Car Control: How to Drive & Handle Vehicles

hi,

You might have heard that there's supposed to be a European team participating in the next Grand Challenge (this autonomous car race in the US, which is called the Urban Challenge this year). The project originated with a participant from last year who is now back in Europe. Right now, we're considering, among other things, how to fundamentally solve certain problems.

My question is whether it's possible to control a car via a bus (perhaps using CAN?), not by influencing the steering wheel and pedals with actuators, but rather by direct control. If so, which brand, year of manufacture, or model would make this possible?

Thank you in advance for your answers.
Pascal.

Hello,

'I'm not 100% sure, but I suspect there isn't a vehicle that you can directly control via a bus. That would mean that the servos for steering, etc., would already be installed. For the manufacturer (and therefore for the customer), that would only be unnecessary costs. It wouldn't benefit anyone, neither the customer nor the manufacturer.'

You could, however, get a car with an automatic transmission and cruise control. It's possible that the cruise control speed could be controlled via the CAN bus, which would also allow you to control the speed. Then, all you would need to do is figure out the steering issue.

Best regards, tester123.

Thank you for the suggestions.
Some time ago, I read about a concept called 'drive-by-wire' that implements exactly that. So, sensors measure, for example, the movement of the steering wheel. The data is then transmitted electronically to an actuator, which converts the movement of the steering wheel into actual steering. So, the technology already exists, or at least the basic idea.
My question is about the extent to which this is already implemented in cars, and how one can utilize it (i.e., controlling actuators through direct access to the bus). Does anyone have any further information on this?

Sincerely,
Pascal.

Your information is correct; the 'Steer by Wire' system works as you described. However, I don't recall which car it was in; the article focused more on the technology itself. If you use a computer to adjust the steering angle limit...
If you want to vary [something], it must be ensured that the steering angle sensor transmits data via a bus. As far as I know, this is not the case (which I am personally quite grateful for...).

Best regards,
Jens.

hi,

I thought that the current legal regulations in Germany wouldn't allow a computer to control the car. I would rather imagine that this technology is being used in prototypes. However, I could be wrong. In the Renault Laguna, at least the steering angle is transmitted via the CAN bus, but I can't imagine being able to change it via the bus (and I don't necessarily want to test that).

Best regards,
tester

ich dachte, dass das die rechtslage in de nicht zulässt, dass der computer das auto steuert.

That's not a problem with our project... that's the goal of the competition.


In the Renault Laguna, at least the steering angle is transmitted on the CAN bus.

Is that also the steering angle that is used to control the steering? Then you should be able to manually change this steering angle by sending corresponding CAN messages, or am I mistaken??In the Renault Laguna, at least the steering angle is transmitted via the CAN bus.} Is that also the steering angle that is used to control the steering? Then, shouldn't it be possible to manually change this steering angle by sending corresponding CAN messages? Or am I mistaken?

Then, shouldn't it be possible to manually change this steering angle by sending corresponding CAN packets, or am I mistaken about something?

The fact that the steering angle is transmitted via CAN does not necessarily mean that a 'steer-by-wire' system is installed. I suspect that the Laguna still has a conventional mechanical steering system.
Are there already production vehicles with complete 'drive-by-wire' systems?

hi,

I don't think I have access to the steering angle data.
I can't, and I won't try it, because it's not my car (it's my dad's).

and by 'legal regulations,' I meant that a device like that is probably not used in a production vehicle for that reason. I was already aware that it is explicitly allowed in that competition .

I guess you can't avoid having to build that yourself.

Sure, here is the translation of the text from German to English:

'mfg tester'

This phrase is a common abbreviation in German for 'mit freundlichen Grüßen', which translates to 'best regards' or 'sincerely' in English. It is often used at the end of emails or letters.

The word 'tester' is likely a reference to a person's name or a job title.