Communication Systems for Intelligent Off-road Vehicles

Abstract

Intelligent vehicles require, at the very least, the presence of a main computer to acquire data from multiple sensors at the desired sampling rates, to save, manipulate and display key data, and, when required, to make use of the processed information in order to support automatic control functions. Although most sensors output an analog voltage signal after signal conditioning, some sensors produce digital outputs. Analog signals normally pass through an analog multiplexer and an analog-todigital converter before being fed into the computer, but digital signals are usually passed to the computer directly via a serial port. Onboard computers can also be used to control vehicle processes, either directly with digital signals or with analog signals that are then transformed to digital signals by digital-to-analog converters. These computers typically include the following major components: a central processing unit, software programs, a random-access memory, mass storage systems, and data input/output (I/O) devices.