Modular Electric Vehicle – CSE Senior Design

Team Name

CAN-On-Wheels

Timeline

Fall 2023 – Spring 2024

Students

Carson Fabbro
Leonardo Ibarra
Hector Sosa
Edwin Diaz
Destiny Rogers

Abstract

Today, our modern vehicles cotains more computing units than ever seen before. With the rise of advanced drive assist systems and computer vision technology in cars, the need for a platform to test these vehicles is essential. At this moment, auto manufacturers export the development process for these computing units to third parties, and then incorporate them to their vehicles when done. Our project proposes the idea of developing a platform by which auto manufacturers can rapidly prototype the vehicles in house and thus reduce overall cost. This will be done by taking a powerwheels car and adding embedded processors in such a way that enhances the functionality of the vehicle.

Background

Many popular vehicle manufacturers put a major focus on hardware rather than software, but as hardware innovation plateaus, consumer focus is shifting toward better software. With modular technology, giants in the automotive industry can transition to a more software-heavy approach like new companies in the automotive space. A small scale electric vehicle platform by which engineers, car manufacturers, and future embedded programmers can test their vehicle modules in various configurations would allow for manufacturers to program their modules in house and see their behavior instantaneously. If there is a specific recall, the vehicle which has specific configuration can be replicated in our module, of which it can have its modules replaced. This vehicle platform can serve to diagnose which of the modules is misbehaving via a port or screen. In the future, the internal communication protocol can be replaced to reflect the changes of the vehicle industry which demands higher data transfer rates of which ethernet can be capable to accomplish.

Project Requirements

List highest priority requirements here (top 10)

The modular electrical vehicle will have a battery management system, motor control system, RTOS, a remote control system, and a drive assist system.
The battery management system will maintain optimal voltage levels, maximum battery life, and proper temperature control to create the most stable system possible.
The project must fit within the $800 alloted budget.
We need to be able to dictate the motion of the product. The motor control system will include the direction of product when in motion and the speed at which it moves.
Range of motion will be a constraint as with any standard car. Movement directions can be potentially limited.
The vehicle’s movement will be controllable via some external device. The external device should be able to communicate with the motor control system.
The remote control device must not interfere with any other communication protocols present in the device or the modules created by the CAN on Wheels team. The protocol of the remote control device should also be made known to consumers.
The electric vehicle must be able to get real time data from all of it’s sensors at a timely manner in order to adjust thee constantly changing road conditions of the road itself. This RTOS will be able to manage to the data that its receiving from the various sensors and give it back to other modules at a timely manner.
The RTOS will need a small footprint in order to allow space for other tasks. It must have a predefined priority level for each module that will read off data at a certain rate.
The car must be able to be controlled wirelessly, communicated to the motor control system over the CAN Bus.
The ECU’s in the vehicle must communicate to eachother via the CAN Bus.

System Overview

Results

Wrote a Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) that runs each module and serves as a framework for developers.
The Intercommunication system uses Controller Area Network (CAN) to log diagnostic data, report on the status of other modules, and provides a command line interface for the vehicle. It also allows for the addition of other ECUs to support modularity.
The Battery Management system was developed for safe charging and routing power to new and existing modules. It separates logic-level circuitry and power-level circuitry.
The Motor Control system coordinates the motors and reports its diagnostic data. It also supports the connection of a wireless control module.
The Wireless Control Module remotely controls the vehicle’s speed and steering. It serves as an example of the vehicle’s modularity.
Completed all of the major system requirements.
Project Demo
Driving Demo

Future Work

The vehicle will be able to navigate and move on its own to a specified location as a partially autonomousvehicle. It must do so without creating hazardous situations and maintain a speed similar to what a user would travel at.
As the demand for drive assist technologies and autonomous driving are rising, the amount of information transferred is increasing as well. The vehicle, which will be implementing a CAN bus system, should be able to port its inter-module communication system to another protocol such as ethernet. This would allow for the vehicle to mature and change with the current trends in industry.
Speed sensors using optical interruptors, that allow the vehicle to monitor the speed of each wheel. Additionally, a PID controller to allow the wheels to move at the same rate.
Traction control system to prevent slipping in wet conditions.
Collision safety system which deploys an airbag when a collision is detected.
Weatherproofing to allow the car to drive in wet conditions.
LCD display which displays information about the car.
Rear view camera, and display.