337 MAE INTELLIGENT

TRANSPORT SYSTEM
Automotive Telemetry System Design

SENIOR LECTURER: DR YURI VERSHININ

COVENTRY UNIVERSITY
Group 12
Kee Chong Teo (5406849)
Jiang Chuan Han (6077044)
Zhen Min Li (5404971)
Hua Qing Li (5408212)

337MAE

Intelligent Transport System

Peer Assessment
Kee Chong Teo 100%
Jiang Chuan Han 100%
Hua Qing Li 100%
Zhen Min Li 100%

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Table of Contents
Peer Assessment ............................................................................................................................................................................. 1
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................................................ 4
Development .................................................................................................................................................................................. 5
1. Provide an overview about automotive telemetry, telematics, instrumentation and equipment used for monitoring of
vehicle parameters and vehicle navigation; ................................................................................................................................ 5
2. Describe principles of the operation of five automotive sensors on your choice (for example, speed sensors;
accelerometers, temperature measurement sensors, pressure measurement sensors, etc.); ........................................................ 6
3. Describe the principle of operation of position navigation systems based on the GPS; ......................................................... 9
4. Design software algorithms for the monitoring of vehicle acceleration; .............................................................................. 10
5. Design the software algorithm for the monitoring of the vehicle position based on the GPS; ............................................. 16
6. Provide the analysis of the vehicles dynamic from experiments......................................................................................... 20
Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................................................................................................................. 21
References: ................................................................................................................................................................................... 22

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Introduction
Intelligent transport system is a combination of various technology in the transport system. These advanced
technology includes areas related to information, communication, computing and telemetry. It significantly
enhances the efficiency of transport system. U.S.A, EU and Japan played the main role in generating original
and unique ideas in the field of ITS
After World War II, global economy has raised rapidly between 1950s and 1960s which lead to vast
improvements in the road transport system and automobile industry. Upon reaching 1970s, with a proliferation
of private vehicle, the irrationalities of transports are revealed, such as traffic accidents, traffic jam and gas
emission from automobile. Therefore, developed countries gained awareness and started to formulate principles
to deal with the negative effects.

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Acknowledgements
We would like to express our most sincere gratitude to Dr. Yuri Vershinin, Senior Lecturer, Director of
Intelligent Transport Systems and Telematics for giving us the opportunity to do a project involving Automotive
Telemetry System Design.
We wish to thank Coventry University for providing us the facilities needed in order to do this project. To
be more specific, the Micro Cab Department in Coventry University have provided a very welcoming and friendly
assistance by taking us on a road test in order for us to do our experiments. Therefore, we give special thanks to the
Micro Cab Department.
Again, we would like to thank Dr. Yuri Vershinin for his guidance and encouragement in carrying out this
project work.

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Development
1. Provide an overview about automotive telemetry, telematics,
instrumentation and equipment used for monitoring of vehicle parameters and
vehicle navigation;
Telemetry
Telemetry is a process which automates communication. In terms of setting up the data receiver in an automobile at
inaccessible location, collect and analyse data to monitor the vehicle condition and location. (NASA 1987)

Telematics
Telematics is a system invented for modern automotive intelligence. It is a mini-computer mounted in a vehicle. Upon
receiving requests from the user, telematics can be connected to specific section of vehicle in order to meet the requirement of
real-time supervisory control. (Winters 2005)

Instrumentation
Instrumentation is an idea supported by various instruments to display general data of automobile. The user can obtain benefits
from real time information feedback to monitor their vehicle and adjust it according to their preference.

Equipment
Sensor and central computer are used as equipment to monitor and display an automobiles data in many different areas, for
example:
Auto-pc
Auto-pc is specially developed for modern automobile. It is highly associated with user. Besides display basic vehicle data, it
can also provide user such:
Internet
Audio and video entertainment
Satellite positioning
Voice navigation
Gaming
Telephone
What deserves to be mentioned the most are visual reversing and fault detection. Visual reversing improved significantly
safety to driver since it solved the problem that non-detection may causes while reversing. Fault detection can be a vital
function which allows driver to understand their vehicle while using which also improved in safety.

