Smart, Connected, and Autonomous Automobiles – the impact

Although most of the population cannot afford a new automobile every new model year, the auto makers use mass media to advertise their new vehicles each year and to introduce the public to the new features of their products. It should be obvious to even the casual observer that today’s automobiles have never been as intelligent or technologically sophisticated as they presently are. In fact, automobiles are in the process of morphing into super-computers/robots on wheels. It is widely predicted that in a few short years autonomous cars will be in mass production. As they become an appreciable fraction of the automotive fleet, many believe that automotive transportation will forever change for the better. The most important change will involve vehicle safety but many have predicted a whole multitude of other sociological changes to human behavior involving automotive transportation. Today, the automobile manufacturers advertise advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) like self-braking or collision avoidance systems. Enabled by networked embedded controllers and complex sensors and actuators, ADAS systems are becoming standard equipment on an automakers fleet and not just the high-end models. In the near future, using these enabling technologies, even more sophisticated sensors, and emerging wireless networking technologies the automobile will become a true cyber-physical system aware of its surroundings and eventually capable of autonomous operation. Presently, formal education of these advanced technology enablers is woefully lacking at vocational (K-12), post-secondary technical schools, and two-year colleges that teach automotive technology. Furthermore, most colleges that offer electrical/electronic engineering technology (EET) education at the two-year college level, as of yet, do not have educational courses or programs to teach this new technology if they were called upon to fulfill the need. The enabling technologies for these ADAS systems are inter-disciplinary in nature. Computer networking for automobiles, embedded controllers, wireless networking, radar and LiDAR are not common topics found in typical EET programs, let alone automotive technology programs that still tend to focus on traditional mechanical technologies. Truly autonomous automobiles will also need an additional support infrastructure that will allow vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, as well as, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) or vehicle-to-roadside (V2R) wireless networking. There will need to be an effort made to supply technicians with the skill sets needed to install, evaluate, maintain, and up-grade these advanced automotive systems and support infrastructure as they are presently being manufactured and envisioned for the future. This paper will attempt to present a “road map” to a future curriculum that will satisfy the needs of this rapidly emerging transformation in automotive transportation technology. Introduction: For the past four decades, automobile manufacturers have been incrementally adding electronics to their vehicles. Early on, the reason for this was quite simple. Mechanical parts wear out and therefore require preventive maintenance, repair, and/or complete replacement. Mechanical points used in distributor based legacy ignition systems (with a life-span of roughly 12,000 – 15,000 miles) were eventually replaced by electronic ignitions that have the benefit of much longer life-spans. Presently, the distributor-less ignitions in today’s vehicles may never need servicing during the life-time of the vehicle. Furthermore, as time went on, with the advent of on-board computers and sensors for camshaft and crankshaft position, the vehicle’s electronic control module (ECM) now controlled the ignition spark and timing and did it better than the old distributor based systems. With the introduction of emissions and gas mileage standards for automobiles, manufacturers initially contrived improvements through mechanical designs (e.g. exhaust gas recirculation, catalytic converters, etc.). Eventually electronic based innovations and improvements like electronic fuel injection (EFI) systems and exhaust O2 sensors combined with electronically controlled transmissions and improved ECMs provided the enhancements to lower emissions and increase mileage. As the amount of automobile on-board electronics continued to rise with the addition of other microcontrollers (known in the industry as electronic control units or ECUs), the need for improved vehicle diagnostics and some form of vehicle communications network to implement the diagnostic system and coordinate the operations of the various control systems arose. The result was the initial OBD (on-board diagnostic) system and the venerable CAN (controller area network) bus. About the same time as these innovations, vehicle safety became an international concern and eventually safety legislation in the United States mandated the use of front airbags in all passenger cars and light trucks built after September 1, 19981. This safety innovation was achieved through the use of a sophisticated electronic crash sensor and the airbag electronic control unit. This particular use of electronics signaled the start of the era of “passive” or “passive reactive” passenger safety protection. That is, providing some form of passenger protection after an accident or collision has happened. Today’s Vehicle Technology: Today’s automobiles may have upwards of 50 to 75 microcontrollers on board, the ECM may run several to many million lines of code, and approximately one third or more of the vehicle’s cost may be attributed to the on-board electronic control systems. By 2030 this cost share2 is expected to rise to 50%! One may categorize automotive electronics into five broad areas of application: Infotainment, Body Electronics, Chassis Electronics, Powertrain Electronics, and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)3. Furthermore, we have entered the era of hybrid, electric, and alternative fuel vehicles which requires even more complex and high-power electronic controls to implement these technologies effectively. Let’s briefly survey these broad application areas. Automotive Infotainment systems are evolving to encompass the concept of the “connected vehicle”. Besides the classic in-car radio entertainment system with CD players and MP3 compatibility, today’s vehicles are able to receive satellite entertainment and global positioning system (GPS) signals, as well as, the traditional terrestrial AM and FM stations. Vehicles equipped with “OnStar” or similar type plans utilize the cellular telephone system to communicate and now provide emergency, security, navigation, and Internet connectivity4. In car Wi-Fi hot spots are now available and most cars come with an information cluster display (LCD screen) that integrates most of the infotainment control functions into one central area and also displays navigation and on-board camera information. In the near future, the automobile will be wirelessly connected to the “cloud” which will allow for navigation, safety and traffic updates, as well as, passenger connectivity for Internet access and streaming services. Vehicle to anything (V2X) connectivity is another matter and will be discussed in the context of autonomous cars. Body electronics consists mainly of the vehicle’s data bus networks, rearview mirror features, doors, locks, and windows, and occupant safety features. There are several different types of automotive vehicle data buses in use and they are typically differentiated by their speed and purpose. The CAN bus standard has been updated to version 2.0 and FlexRay, LIN, and MOST bus protocols have all been revised to deal with new technologies and speed requirements. Many observers of the automotive industry believe that the Ethernet networking standard will eventually need to be adopted as the automobile becomes more connected to the cloud and additional cloud based applications are implemented (i.e. traffic control, vehicle prognosis, etc.)5. As of today, only the Tesla car company has adopted the Ethernet standard for its in-vehicle data network. Also, it should be noted that the on board diagnostic system has been upgraded and is now known as OBDII. Chassis electronics refers to vehicle speed control systems, anti-locking braking systems (ABS), adaptive suspension systems, and electronic stability control (ESC). All of these systems use “smart” electronic control systems that take sensor input signals and under program control modify the vehicle’s operation to protect the occupant from hazardous or potentially unsafe conditions by improving the vehicle’s stability or traction or traffic speed. In the United States, ESC was mandated for all passenger vehicles built after 2012 by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA)6. Large trucks will be required to have ESC by 2017. Powertrain electronics basically refer to the initial vehicle electronic control functions of the early ECMs. Engine and automatic transmission controls that reduce emissions and improve engine efficiency. In the case of hybrid and electric vehicles, these controls provide an interface between the gasoline powered engine and the electric engine (motor) in a hybrid, and provide control of all functions for totally electric vehicles. Additionally, the operation of the continuously variable speed (CVS) transmission and vehicle battery charging are also controlled by the powertrain electronics. The last category of automotive electronics is that of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). What is different about these systems is that they are no longer passive safety systems. They are all active safety systems that are implemented to protect the vehicle’s occupants by preventing accidents or collisions (the chassis electronic systems detailed earlier also fit this category but usually are not labeled as ADAS systems). What further differentiates