Automated Vehicle Platform with Connected Driving Capabilities

TL;DR

This paper introduces a modular, connected automated vehicle platform based on Kia Soul EV, enabling wireless external event detection and real-world testing with ROS and model-predictive control.

Contribution

It presents a hardware and software platform integrating connectivity, open-source tools, and modular design for automated vehicles, facilitating transition from simulation to real-world testing.

Findings

Successful wireless sensor data exchange demonstrated

Effective use of model-predictive controller in synchronized driving

Platform supports real-world automated vehicle testing

Abstract

Augmenting automated vehicles to wirelessly detect and respond to external events before they are detectable by onboard sensors is crucial for developing context-aware driving strategies. To this end, we present an automated vehicle platform, designed with connectivity, ease of use and modularity in mind, both in hardware and software. It is based on the Kia Soul EV with a modified version of the Open-Source Car Control (OSCC) drive-by-wire module, uses the open-source Robot Operating System (ROS and ROS 2) in its software architecture, and provides a straightforward solution for transitioning from simulations to real-world tests. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the platform through a synchronised driving test, where sensor data is exchanged wirelessly, and a model-predictive controller is used to actuate the automated vehicle.