Introducing the SOMEThings Project
A Testbed for Computing, Simulation, and IoT Research in the Mobility Domain
Introduction
Welcome to our inaugural blog post for the SOMEThings project — an ambitious initiative standing for “Simulation of Mobility Ecosystem and (Internet of) Things”. More than just a simulation, SOMEThings is about building a miniature smart city, filled with the complexities and dynamics of a comprehensive mobility ecosystem and interwoven with the Internet of Things (IoT), Computing, and Diverse Scenarios.
Leveraging cutting-edge technologies, this compact but complex smart city serves as an innovative testbed. It offers a unique setting for modeling, analyzing, conducting experiments, and testing solutions for real-world challenges. As we introduce the SOMEThings project in this first blog, we invite you to join us on this captivating journey of creating our own small-scale, smart city as a playground for technological innovation and discovery.
Connection with CMU’s Rapid Prototypes of Computer Systems Capstone
The seed of the SOMEThings project was sown in our previous capstone project with Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) Rapid Prototypes of Computer Systems course. This capstone project explored the vast potential of F1TENTH, an educational platform that leverages the excitement around autonomous racing to teach concepts in robotics, machine learning, and control. As a project that marries the thrill of motorsport with the intricate engineering and coding challenges of autonomy, it served as the foundational idea from which SOMEThings grew.
But SOMEThings is not merely a continuation — it takes the original concept to an entirely new level. The project extends the exploration scope, dives deeper into the complex challenges of the mobility, and is geared toward rigorous testing and experimenting with possible solutions.
The link with the CMU capstone project underscores the project’s continuous evolution. The lessons and insights garnered from the capstone project have had a significant influence on the trajectory of SOMEThings. In essence, our miniature smart city is a tangible manifestation of the innovative ideas that started in an academic setting.
For a deeper understanding of how this journey began, we invite you to read the students’ blog post detailing the CMU capstone project. And to gain insight into what the students learned from the project, take a look at this blog post that chronicles their experience.
The Vision and Goals of the SOMEThings Project
Fundamentally, SOMEThings aims to revolutionize the mobility sector by building a robust, flexible, and compact mobility ecosystem. But this project goes beyond merely addressing existing challenges — it’s about pioneering new methods, innovating solutions, testing and experimenting with existing technologies, and shaping the future of mobility with innovations in computing, simulation, and IoT.
With our miniature smart city serving as a testbed for thorough experiments, the SOMEThings project emerges as a hub for creativity in these rapidly evolving sectors. Our vision isn’t confined to the present but extends into the future, anticipating shifts in technology and societal needs.
As for our goals, we aim to enhance the efficiency and accessibility of mobility through the integration of IoT. We strive to build an ecosystem where technological advancements cater to the community’s needs, thus improving the quality of life and contributing to sustainable mobility development.
Above all, we intend to foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement. As we progress, we will be sharing our findings, lessons learned, challenges encountered, and victories, both large and small. We welcome you to become part of our exciting adventure as we delve into the immense opportunities within the realm of mobility.
The Motivation Behind SOMEThings
The Problems SOMEThings Aims to Address
Our world is becoming increasingly interconnected. With this comes a multitude of benefits, but also a new set of challenges. A central difficulty lies in the complexities of managing a thorough mobility ecosystem, and ensuring efficient, reliable performance at a system-level.
Moreover, the proliferation of different technologies in the construction of a smart city adds another layer of complexity. How can we ensure the interoperability of diverse technologies, each with its own set of strengths and weaknesses? How do we identify and mitigate potential system vulnerabilities?
SOMEThings aims to address these questions by providing a testbed to examine these various technologies under controlled and repeatable conditions. Our miniature smart city is designed to be a platform where we can put these technologies through in-depth tests, understand their interactions, and develop ways to seamlessly integrate them into a harmonious whole.
This focus on in-depth testing is a critical aspect of the project, guiding our efforts as we seek to create a resilient, adaptable, and efficient mobility ecosystem.
The Potential Impact on the Mobility Ecosystem and the Internet of Things (IoT)
SOMEThings is more than just a project — it’s an initiative aimed at making meaningful contributions to the mobility ecosystem. By creating a miniature mobility environment that mirrors the real world, SOMEThings has the potential to provide valuable insights across various fields, including urban planning, transportation engineering, data science, environmental sustainability, and automotive manufacturing. The learnings from the SOMEThings project can assist automotive OEMs in developing vehicles that better align with the future of smart cities and IoT technologies.
This realistic smart city simulation offers more than just a chance to study the dynamics of mobility — it presents opportunities to proactively address issues, advance technology development, and establish new benchmarks. The insights gained from the SOMEThings project have the potential to catalyze significant changes in the way we approach mobility, moving us toward more efficient, safe, and convenient transportation systems.
