Bowling Green Transit Vehicles - Vehicle OBE Functionality
Subsystem Description
The Vehicle On–Board Equipment (OBE) provides the vehicle–based sensory, processing, storage, and communications functions that support efficient, safe, and convenient travel. The Vehicle OBE includes general capabilities that apply to passenger cars, trucks, and motorcycles. Many of these capabilities (e.g., see the Vehicle Safety service packages) apply to all vehicle types including personal vehicles, commercial vehicles, emergency vehicles, transit vehicles, and maintenance vehicles. From this perspective, the Vehicle OBE includes the common interfaces and functions that apply to all motorized vehicles. The radio(s) supporting V2V and V2I communications are a key component of the Vehicle OBE. Both one–way and two–way communications options support a spectrum of information services from basic broadcast to advanced personalized information services. Route guidance capabilities assist in formulation of an optimal route and step by step guidance along the travel route. Advanced sensors, processors, enhanced driver interfaces, and actuators complement the driver information services so that, in addition to making informed mode and route selections, the driver travels these routes in a safer and more consistent manner. This physical object supports all six levels of driving automation as defined in SAE J3016. Initial collision avoidance functions provide 'vigilant co–pilot' driver warning capabilities. More advanced functions assume limited control of the vehicle to maintain lane position and safe headways. In the most advanced implementations, this Physical Object supports full automation of all aspects of the driving task, aided by communications with other vehicles in the vicinity and in coordination with supporting infrastructure subsystems.
Functional Object: Vehicle Control Automation
'Vehicle Control Automation' provides lateral and/or longitudinal control of a vehicle to allow 'hands off' and/or 'feet off' driving, automating the steering, accelerator, and brake control functions. It builds on the sensors included in 'Vehicle Safety Monitoring' and 'Vehicle Control Warning' and uses the information about the area surrounding the vehicle to safely control the vehicle. It covers the range of incremental control capabilities from driver assistance systems that take over steering or acceleration/deceleration in limited scenarios with direct monitoring by the driver to full automation where all aspects of driving are automated under all roadway and environmental conditions.
Functional Object: Vehicle Control Warning
'Vehicle Control Warning' monitors areas around the vehicle and provides warnings to a driver so the driver can take action to recover and maintain safe control of the vehicle. It includes lateral warning systems that warn of lane departures and obstacles or vehicles to the sides of the vehicle and longitudinal warning systems that monitor areas in the vehicle path and provide warnings when headways are insufficient or obstacles are detected in front of or behind the vehicle. It includes on–board sensors, including radars and imaging systems, and the driver information system that provides the visual, audible, and/or haptic warnings to the driver.
Functional Object: Vehicle Eco-Driving Assist
'Vehicle Eco–Driving Assist' provides customized real–time driving advice to drivers, allowing them to adjust behaviors to save fuel and reduce emissions. This advice includes recommended driving speeds, optimal acceleration and deceleration profiles based on prevailing traffic conditions, and local interactions with nearby vehicles, i.e., processing Basic Safety Messages (BSMs) to determine position and speed of vehicles that are between the host vehicle and the intersection. When approaching and departing signalized intersections, it uses intersection geometry information, the relative position and speed of vehicles ahead of it, and signal phase movement information to provide speed advice to the driver so that the driver can adapt the vehicle's speed to pass the next traffic signal on green, decelerate to a stop in the most eco–friendly manner, or manage acceleration as the vehicle departs from a signalized intersection. It also provides feedback to drivers on their driving behavior to encourage them to drive in a more environmentally efficient manner. It may also support vehicle–assisted strategies, where the vehicle automatically implements the eco–driving strategy (e.g., changes gears, switches power sources, or reduces its speed in an eco–friendly manner as the vehicle approaches a traffic signal or queue).
Functional Object: Vehicle Location Determination
'Vehicle Location Determination' receives current location of the vehicle and provides this information to vehicle applications that use the location information to provide ITS services.
Functional Object: Vehicle Map Management
'Vehicle Map Management' supports map updates and makes current map and geometry data available to other applications. It manages map data on–board and provides map data to end–user applications that provide location–based services.
Functional Object: Vehicle Safety Monitoring
'Vehicle Safety Monitoring' monitors critical components of the vehicle and warns the driver of safety issues. These capabilities are provided by on–board sensors that monitor vehicle condition and performance, including steering, braking, acceleration, emissions, fuel economy, engine performance, etc.
This functional object can also monitor the driver's condition and warn the driver of potential safety issues. It includes sensors and behavior monitoring capabilities that assess the suitability of the driver (e.g., fitness and alertness) to assume or maintain manual control of the vehicle.
Functional Object: Vehicle System Executive
'Vehicle System Executive' provides the operating system kernel and executive functions that manage the software configuration and operation and support computer resource management, security, and software installation and upgrade.
Functional Object: Vehicle System Monitoring and Diagnostics
'Vehicle System Monitoring and Diagnostics' includes on–board sensors and integrated self test software that monitors the condition of each of the vehicle systems and diagnostics that can be used to support vehicle maintenance. The status of the vehicle and ancillary equipment and diagnostic information is provided to the driver and service center.
Functional Object: Vehicle Trip Planning and Route Guidance
'Vehicle Trip Planning and Route Guidance' includes the in–vehicle system that coordinates with a traveler information center to provide a personalized trip plan to the driver. The trip plan is calculated by the Transportation Information Center (TIC) based on preferences and constraints supplied by the driver and provided to the driver for confirmation. Reservations and advanced payment may also be processed to confirm the trip plan. Coordination with the TIC may continue during the trip so that the route plan can be modified to account for new information. Many equipment configurations are possible including in–vehicle systems that provide a basic trip plan to the driver as well as more sophisticated systems that can provide turn by turn guidance to the driver along the route.