The Development of an OpenXC Research Environment for Designing and Customizing Vehicle-Centric Applications

Location

Nessmith-Lane Atrium

Session Format

Poster Presentation

Research Area Topic:

Education & Learning - STEM Education

Abstract

The main goal of this project is to design, build and test a research environment based on the OpenXC development platform. OpenXC is an application programming interface that can be used to develop various in-vehicle user applications. It provides an ideal learning environment to engage students in the research and design process and gives them practical, hands-on experiential learning opportunities. The OpenXC system architecture involves a vehicle interface (VI) that is connected to an automobile or to a controller area network (CAN) bus emulator to read various data signals from the on-board diagnostics (OBD) port. These data signals are fed as input to a host device (e.g. an Android tablet) or to a Python-based prototyping environment. The data can be used in vehicle-centric applications to provide real-time information about the vehicle.

For this project undergraduate students explored the OpenXC toolset by (1) integrating a vehicle interface (VI) to a host device and (2) implementing basic applications to display vehicle data on the host device. The research environment supports both a hardware component and a software component. This environment creates an integrated development platform that can be used for prototyping and testing. For the first objective to integrate the VI with the host device, researchers investigated host devices that support application development. The primary characteristic of the host device includes the ability to receive and parse OpenXC formatted vehicle data via USB, wi-fi or network interface. Android devices (2.2 or later) are typically used as a host device and were subsequently, selected for this testbed implementation. In addition, during the prototyping and testing phase, it was useful to design a Python programming environment that supports an OpenXC library since it has low-overhead and faster implementation time. For the second objective to implement basic applications to display vehicle data on the host device, researchers designed an application that creates a user profile. The profile stores information about the user and their preferred car. Other basic vehicle-centric applications included displaying vehicle data on the display monitor and installing an OpenXC vehicle simulator to simulate a vehicle data trace in real time.

In addition to basic applications, researchers are investigating more advanced in-vehicle applications that drivers may find useful and interesting. Some examples include shift knob vibration warning system, rearview camera, night vision and LED display. Some innovative solutions may include applications that give and receive audio information or even visual scene analysis information. This project engages and enhances engineering students’ knowledge and abilities, and also inspires them to think and create beyond the textbook in an environment that motivates and promotes academic enrichment.

Presentation Type and Release Option

Presentation (Open Access)

Start Date

4-16-2016 2:45 PM

End Date

4-16-2016 4:00 PM

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Apr 16th, 2:45 PM Apr 16th, 4:00 PM

The Development of an OpenXC Research Environment for Designing and Customizing Vehicle-Centric Applications

Nessmith-Lane Atrium

The main goal of this project is to design, build and test a research environment based on the OpenXC development platform. OpenXC is an application programming interface that can be used to develop various in-vehicle user applications. It provides an ideal learning environment to engage students in the research and design process and gives them practical, hands-on experiential learning opportunities. The OpenXC system architecture involves a vehicle interface (VI) that is connected to an automobile or to a controller area network (CAN) bus emulator to read various data signals from the on-board diagnostics (OBD) port. These data signals are fed as input to a host device (e.g. an Android tablet) or to a Python-based prototyping environment. The data can be used in vehicle-centric applications to provide real-time information about the vehicle.

For this project undergraduate students explored the OpenXC toolset by (1) integrating a vehicle interface (VI) to a host device and (2) implementing basic applications to display vehicle data on the host device. The research environment supports both a hardware component and a software component. This environment creates an integrated development platform that can be used for prototyping and testing. For the first objective to integrate the VI with the host device, researchers investigated host devices that support application development. The primary characteristic of the host device includes the ability to receive and parse OpenXC formatted vehicle data via USB, wi-fi or network interface. Android devices (2.2 or later) are typically used as a host device and were subsequently, selected for this testbed implementation. In addition, during the prototyping and testing phase, it was useful to design a Python programming environment that supports an OpenXC library since it has low-overhead and faster implementation time. For the second objective to implement basic applications to display vehicle data on the host device, researchers designed an application that creates a user profile. The profile stores information about the user and their preferred car. Other basic vehicle-centric applications included displaying vehicle data on the display monitor and installing an OpenXC vehicle simulator to simulate a vehicle data trace in real time.

In addition to basic applications, researchers are investigating more advanced in-vehicle applications that drivers may find useful and interesting. Some examples include shift knob vibration warning system, rearview camera, night vision and LED display. Some innovative solutions may include applications that give and receive audio information or even visual scene analysis information. This project engages and enhances engineering students’ knowledge and abilities, and also inspires them to think and create beyond the textbook in an environment that motivates and promotes academic enrichment.