At the heart of SOMEThings is a commitment to innovation that serves the community. As we navigate the complexities of these rapidly evolving fields, we do so with the aim of improving the quality of life for all. The potential impacts are far-reaching and transformative, from making daily commutes more comfortable and efficient to enabling more sustainable urban development.
As we continue to explore and innovate, the learnings from SOMEThings could provide useful inputs to the fields of research and development, industry, policy-making, and beyond.
Why the Team Decided to Focus on These Specific Problems
The decision to focus on the challenges of integrating mobility and IoT in a simulated environment wasn’t arbitrary. It stemmed from the realization that despite significant advancements in both of these fields, there remained a gap between the existing state of mobility and IoT and their untapped potential.
Our team recognized this gap and saw it as an opportunity. Studying these complexities at full scale can be immensely challenging, not to mention expensive and time-consuming. By creating a miniature, scaled-down version, we could examine these issues more affordably and efficiently, while still maintaining a high degree of realism.
SOMEThings, in its essence, is designed to bridge this gap in a structured and methodical way. Through replicating real-life interactions within the mobility domain, we can explore scenarios, test solutions, and validate theories in a controlled environment, something that isn’t possible on a larger scale in the real world.
The need for such a simulation is amplified by the rapidly changing landscape of mobility. With new technologies emerging at a breakneck pace, the future of these fields is likely to look very different from what we see today. A flexible and adaptable testing environment like SOMEThings allows us to keep pace with these changes and continue to produce relevant insights.
In short, we chose to focus on these problems because we believe that the work we’re doing with SOMEThings has the potential to contribute substantially to the future of mobility. Our goal is not just to keep up with the advancements in these fields, but to help drive them forward.
Larger Implications and Potential Benefits of the Project
The implications of the SOMEThings project reach far beyond the realm of technology. By enhancing the efficiency, accessibility, and reliability of the mobility ecosystem, we have the opportunity to positively impact numerous sectors, including transportation, logistics, urban planning, and environmental sustainability.
SOMEThings is not just about creating a smarter transportation infrastructure. It’s about envisioning a future where cities are more livable, where mobility is more equitable, and where the interaction between transportation and IoT can contribute to a cleaner, greener planet.
From a transportation perspective, the project could lead to improved traffic management, better public transit systems, and more efficient use of shared mobility services. From an urban planning standpoint, the insights from SOMEThings could inform the design of more sustainable, smart cities. From an environmental viewpoint, advancements in IoT and mobility could reduce carbon emissions and contribute to sustainability goals.
Moreover, by serving as a testbed for new technologies, SOMEThings could help spur innovation and expedite the development and deployment of cutting-edge solutions in the field of mobility.
In sum, the potential benefits of the SOMEThings project are vast and varied. We are excited about the opportunities it presents and are committed to realizing its full potential for the benefit of society at large.
Envisioning the SOMEThings Lab
Conceptualizing the SOMEThings Lab has been a substantial undertaking. The idea is to create a physical space where we can build a miniature smart city, complete with roads, buildings, vehicles, and IoT devices. This city would be small enough to be manageable, yet large enough to meaningfully represent the complexities of an mobility environment.
We are currently in the planning stage of the Lab. The design must accommodate various types of environments — residential zones, commercial areas, and transportation infrastructure. Each of these zones will be a crucial part of the city’s mobility ecosystem.
So far, our primary focus has been on developing the vehicle to be used in the SOMEThings project. Simultaneously, we’re in the early stages of developing the track that will serve as the physical infrastructure for our miniature city.
Once we have the track and the car, the next step will be to integrate IoT devices. This will include everything from traffic sensors and smart streetlights to connected vehicles and intelligent buildings. Each device will play a crucial role, contributing to the overall complexity and interactivity of the miniature city.
In its completion, the SOMEThings Lab will be a unique laboratory unlike any other. The SOMEThings lab will provide a platform for exploring the complexities of a smart city, all within a controlled, scalable environment. It will serve as the home base for the SOMEThings project, and we expect the advancements and innovations developed within its walls to have a substantial impact on the future of mobility.
In the upcoming sections, we’ll take a closer look at the two main components we’re currently developing for the SOMEThings Lab: the car and the track.
The SOMEThings Project’s Debut Car
Within the confines of our miniature smart city, the SOMEThings car garners attention. Beyond its compact and energy-efficient design, it’s the impressive array of advanced sensors that truly sets it apart, transforming it into an indispensable asset for investigating and interpreting the future of mobility solutions. As the car navigates our simulated environment, it also plays a critical role in the IoT ecosystem. Here’s a look at its key components and features:
Compute Power: The car’s operations are governed by the Jetson Xavier. As a potent AI computer tailored for autonomous machines, the Xavier delivers the power of a GPU workstation within an embedded module, making it a robust hub for processing data and controlling the car’s autonomous features.
