2009 Charger AC/Heater control question

Hmmmm....
I gotta believe there is a way to make this work (aside from the ipad programming part, so unrelated).

My thinking is, if I can just figure out how exactly the heater/ac control knobs work, I can put something in its place. kind of like a "man in the middle", make that device send the same signals....and then no ECU in the car has to even know that the stock controls aren't telling it what to do.
Im thinking, if I can get this arduino (whatever it is) to work or something similar, and it can mimic the same output signals/resistance/whatever as the stock controls...it will work. Then its just a matter of getting the Ipad to control the other device...wish it was open source like a droid, but im an IOS guy.

really dummied down example, If you take a toaster and plug it into the kitchen outlet, it works....if you take the toaster and plug it into the outlet near the bathtub it will work just the same...cuz the toaster doesn't care, its getting the same power/signal to make it work.
Same premise on this idea, I hope.

Think im going to have to buy a heater control off eBay, tear it apart and see what I can see.