ADS PLATFORM
A major deliverable for this project is to develop a research reference vehicle platform capable of operating in Level 4 automation in limited operational design domains. As the project team began to evaluate alternatives, several criteria were developed that were deemed important for enabling the capabilities required to support successful demonstrations. These criteria included:
- An OEM production-level, FMVSS-compliant vehicle platform
- An accessible drive-by-wire capability through access to CAN control functionality or through application of an aftermarket solutions
- A large cabin to support as many riders as possible
- Hybrid or electric platform to support adequate power generation to support on-board perception and computing subsystems
- Adequate space and a way to segregate the computing hardware systems from the cabin to avoid ambient noise and heat generation near riders
- A form factor that is conducive to the addition of sensors, antennae, and peripheral equipment
After significant contemplation and review with OEM partners, the project team selected a 2022 Ford F-150 Hybrid SuperCrew Cab pickup truck.
The F-150 Automated Driving System (ADS ) integrated a Dataspeed aftermarket drive-by-wire system which was added along with a waterproof tonneau cover on the bed. A roof rack was added to support the addition of multiple sensors and antennae along with cable and power management systems to support all-weather operations. Custom power distribution, equipment mounting racks, and supplemental cooling was added to the truck bed to house the machine perception and computing systems.
The F-150 ADS consists of several subsystems that provide environmental perception by fusing machine vision applications output from multiple cameras, LiDAR, and radar. The NVIDA Hyperion 7.1 package provided a complete sensor, AI computing platform, and software stack for autonomous driving and were supplemented with additional sensors and applications as necessary to support the requirements of the scenarios. V2X (both V2V and V2I) capabilities were added through a dual-SIM 5G modem, C-V2X On-Board Unit, and Starlink Mobile satellite modem. V2X communications supported both standard SAE formatted V2X messages (SAE J2735, J2945) such as BSMs, PSMs, and TIMs and proprietary messages that carried information between the ADS F-150 and the Transurban Traffic Operations Center Operational Design Domain Data application. The communications system also supported media streaming and data communications with the remote Fleet Management System.
Under-vehicle lighting was added that illuminated the shadow beneath the vehicle which was quite visible to a public safety personnel standing nearby. Lighting patterns were used to convey vehicle intent including flashing read for slowing, solid red for staying stopped, flashing green for about to move, and solid green when moving. All lights were extinguished when speeds were greater than 5 mph.
An architectural diagram of the perception and computing systems may be seen in the figure below.
A variety of other technical systems were integrated into the F-150 ADS platform and they may be reviewed under the Technologies option on the Main page of this project portal.