[DukeNukem]

Savari Networks from Bangalore has emerged as a key provider & developer of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication systems. Additionally, a BHPian Rishie is part of the Savari Team

We're particularly interested in this development as, at Team-BHP, we have always strived to discuss and promote road safety.

What's V2V about?

Vehicular Communication Systems allow multiple vehicles in the vicinity to communicate pertinent safety data in real-time and inform drivers on any potential safety related information to prevent accidents.

The research for this technology started almost a decade ago, while testing is currently underway in the United States.

Why?

To most Indian motorists, unfortunately, safety is still not a priority. This is not only evident in our appalling road discipline, but also in ridiculous statistics like this – 1.42 lac people died in road accidents in 2011 in India; that's among the highest in the world (Road accidents killed 17 per hour in 2011 - Times Of India).



Current technology allows vehicles to exchange little or no information about potential traffic hazards. The bulk of the recent developments have been in the form of radar based collision warning systems. What V2V offers is a constant exchange of relevant information like speed, position of the vehicle and its projected path among vehicles in the vicinity, thereby warning drivers of any potential dangers.

How it works?

System communication can take place from Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) or Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I). Take the following example:



Data can be exchanged among vehicles that intend to depart a particular lane and other vehicles in the vicinity. Similarly, cars arriving at an intersection can transmit warning messages to other cars. Feedback to the driver can be given in the form of vibration alerts, audio warnings or visual displays... or a combination of all three.

The messages range from basic safety messages to emergency vehicle alerts to probe messages.



Hardware & Software Requirements:

These include a GPS, a system to determine universal reference time, an interface for the vehicle to receive and interpret relevant data and a wireless communication channel that can provide fast, low latency, secure communications. All of these can be integrated into a single on-board-unit (OBU).

Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) defines the standards under which the V2I and V2V systems will communicate. It resembles Wi-Fi.

Basic Safety Message (BSM):

Of these various types of messages, the BSM is used to exchange vehicle specific information such as velocity, hard braking and emergency lights etc. Typically, the BSM is sent and received 10 times per second. Some of the important features include Lane Merge Assist, Pre-Crash Sensing and Emergency Vehicle Warning.

Challenges and Timeline:

Unlike other safety technologies that can be left to the auto manufacturers or users to adopt, V2V will have to be mandatory as it requires universal adoption (at least within a country or region) for maximum effectiveness. In the US, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) plans to support the 2013 regulatory V2V decision, provided its benefits can be demonstrated in real world implementations.

The decade long research on this technology culminated in a major real world trial that started recently and is expected to involve more than 2500 cars and last two and a half years. The trial is underway at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Conclusion:

One could argue about the relevance of a technology like V2V, which is still in its nascent stage even in the West. And even if it were to see the light of day in the US in the near future, it will take years before it can be successfully adapted to Indian roads and vehicles, constrained as we are by issues like lack of discipline, costs and government apathy. More than anything, it requires driver education & awareness as most Indian car owners don't care much even about ABS. There are still many basic safety issues that will have to be dealt with first. However, despite the challenges it faces, the V2V system is still a fascinating development in the area of road safety. And who says we can’t dream big?

V2V demo by Ford:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrCyl6pOAC0

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Technical Section. Thanks for sharing!

[laluks]

As part of some analysis I had done a few months ago, the future seems bright for these connected car technologies.

For eg:- Japanese Denso Corporation, in collaboration with the Tongji University of Shanghai, will begin testing Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) technology on public roads in Taicang, Jiangsu Province, China. Denso is working on with V2X technology right from 2003.

Ford -has a program, Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership (CAMP) which is a joint public-private effort.They are doing this together with General Motors, Honda Motor, Daimler AG, Toyota Motor, the federal government, and local and county road commissions.

Denso, Ford, GM have progressed significantly on this topic.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, U.S.A) is due to make a decision in 2013, whether to standardize V2X on future cars and trucks.