24G Radar - Safety Monitoring System

24GHz radar is used as an automotive crash prevention system by emitting radar waves to determine the size of the object in
front of the automobile, distance and moving speed. At the same time, the radar sends electronic signal to ECU to activate the
braking system co-operating to avoid crash as well as providing dynamic virtual image on the Auto-pc to show the driver
condition of situation. The sound alarm will also be activated to alert the driver. Sensors of radar transmit frequency around is
24.125GHz, the limitation of adjustment frequency range is about 50KHz. (Turner 2009) Device manufactured in EU and
North American hold a higher accuracy which reaches to millimetres level.
Navigation System
GPS generally includes the signal receiver, display monitor and the computer control centre. There parts work correspondingly
to connect to the satellite.
Computer control centre is authorized by the motor vehicle management department. The computer control centre is
responsible for analysing the designated area of the vehicle dynamics and traffic conditions. With the GPS receiver mounted,
the vehicle can be located at any location on the vector map. When the driver wish to navigate to a location, the computer
control centre would arrange a route to the desired destination and display it on the LCD screen.

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2. Describe principles of the operation of five automotive sensors on your

choice (for example, speed sensors; accelerometers, temperature
measurement sensors, pressure measurement sensors, etc.);
Wheel speed sensor:
The Hall Effect Sensor is commonly used to measure how fast the wheel of a car is spinning.

Figure 1 shows the Hall Effect Measurement Process

The Hall Effect can be explained using the diagram shown above, Hall Effect is a method used to measure
magnetic field on a conductive material. Firstly, the charge carrier would flow from the negative terminal, straight
through the conductive material and to the positive terminal. When a magnet is placed near the conductive material,
the magnets disrupt the straight flow of charge carriers due to Lorentz Force and deflects the negative charges to

Figure 2 shows the Hall Effect Sensor

the left side of the plate and positive charges on the right side of the plate as shown in the diagram. By using a
voltmeter between the 2 sides of the plate, the voltage can be measured. As explained, the method of getting the
voltage reading is a method called Hall Effect. (Nedelkovski 2015)

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Hall Effect sensors are 3 wire sensors with a reference voltage, a ground and a signal terminal. With different
factory default settings from the ABS, the reference voltage could be 5, 7, 8 or 12 volts. Basically the sensor is
placed in conjunction to a toothed wheel with a small gap in between. Each time the teeth of the wheel passes
through sensor, the voltage reading on the sensor changes. If the voltage changes is graphed as a function of time, a
square wave graph can be seen as shown below.

Figure 3 shows the date received from the wheel speed sensor

The wheel speed sensor is connected to an Electronic Control Module which will count the numbers of crest on the
wave in any given period of time and calculate it in RPM. Having to calculate it manually, the equation would be:
2

Which would give the values to be in radians per second. Then convert rps to rpm. (Dolan 2015).

Engine Temperature Sensor

A thermistor is often used as the engine temperature sensor. There are 2 types of the thermistor:
Negative Coefficient Temperature: Resistance decreases as temperature rises, k = negative
Positive Coefficient Temperature: Resistance increases as temperature rises, k = positive (Beckhoff 2016)

Figure 4 shows the difference in the R T graph produced between NTC and PTC

For both thermistor, the voltage input and output will be different. Using the difference in value, the engine
temperature can be calculated by the ECM using the Steinhardt-Hart equation which is
=

1
[ + ln() + (ln()] 3
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By using The Temperature Handbook, the values for A, B and C can be calculated to find the temperature.
Every thermistor manufacturing company has their own unique temperature handbook for their control module.
(M-Tech Automotive 2013)

Accelerometer
The accelerometers are used in vehicle for vehicle dynamics control and to measure acceleration. They are also
used to detect road surface roughness and where on the vehicle impact occurred. (Nedelkovski 2015)

