Collaboration develops and tests smart connected technologies

“The Central Ohio region is an emerging hub for smart city and smart vehicle technologies, and our unique ensemble approach - uniting minds from academia, the public sector, and the tech industry - can set a standard for how communities can innovate mobility and use the learnings to impact vehicle development and deployment best practices,” said Marques McCammon, General Manager of Connected Vehicle Solutions at Wind River. “To realise autonomous driving for the masses, a variety of players must come together with an aligned understanding.”

“Software is core to today’s automobile, and the automobile is a central part of our communities, so it is essential to be highly inclusive and collaborative when undertaking autonomous research. This makes a city like Dublin - which embraces technology and is already one of the most connected smart cities in the US - such a natural partner,” added McCammon.

The group is planning to test emerging technologies to discover how a symbiotic relationship between vehicles and infrastructure can improve the lives of community residents. In addition to the self-driving cars themselves, the group plans to test technologies such as vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, connected vehicle cockpit software, smart sensing and mapping, and the associated data collection. With Ohio State students, researchers, and faculty to play a key role, the collaboration is also intended to further develop the next generation of expert automotive minds.

The key objective for the project’s initial phase includes joint development and testing of autonomous vehicles or 'rolling laboratories'. Applying its expertise from the aerospace and defense, industrial, and automotive industries, Wind River plans to spearhead the project development and contribute its proven software for safety-critical systems.

TRC is the largest independent proving ground and vehicle testing organisation in the Americas. It is home to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Vehicle Research and Test Center and acts as a one-stop research and development source for the entire auto industry. With expertise in areas such as crash, emissions, and durability testing, TRC can lead the validation process for the collaboration’s vehicles and be the hub for build and rigorous testing on its 4,500 acres of road courses and 7.5-mile high-speed oval.

Dublin, which has created high-speed connectivity for its businesses through more than 125 miles of underground fiber optics, is one of the end points for the 33 Smart Corridor - 35 miles of highway between Dublin and East Liberty (northwest of Columbus), where the Ohio Department of Transportation is equipping high-capacity fibre optic cable to link researchers with data from sensors along the road. The 33 Smart Corridor is primed to safely test technologies that can transform the way people and products are transported in Ohio and around the globe.

The OSU Center for Automotive Research (CAR) team can provide hands-on support, leveraging its experience in autonomous vehicle research. OSU CAR focuses on energy, safety, and the environment, with an aim to improve sustainable mobility. With a concentration on preparing the next-gen of automotive leaders, CAR emphasises systems engineering, advanced experimental facilities, collaboration on advanced product development projects with industry, and a balance of government and privately sponsored research. In the planned collaboration, CAR faculty and students would be instrumental in the algorithm development and integration of the collaboration’s test vehicles.

In addition to supplying leadership for the overall programme, Wind River can provide its expertise which has served the aerospace, industrial and defense applications for more than three decades. The Wind River portfolio of automotive products, Wind River Helix Chassis, includes technologies addressing infotainment, telematics, and digital cluster systems; safety-oriented systems such as advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving systems; and cloud-based development tools and enhancements for the applications.

“From Mars rovers to trains, cars, and commercial and military aircraft, Wind River’s core business is developing and delivering mission-critical software. In exposing Ohio State and its students to this type of software and the processes that support the development of mission-critical applications, we hope their innovations can find a faster path to production,” said McCammon.