Motor Control: Steering and motor control are managed by the highly adaptable VESC6 motor controller. This controller is designed for electric vehicles and can provide important diagnostic data, including acceleration, ramp angle, battery usage, battery temperature, and RPM.
Sensor Suite: The car is outfitted with a range of sensors that enable its autonomous operation. This includes a 270-degree Lidar scanner for creating high-resolution maps and detecting objects, a depth-sensing camera for measuring distances to objects, and ultrasonic sensors for detecting and avoiding obstacles. In addition to these, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) monitors physical parameters like velocity and orientation, while a Battery Management System (BMS) provides crucial data about individual cell voltages and overall power consumption. The car also includes a Ultra-Wideband System on a Module (UWB SoM) for precise external location tracking.
Power Supply: The car’s battery powers all its systems, and its state of charge is continuously monitored to ensure safety and optimal performance.
Data Handling: The car is capable of collecting and storing a vast array of data locally. This data is comprehensive, including everything from vehicle speed and acceleration to Lidar information and raw camera feedback.
Communication: The vehicle is designed to transmit data to a control system for analysis, including the data collected by sensors and vital information such as the battery’s state of charge.
Safety Measures: The vehicle hardware can conduct self-tests and calibrations to ensure all systems are operating safely and without errors.
Creating the SOMEThings car has been a journey of careful planning and execution. This advanced vehicle embodies the innovative spirit of the SOMEThings project, providing a dynamic platform to study and understand the challenges and potential of autonomous mobility in smart cities. As we progress with the project, we are excited to see this vehicle in action, navigating the diverse environments of our miniature smart city.
The Track — Starting Simple and Scaling Up
In the SOMEThings project, the track is the canvas on which we experiment and innovate with mobility solutions. It’s the controlled environment where we test and observe the interplay of various elements of the mobility ecosystem, thereby gaining insights into their real-world performance.
For the initial phase of our project, we are developing a basic oval track. This simple yet effective setup will serve as a launchpad for our experiments, allowing us to understand how different components behave, interact, and adapt. Our aim is to initially use this track to accomplish a full, autonomous lap with our sensor-equipped car.
While the car embarks on its journey around the oval, our team is already deeply engaged in conceptualizing future iterations of the track. With each subsequent version, we aim to progressively increase the complexity, closely mimicking the intricacies and unpredictability of mobility environments. These will feature intersections, roundabouts, pedestrian crossings, traffic signs, and a range of IoT elements such as smart streetlights and traffic sensors.
The conceptualization phase of these advanced track designs is a hotbed of creativity, yet every detail is being meticulously planned and designed. Each feature will be designed to test a variety of challenges, from the routine to the unexpected, that mobility solutions would face in an actual smart city.
The vision is to create a miniature mobilityscape, with the track serving as a realistic, safe, and controlled setting for observing, learning, and adapting to different scenarios and challenges. As we progress, the track will increasingly reflect the overarching ambitions of the SOMEThings project — a harmonious blend of advanced mobility solutions and the Internet of Things. Stay tuned as we continue to expand and refine our miniature smart city!
The Future of SOMEThings
As we move forward with the SOMEThings project, there is an undeniable sense of excitement about the possibilities that lie ahead. We’re not just building a miniature smart city or a sophisticated autonomous vehicle; we’re building a platform for innovation, a sandbox for creativity, and a testbed for future technologies.
Our vision for the SOMEThings project is one of continuous evolution and expansion. With each passing phase, our miniature smart city will become more sophisticated, and our car more capable. This progressive development approach allows us to iteratively test, learn, and adapt, improving the project with every step we take.
The potential outcomes of the SOMEThings project are incredibly exciting. Our goal is to lead the way in developing innovative responses to mobility issues, thus stimulating progress in this area. But more than that, we believe SOMEThings has the potential to inspire and influence a broader shift in how we think about, design, and interact with our mobility environments.
In conclusion, while we are proud of what we have achieved so far, we are even more excited about what is still to come. We invite you to follow along as we continue this journey, shaping the future of mobility one lap at a time.
We value your interest in 99P Labs and appreciate your time spent reading our blog. If you have any questions, concerns, or would like to discuss potential collaborations, we encourage you to reach out to us. You can connect with us on LinkedIn or Medium to stay updated on our latest research and innovations. Additionally, you can email us at research@99plabs.com to initiate a conversation. We are always excited to engage in meaningful discussions and explore exciting opportunities.
Thank you for your support, and we look forward to hearing from you.