Considering the average age of U.S. vehicles at 10.2 years, focus on finding ways to retrofit existing cars is also strong. Also a number of automakers and aftermarket companies are researching options to bring V2X technology into existing cars.


The potential of such products from one of the reports is as shown


Source : Automotive Research: V2X’s Current Market Status and Scenarios for Future Deployment
Automotive Research Q4 2010 Topical Report - V2X, V2V, V2I

[ghostrider]

Hats off to Savari for trying to do something cutting edge in road safety.

I have to say though I'm a little apprehensive about the implementation of a system like this in India.

Lets start with the most basic issue... I would imagine more than half the cars in the country don't have ECUs.

Most roads in India don't even have demarcated lanes, so how will the system know if you've or the car in front of you have have strayed from your lane?
Even on the few roads where there are demarcated lanes, there's no vehicular lane discipline. 99% of all traffic in India is a rampant free-for-all, so the system may not be able to detect a break in the pattern and warn you.

[amitby]

A technology that is the need of the hour.
As much as I appreciate this being done ; I cannot help noticing the fact that, through out the testing video the only form of communication between the vehicles was in beeps. I hope this would be further advanced to more effective means of communication to enable the driver to understand the scenario better and react accordingly. The visual and audio messages can be an option (the video can be distracting at times hence audio would be more effective I think).
I personally think that, this technology should enable communication through multiple cars, in case of an incident speeding cars at a distance are warned well in advance. (I hope this makes sense to other readers I am trying to pen down all the immediate ideas that strike me at the moment).
Very much excited to see this progress being made (especially when it is done in India).
Hope to see some exciting ideas being posted in this thread.
Cheers!

[GTO]

I'm just wondering how this technology can evolve:

- If it senses a fast vehicle coming your way and an absolutely imminent collision, then it could brake automatically.

- Could tell you "Hey, your friend Nick's car is just a block away". Of course, subject to privacy settings on & off.

- Based on the number of vehicles in a particular area, it could show you an alternate route with the least traffic.

Any ideas?

[laluks]

Let me share some notes I have collected during my analysis a few months back. All data are from published details on the internet.

Denso to conduct V2X technology field tests in China

The Japanese Denso Corporation, in collaboration with the Tongji University of Shanghai, will begin testing Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) technology on public roads in Taicang, Jiangsu Province, China. Although this is Denso’s first V2X technology field test on public roads in China, the company has been conducting field tests in Japan, the USA and Europe for several years. The V2X technology will be used to wirelessly communicate the vehicle position and speed of emergency vehicles, such as ambulances and fire engines, to the surrounding vehicles and roadside infrastructure. When an emergency vehicle is approaching, the technology will change the traffic lights at intersections and alert surrounding vehicles to switch lanes. The experiments are intended to give the right of way to authority vehicles in case of emergency and to help prevent vehicle collisions.

The company has been globally researching and developing V2X technology since 2003, with one of its central focus points being Dedicated Short-range Communications (DSRC); the primary enabling component of V2X communications. At its test track in Japan, it has simulated an urban road environment to check the communication performance and to develop and evaluate applications with actual vehicles. The results have been used to develop in-vehicle devices, which have been provided to various demonstration experiments involving collaboration between automakers and government agencies in Japan, the USA and Europe. Yasushi Yamanaka, executive director in charge of Denso’s engineering research and development center, said, “Due to the rapid increase in vehicles on China’s roads, chronic congestion and safety are the two largest issues, particularly in the larger cities. V2X technology, which allows cars to wirelessly communicate with other cars and roadside infrastructure, such as traffic signals, is expected to help alleviate traffic congestion and help prevent collisions.”

V2X technology
Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC)

• Two-way, short-range wireless communications technology designed for the auto industry
• Similar to Wi-Fi technology
• Allows cars to wirelessly exchange data with other cars and traffic signals
• DSRC’s primary function is to assess the surrounding environment based on precise data exchanges with other DSRC-equipped vehicles and roadside hotspots.

Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V): Crash Prevention
With all cars equipped with V2X it creates a 360-degree situational awareness for each vehicle’s surroundings. The embedded computing device on each car can use information about nearby vehicles to calculate its current and future positions. This can help predict hazardous situations and alert drivers of precautions to avoid crashes.

Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I): Easing Congestion and Improving Fuel Efficiency
V2X can also support enhanced mobility and environmental responsibility. The technology can provide advisories to in-vehicle systems on the timing of traffic signals to optimize fuel efficiency and time-saving driving habits. The technology will be able to “talk” with the signal to tell you how many seconds you have left at a red light or green light. It can also tell you what speed to drive (under the safest limit of course) to make all the green lights.


Collectively V2V and V2I are known as V2X

Denso

• Working on V2X technology since 2003\
• Main focus on dedicated short range communications (DSRC) devices.
• DSRC devices for new vehicles
• DENSO is exploring dealer install and aftermarket equipment options.
• Data exchanges with other vehicle DSRC transceivers and roadside "hotspots" can help reduce the likelihood of collisions.

Ford
Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership (CAMP) - joint public-private effort

The smart intersection, communicates with specially equipped test vehicles to warn drivers of potentially dangerous traffic situations, such as when a vehicle is about to run through a red light.

The smart intersection project will accelerate Ford’s research into proprietary active safety technologies as it continues development of a common architecture and standards for smart intersections together with General Motors, Honda Motor, Daimler AG, Toyota Motor, the federal government, and local and county road commissions.

General Motors
New technology being developed by General Motors researchers could alert drivers of potentially dangerous driving situations in advance by using small, portable devices to create a wireless safety net.

These portable devices are designed to gather information from other vehicles and infrastructure to warn drivers about slowed or stalled vehicles, hard-braking drivers, slippery roads, sharp curves and upcoming stop signs and intersections.

GM has been testing the technology in two mobile platforms: a transponder about the size of a GPS unit and a Smartphone application that can be tied to the vehicle’s display unit.

Implementations can vary. Compare this to a network, with a lot of nodes and the data that can be transmitted can be immense too.

Consider a business model where you get ads from the neighboring friendly shops on your V2X vehicle, if it so evolves too - some possibility, other than the major ones it is designed to be.

Dream Big

[ghostrider]

Originally Posted by GTO

I'm just wondering how this technology can evolve:

- If it senses a fast vehicle coming your way and an absolutely imminent collision, then it could brake automatically.

GTO, absolutely. In fact, this kinda tech is out today. Allow me to quote from the a fantastic review of the new 2013 Focus ST that I just read this morning.

"The Focus ST comes with awesome toys, only you'll never get them because you live in the U.S. The car would self-correct and maintain is position in its lane on the highway, like Knight Rider. And once when the tollbooth thing stuck to the windshield didn't trigger immediately, the auto brakes sensed the impending crash with gate and knew we were approaching the point of no return. So the Focus JAMMED the brakes and we stopped! It was so awesome! US customers will get none of this Knight Rider awesomeness. But you should be happy anyway because the little ST is fun to drive. The car itself is the toy."

Originally Posted by GTO

- Could tell you "Hey, your friend Nick's car is just a block away". Of course, subject to privacy settings on & off.
- Based on the number of vehicles in a particular area, it could show you an alternate route with the least traffic.
Any ideas?

A lot of high-end GPS systems today have a buddy-tracking system. The reason you don't hear about it too much is the same reason you don't hear about smartphone tracking apps too much either - they could be used for the wrong reasons and the manufacturers don't want the liability of legal action. Alternate route calculations based on realtime traffic conditions have been around for a little while now though.

[laluks]

Another interesting possibility from this technology (may not be interesting to some of our petrol heads )

Automated highways

Automated highway is not yet realizable but nevertheless is an important application. In these highways the vehicles are able to cruise without help of their drivers. This is done by cooperation between vehicles. For example each vehicle knows the speed and direction of travel of its neighboring vehicles through communication with them. The status is updated frequently; therefore each vehicle can predict the future up to some necessary time and is able to make appropriate decisions in appropriate time. Because automated highways are not limited by human response time, much higher speeds will be possible . This application is virtually impossible without utilizing vehicular networks

[rishie]

We are very happy to see the interest in this work by forum members.