Figure 5 shows the MEM sensor inside the chipset

The most common accelerometer used in vehicle to measure acceleration is Micro Electro Mechanical Sensor
which measure acceleration by measuring the change in capacitance. The chip consist of a mass attached to a
spring which would move along one axis when there is movement in that axis. This movement change the
capacitance the values are processed by the ECM to provide a corresponding acceleration value. (Wikipedia 2016)

Tire Pressure Sensors

Pressure in tyres of a vehicle is measured using pressure sensor. Pressure sensors used are usually transducer which
coverts pressure into electrical signal. It consists of an elastic material which deforms under pressure and an
electrical part which detects this deformation. (M. Brei. 2013)

Figure 6 shows a pressure transducer

Figure 7 shows a Wheatstone Bridge

The image above shows a resistive pressure transducers which uses strain gauges bonded with deformable material.
When the material deforms, the electrical resistance of each strain gauge is measured using Wheatstone bridge. The
change in current is detected by the sensors of each tyres and data is sent to the ECM to be processed. If the ECM
calculated the pressure is too high/low or not balanced in each tyre, the indicator light will alert the driver. (Keller
Pressure UK Ltd. 2016)
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Parking sensor
Proximity sensors are used as a parking sensor in an automobile. It is designed to alert the driver when an obstacle
comes close to the vehicle. The sensor are usually located in the front and end bumper of the vehicle. (CMA 2014)

Figure 8 shows a proximity sensor

Figure 9 shows the graph of electromagnetic field target presence

The image above shows an inductive proximity sensor. The basic operation of the sensor is based on
electromagnetic. The oscillator in the sensor produces a fluctuating electromagnetic field so when an object enters
the electromagnetic field, Eddy Current is created on the object. Eddy Current influences the detection by the
electrical coil. As the object moves closer to the sensor, the amplitude increases which triggers the beeper to alert
the driver that an object is near to the vehicle. (Weller 2013)

3. Describe the principle of operation of position navigation systems based on

the GPS;
Global Positioning System (GPS) consist of approximately 30 satellites revolving around the Earth. These satellites
provides numerous services which are communication, navigation, weather forecast and research satellites. In the
automotive industry, GPS navigation system can be found in vehicles with luxury specifications. The GPS
navigation system requires a pre-installed vector map which includes street numbers, house number, and popular
areas encoded as geographic coordinates. These pre-installed map are needed to be updated regularly, therefore it is
often installed on a micro SD card for easy installation of maps. The navigation systems uses 4 or more GPS
satellites with each one transmits data about its position and current time at intervals. Signals transmitted are
intercepted by the GPS receiver in vehicle which would calculate the distance between each satellites. After all the
data is processed, the GPS receiver pinpoints the location of the vehicle by trilateration.

Figure 10 Shows a process of trilateration

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4. Design software algorithms for the monitoring of vehicle acceleration;

In order to monitor the vehicle acceleration. A Data Acquisition Card and an accelerometer is needed.
The accessories required for this project has been provided by Coventry University, senior lecturer Dr Yuri
Vershinin who is in charge this module 337 MAE Intelligent Transport Systems.

General Specification of the DAQ device and accelerometer:

DAQ
Model number : NI USB-6009
14-Bit, 48 kS/s Low-Cost Multifunction DAQ
Measurement type: Voltage
Operating System: Linux, Mac OS, Windows
Accelerometer
Model number: MMA7361L
Code: MR003-002.1
3-axis 1.5g / 6g
Equipped with voltage Regulator

Connection method of accelerometer to the DAQ device

Using copper wires connect the accelerometer to the DAQ device as followed below.
Accelerometer
Connection
DAQ device
X-axis
Yellow wire
AI0+ (number 2)
Y-axis
Yellow wire
AI1+ (number 5)
Z-axis
Yellow wire
AI2+ (number 8)
GND
Black wire
GND (32)
VIN
Red wire
+5V (31)
SLP
Blue wire
+5V (31)

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Figure 11 shows the wires that are needed to be soldered on the accelerometer

Figure 12 shows the wires that are needed to be connected on the DAQ device

Figure 13 shows the connection for x, y and z axis

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LabVIEW 2015 configuration

After connecting the DAQ device with the accelerometer to the computer using an USB cable, then acquired a file
called Accelerometer.vi from CuMoodle.

