer Specific:
| Byte offset | Length in bytes | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 1 | 0x05 |
Length |
| 17 | 1 | 0xff |
Type |
| 18 | 2 | 0x5452 |
Manufacturer ID |
| 20 | 2 | 0x003c |
Data |
Payload format of Event type: Scan Response (0x04):
Service Class UUIDs (incomplete)
| Byte offset | Length in bytes | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 0x02 |
Length |
| 1 | 1 | 0x06 |
Type |
| 2 | 16 | 0000fff0-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb |
UUID |
Control packets are written by client to characteristic handle 0012. It needs
to be sent every 10 miliseconds.
Each mesage is 16 bytes long. Before sending to a device it is encrypted (see Encryption section bellow). Structure of messages in clear text:
| Byte offset | Length in bytes | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | Unknown purpose | |
| 1 | 3 | 0x43544c (string "CTL") |
|
| 4 | 1 | 1 to move forward, otherwise 0 | |
| 5 | 1 | 1 to move backward, otherwise 1. Ignored if byte at offset 4 is non-zero. | |
| 6 | 1 | 1 to turn wheels left, otherwise 0 | |
| 7 | 1 | 1 to turn wheels right, otherwise 1. Ignored if byte at offset 6 is non-zero. | |
| 8 | 1 | 0x50 for normal speed, 0x64 for fast |
|
| 9 | 6 | 0 | Padding |
Typical message to keep device steady is: 0xe1055f54d880f49c2ce547267f930bf2
If a client subcribes to characteristic handle 001b it will get notification
with level of battery charge every 60 seconds.
Each mesage is 16 bytes long. After receive from a device it needs to be decrypted (see Encryption section bellow). Structure of messages in clear text:
| Byte offset | Length in bytes | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | Sequential number increased with each notification since power on, starts with 1 | |
| 1 | 3 | 0x564254 (string "VBT") |
|
| 4 | 1 | Percentage level of a battery | |
| 5 | 11 | 0 | Padding |
Both commands messages and battery notifications are encrypted with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with key size 128 bits.
Encryption key: 0x34522a5b7a6e492c08090a9d8d2a23f8.