Throughout Stage 1 of the Year 4 Competition, teams have been competing in various vehicle testing events. Some of these events include an On-Road Safety Evaluation, Energy Consumption, Adaptive Cruise Control Drive Quality, as well as the Connected Mobility Challenge.
The Connected Mobility Challenge tests Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) connectivity capabilities on the teams’ 2019 Chevrolet Blazers. The team vehicles intelligently navigated a connected signalized intersection with real-time time Signal Phase and Timing (SPaT)/MAP information. This allows teams to test Vehicle to Everything (V2X) systems on board.
Jacob Roberts, CAVs Team Member on the Mississippi State University (MSU) EcoCAR Team, spent the spring semester interning with the Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition (AVTC) team at Argonne National Laboratory. During his internship, Roberts focused on preparing for the competition’s Connected Mobility Challenge and developed tools to support on-road testing of V2X enabled vehicles.
One of the tools Roberts developed was a user interface for viewing V2X information from vehicles and intersections sent and received with radios. This user interface allows organizers to analyze how a vehicle is reacting to information received from a nearby intersection in real time. One of the tools Roberts developed, LiveV2X, is a user interface for viewing V2X information from vehicles and intersections sent and received with Cohda Wireless dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) radios (a sponsor component).
The DSRC radios communicate directly with vehicles and intersections via radio modules & antennas installed in the vehicles or intersections. For the EcoCAR to properly communicate with the Codha Wireless radios installed, the intersections or other vehicle radios must follow the DSRC protocols. LiveV2X allows us to analyze in real-time how a vehicle is reacting to DSRC signals from a nearby intersection.
According to Roberts, “The user interface tool that I developed was very useful for running the Connected Mobility Challenge because it enabled the organizers to send messages to a V2X radio for transmission.” He added, “The tool also received vehicle information over V2X and enabled teams to receive data on the distance of a vehicle to an intersection for calculations and to start transmission of messages used at intersections. Overall, this tool helped EcoCAR teams have consistent test runs during the Connected Mobility Challenge.”
Roberts is currently at the General Motors Desert Proving Ground with his team at the Year 4 Competition. Roberts had the opportunity to see his team’s 2019 Chevrolet Blazer compete in the Connected Mobility Challenge and see his projects come to fruition.
Roberts said “MSU’s team successfully completed the Connected Mobility Challenge. The vehicle made the correct decision to stop for a red light and then proceeded through the intersection when the light returned to green.” He added, “Additionally, when the intersection stoplight was green upon arrival, the vehicle proceeded through the intersection with no hesitation.”
Roberts is proud of his semester-long project and excited to see the outcome of his work.
Stay tuned as the 1st Place award for the Connected Mobility Challenge event will be given out at the EcoCAR Demo Day at the Phoenix Raceway on May 17.