Followed by clicking Window > Show Block Diagram

A new window will appear > double-click the DAQ Assistant

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On the Configuration page, click Change Physical Channel to make sure Support Physical Channels are correctly
configured with the Current Physical Channel.
Channels
Supported Physical Channels
Current Physical Channels
Axis
Voltage-0
ai0
Dev1/ai0
x
Voltage-1
ai1
Dev1/ai1
y
Voltage-2
ai2
Dev1/ai2
z
For every channel, set the signal input range to be 10 for Max and -10 for Min > set the Terminal Configuration as
RSE > Click Ok and wait for the program to finish building the VI > Run the program > Place the accelerometer on
a flat surface.

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The accelerometer is tested by moving it in the Y and X direction as illustrated above. These movement would give
a change in the graph on the Labview

Plot 0 - The white/yellow graph indicates movement in X-axis. The amplitude of the graph depends on the
acceleration of the accelerometer across the X-axis (left or right

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Plot 1 - The red graph indicates movement in Y-axis. The amplitude of the graph depends on the acceleration of the
accelerometer across the Y-axis. (Forward or Reverse)

The green graph indicates movement in Z-axis. The amplitude of the graph depends on the acceleration of the
accelerometer across the Z-axis (Up or Down).

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5. Design the software algorithm for the monitoring of the vehicle position
based on the GPS;
In this section, the working principle of the GPS is described and the set up for U-Centre GNSS evaluation
software is illustrated.
First, the software for the GPS receiver namely U-Centre for Windows is downloaded from NI official website.
Software interface as shown below will appear when the software is compatible with the operating system of the
computer.

After that, GPS receiver is plugged into the computer and waited 10 minutes for the data to be fully read in the
computer.

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In the upper section of the software, there is a toolbar which looks like the figure shown below. In the right end of
the toolbar, there is an icon which indicates select the receiver port, click on the arrow beside the icon and it will

show a drop-down list as shown below, these are all the available ports, then select the corresponding port and the
icon

will turn green

. This indicates that the data has been acquired, received and collected at the correct baud
rate. At the bottom of software interface, the port information bar should be changed from
to

The next step is to select the baud rate, click on

and select the corresponding rate from drop-list like figure
shown below. Usually choose 9600 baud rate. Upon reaching this step, the receiver now ready to use.

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The figure shown below is a screenshot of U-centre software working process. After the configurations and setups
are completed, connection with the any GPS working satellite can be established. The location of the GPS receiver
can be located by clicking view > map view. By relocating the GPS receiver around Coventry University
Engineering Faculty Building, the route taken can be viewed as a green line in the map

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Calculate
Parameters from
data acquired

Data
Source

Protocol
Message
Parser

Parameter
Extractor

Database

Map Views
Table Views
Docking Views
Statistics Views
Graphical Views
Histogram
Views

Calculate
Statistics
Data stream
Messages
Parameters

Package Views
Console Views
Message Views

Figure 14 shows the working process of the U-centre software.

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6. Provide the analysis of the vehicles dynamic from experiments.

This section describes the experiments with the DAQ and accelerometer connected on a laptop and tested on a
moving vehicle. When the vehicle accelerates from 0 mph to 30mph and stops with a sudden brake linearly, a
graph as shown below will appear. The graph illustrate that there is movement in the Y axis but not in the X axis
because the vehicle is moving forward linearly. The peak on the graph describes that the driver applied on the
brakes to come to an emergency stop.

