V2X Architecture: How will cars integrate with the I.O.F?

V2X Architecture: How will cars integrate with the I.O.F?

We hear a lot about the impending reality of driverless cars, but for many it still seems like black magic. Exactly how will the cars know how to drive within the ever-changing road and traffic environment or how to react in emergency situations? A rudimentary answer is, for most scenarios, the car will know what is about to happen before it happens. It’s not as confusing as it sounds, nor is it as futuristic as you might think.

Driverless cars. They might seem like a science fiction pipedream right now, but the reality is most traditional car manufacturers, along with non-traditional car manufacturers, like Apple and Google, are all working toward various levels of autonomous driving capability. And of course, a huge amount of cars, even at the lower priced end of the market, now have a degree of autonomy built in, whether that’s a parking assistance technology, a land keeping assistance, or intelligent cruise control that adjusts speed according to the traffic in front. At the more advanced end, multiple onboard cameras or Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) systems are used to “see” traffic and pedestrians and allow the vehicle to make calculated driving manoeuvres on behalf of the vehicle’s driver.

But as brilliantly clever as those systems are, there is no inter-device communications with other vehicles or the environment. That level of integration will come in stages, from V2V (vehicle to Vehicle), V2D (Vehicle to Device), or V2X (Vehicle to Everything) technology is where a much deeper level of safety and autonomy will become attainable.

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And by in large the technology already exists, think the existing wireless high-speed connectivity of 5G on your smartphone. In time, cars will be able to ‘talk’ within the Internet of Things (I.O.T) to the environment, to other cars and even to individuals, painting a digital picture of the driving conditions around them and to work in unison within it.

Indeed, carmakers are already implementing V2X tech incrementally. Volkswagen have been introducing V2X elements since 2019 and the latest ID. electric series of Volkswagen cars are equipped with V2X technology, and these can integrate depending on the market and the systems available. These may not assist driving autonomy, but certainly add another layer of driver warning and awareness that would otherwise not be possible.

Volkswagen Group Research Vehicle

So, what are the benefits of cars V2X and integration within the I.O.T? Well, in the not-so-distant connected world, where a good proportion of vehicle can communicate with each other and the infrastructure around them, cars will know exactly what the other cars are going to do and that has obvious benefits to safer roads.

Picture two cars driving in the same city environment, with V2X and the I.O.T, the vehicles will share their speed, direction, steering angle, brake pressure and even planned navigation routes. Your car will know exactly what the other car, or indeed every other connected car, is going to do. If the car ahead identifies an emergency scenario, like a pedestrian crossing, or a pothole, it relays that information to the other connect vehicles around it so they each can be prepared to take appropriate action.

Volvo Vehicle

Emergency responder vehicles can broadcast their approach to cars in the distance and they will all accordingly allow safe throughfare for improved response times.

Now, overlay an infrastructure communication framework. The cars will also know when a traffic light is programmed to change from green to red or when a carpark nearby is free. A road could update your vehicle directly about wind speed or road temperature and a vehicle could in theory make suitable precautionary adjustments to its electronic chassis, suspension and steering systems. The possibilities are honestly, mind boggling.

And then of course a C-V2X or V2D system could even identify pedestrians not just by camera systems or LIDAR alone, which have an accuracy down to a few metres, but with supplementary confirmation accurate to the centimetre via the person’s mobile device.

If this all sounds a bit Orwellian in nature, it really isn’t. When Volvo invented the seatbelt and released the patent for all automakers in the world to use, it was in the interest of reducing harm on our roads. V2X really is just an extension of that ethos but leveraging the technology we have available in the modern age.

Volvo Vehicle

And the technology for a viable V2X infrastructure is available right now. All of it. And in a lot of cases is currently under extensive trial with very promising results.

But as Clayton Christenson’s Theory of Innovative Disruption suggests, Disruptive Innovation is the transformation of an expensive, complicated product into something more broadly affordable and accessible that allows most people to use the product or service.

At this point in time, the cost of full autonomous technology in a vehicle is the realms of just a small percentage of the population and likewise, the cost of converting the global transportation infrastructure to a fully functioning V2X environment is equally cost prohibitive. At least for now.

But as we have seen with mobile phones, demand for V2X technology, it’s ease of availability and its cost will in time intersect and we will see widespread adoption and, in time, further evolution.

The other potential delay in bringing V2X and C-V2X technology to market is not the effectiveness of the technology or cost at all. It is related to the obvious safety debate around implementing this tech, whether current innovations feature the most robust methodology, assessing a myriad of potential concerns around radio frequencies and naturally what are the fail safes should it all stop working. The evolving discussion around the technology and legislation remains a challenge of scalability, but as thinking converges across the industry and governing powers carmakers are well poised to present innovative offerings.

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