This technology is being actively investigated by transportation departments in the US, Europe, Korea, Japan, Australia, etc. In India, the use of this particular spectrum (though kept aside for Intelligent transportation activities) is non-existent at this point. For the basic safety technology to work, one needs to only have GPS and the DSRC wireless system in the car, no need of an ECU as such or an interface to a debug port. However, if one can interface into the car CAN bus, there is a possibility of further deriving more accurate safety related information.

Originally Posted by laluks

Ford -has a program, Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership (CAMP) which is a joint public-private effort.They are doing this together with General Motors, Honda Motor, Daimler AG, Toyota Motor, the federal government, and local and county road commissions.

Denso, Ford, GM have progressed significantly on this topic.

– You are very right about CAMP. We work very actively with CAMP and have been doing so for the last few years. We are also proud that we have been selected to work with US Dept of Transportation in the largest active trial (using 2500 cars) in the US.

Originally Posted by ghostrider

Lets start with the most basic issue... I would imagine more than half the cars in the country don't have ECUs.

Most roads in India don't even have demarcated lanes, so how will the system know if you've or the car in front of you have have strayed from your lane?
Even on the few roads where there are demarcated lanes, there's no vehicular lane discipline. 99% of all traffic in India is a rampant free-for-all, so the system may not be able to detect a break in the pattern and warn you.

- You are very right that this system is far from a done-deal in the current form in India. It might take many many years for this technology to be adapted from the time that it becomes reality in the US. Given our driving conditions, some of the safety prediction algorithms as cutting edge and complex as they might be, will probably not work. You may end up getting a lot of alarms when other vehicles are about 1-2 ft away from you, a scenario that is very common and accepted on our roads . Like any other technology in its nascent stage, further study is required to adapt to such conditions.

Originally Posted by amitby

I cannot help noticing the fact that, through out the testing video the only form of communication between the vehicles was in beeps. I hope this would be further advanced to more effective means of communication to enable the driver to understand the scenario better and react accordingly. The visual and audio messages can be an option (the video can be distracting at times hence audio would be more effective I think).
I personally think that, this technology should enable communication through multiple cars, in case of an incident speeding cars at a distance are warned well in advance.

– You are right that the demo system used only audible beeps so far, however, this is just a trial system and at least a year old, and there has been considerable progress since then. Regarding communication to the driver, this whole system is to be integrated into the car, such that it provides better alerts to the driver, and this requires the car manufacturers to adopt this technology and integrate into their cars.The actual human interface can be implemented in a number of ways and is only limited by design abilities – I am sure someone like apple could do wonders here :-) The technology itself can relay messages from one car to the next and hop it along in case of accidents, emergency vehicles, congestion, etc Think of what people have done with a cell phone (from the last 15 years), the same is possible on these systems.

Most noteworthy point is that, the effective range of DSRC radios is nearly 1000 meters, under test conditions, between the vehicles. This enables the vehicles to communicate even when they are not in the visibility range of the Drivers. Also this communication is not limited between two vehicles, but its a broadcast to all the vehicles in the range.

Originally Posted by GTO

I'm just wondering how this technology can evolve:

- If it senses a fast vehicle coming your way and an absolutely imminent collision, then it could brake automatically.

- Could tell you "Hey, your friend Nick's car is just a block away". Of course, subject to privacy settings on & off.

- Based on the number of vehicles in a particular area, it could show you an alternate route with the least traffic.

Any ideas?

From what I understand, in China, one of the big applications is to provide a right of way/passage for “important people/vehicles” compared to other vehicles, almost like an emergency vehicle, like an Ambulance or Police Vehicle.

PS: Sorry for the late reply guys, I was on a personal vacation over the weekend.