As shown below, the vehicle moves forward and switch lanes with 2 seconds interval, in a speed of 20 MPH. This
movement results the change in acceleration. The graph explains that there is a constant change in the acceleration
and vehicle direction

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The graph shown below is produced when the vehicle is swaying on the road (continuously turning left and right).
However, due to not enough sensitivity adjusted to the accelerometer, the results are not very accurate. The vehicle
is turning left and right and slowly picking up lateral force which explains the amplitude at the end of the graph to
be larger.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Recommendations:
In terms of the modern customer requirement. Vehicle-to-vehicle communication is highly recommended
due to the benefits provide.
Vehicle-to-vehicle communication is a network based on the interactions between 2 vehicles provided by DSRC.
Each vehicle share mutual information in terms of distance between each vehicle and obstacles. Dedicated shortrange communications (DSRC) is a type of interaction that will transmit or receive signal carrier in 5.9GHz band
with 75MHz bandwidth to interact with other vehicle in an approximate range of 1 kilometre (Harding 2014). V2V
have been considered as the foundation of automatic drive since the system constantly receive traffic information
from other vehicle and roadside facilities that allows auto-drive to be engaged safely.

Conclusion:
To sum up, ITS is becoming a vital element for automotive industry. The derivative product of ITS has
significantly improved the safety of automobile. As previously covered in the report, Auto-pc co-operates with all
kinds of sensors. Based on instrumentation, vehicles fault and malfunctions can easily be detected. Those sensors
transmitting signal to the ECU allows the vehicle or driver to make correct adjustment. GPS does not only provide
the route to desired destination, but also keeps the driver aware of his location.

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References:
1. NASA report (1987) Telemetry: Summary of concept and rationale, USA: NASA.
2. Neal Winters (September 2005) telemetry [ONLINE]Available at:
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/telemetry [Accessed: 20 October 2016].
3. John Turner (2009) Automotive Sensors, 1st edn., NEW JERSEY, USA: MOMENTUM PRESS.
4. Dejan Nedelkovski. 2015. What is Hall Effect and How Hall Effect Sensors Work. [ONLINE] Available
at: http://howtomechatronics.com/how-it-works/electrical-engineering/hall-effect-hall-effect-sensorswork/. [Accessed 22 October 2016].
5. Michael Dolan. (2015). How a Wheel Speed Sensor Works. [Online Video]. 11 March 2015. Available
from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6-tgcOYBzw. [Accessed: 23 October 2016].
6. Beckhoff. 2016. RTD technology. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://infosys.beckhoff.com/espanol.php?content=../content/1034/el320x/html/bt_rtd_technology.htm&id=.
[Accessed 24 October 2016]
7. M-Tech Automotive. (2013). How Coolant Temperature Sensors Work :: EFI Explained by Matt @ MTech Automotive. [Online Video]. 7 September 2013. Available from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgH1VWHlYZ8. [Accessed: 25 October 2016].
8. Dejan Nedelkovski. 2015. MEMS Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer & Arduino. [ONLINE]
Available at: http://howtomechatronics.com/how-it-works/electrical-engineering/mems-accelerometergyrocope-magnetometer-arduino/. [Accessed 26 October 2016].
9. Wikipedia. 2016. Accelerometer. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerometer.
[Accessed 26 October 2016].
10. Terry M. Brei. 2013. How low pressure transducers work. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.surecontrols.com/how-low-pressure-transducers-work/. [Accessed 27 October 2016].
11. Keller Pressure UK Ltd. 2016. THE PRESSURE SENSOR. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.sensorland.com/HowPage004.html. [Accessed 28 October 2016].
12. CMA/Flodyne/Hydradyne. (2014). Basic Operating Principle of an Inductive Proximity Sensor Balluff
Sensors. [Online Video]. 6 March 2014. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcIvDMlJask.
[Accessed: 29 October 2016].
13. Thomas Weller. (2013). inductive proximity sensor. [Online Video]. 16 April 2013. Available from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt6MsfpLdxw. [Accessed: 30 October 2016].
14. John Harding, Gregory Powell, Rebecca Yoon, Joshua Fikentscher, Charlene Doyle, Dana Sade, Mike
Lukuc, Jim Simons and Jing Wang (August 2014 ) Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications: Readiness of
V2V Technology for Application, Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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