UWAFT’s Human Machine Interface is Driven by Freescale

Freescale Headquarters in Austin, Texas

If you own a vehicle, chances are it is powered by a Freescale microchip. Freescale Semiconductor is one of the largest manufacturers of embedded hardware in the world. Almost every aspect of a vehicle is powered by a Freescale unit, including engine controllers, body electronics, driver information systems, critical safety systems and much more. As an EcoCAR 2 platinum-level sponsor, Freescale is supporting the development of a center control stack for all competition teams. Freescale is also donating a touch screen display and i.MX53 computer.

These center control stacks will operate as driver information systems and allow the driver to review the performance of their vehicle. Freescale is also collaborating with General Motors to provide a software interface that allows the control stack to access vehicle systems, such as temperature and ventilation controls. Ultimately this donation gives students a ‘sandbox’ to design the next generation of user-interface for vehicles. These interfaces will be easy to use and minimize distraction for the driver.

The University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team (UWAFT) has taken the system one step further by using a QNX real-time operating system on the i.MX53 computer. QNX was started by two Waterloo graduates in the 1980s and has grown significantly. QNX is used to power just about everything, from nuclear power plants to medical equipment. UWAFT will use the center stack to provide critical information about the powertrain during development of the vehicle in year two. During the third year refinement of the vehicle, the display will take on different role. It will provide fuel consumption, charging information and trip details. Hopefully this information will encourage the driver to use a ‘green-foot’ rather than a lead-foot.

Freescale also co-hosted the Winter Workshop in Austin, Texas at their headquarters in February, offering students the opportunity to learn about their Freescale systems, alongside engineers in a hands-on-setting.

Austin Texas - The Winter Workshop Recap

As mentioned in "What a month!" here's the recap from UWAFT's participation in the Winter Workshop...

The University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team kicked off February by attending the EcoCAR 2 Winter Workshop in Austin, Texas. Two of the engineering competition’s sponsors, Freescale and dSPACE, co-hosted the workshop for the 16 teams, which was held at Freescale’s headquarters.

The Winter Workshop was designed to provide the teams with detailed sessions from competition organizers (such as General Motors, the U.S. Department of Energy and Argonne National Laboratory). Also, sponsors who donated components and software tools to all the teams provided detailed training - dSPACE, A123 Systems, Freescale, AVL Powertrain Engineering, CD-adapco, Siemens, and Vector.

The workshop was also opportunity to put UWAFT and the other teams to the test in their first in-person scored presentations for technical, outreach, and business.

For the technical team, they successfully presented their Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) progress on controlling the stock vehicle in a simulated environment. While the outreach presentations were given to groups of middle school and high school students from the Austin area. There was also a judged youth outreach presentation.

Overall, the Winter Workshop was a hit for everyone involved. Students from each team had plenty of opportunities to network among themselves as well as with representatives from the sponsoring organizations. It also provided an exciting opportunity for the sponsors to learn more about the progress each team as made so far!

UWAFT team at the Winter Workshop pose with the EcoCAR 2 Chevrolet Malibu