The Upgradable Car: Safely Extensible Automotive Systems and Software

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The objective of this research is to create a Safely Extensible Automotive Systems and Software Architecture (SEASAR) and associated development and quality-assurance methods to enable post-manufacturing upgradability of automobiles through smart apps and devices produced by independent suppliers. The considered upgrades range from personalization in the car-body domain and infotainment to adding new safety-enhancing driver-assistance features. The main challenge to enabling such upgrades is ensuring the usability, reliability, safety, and security of both the installation step and the upgraded automobile. SEASAR will make installation simple and reliable using an installer with resource reservation and diagnostics at installation time and enhance reliability and safety through runtime monitoring and repair. The associated development method focuses on early modeling, analysis, and resolution of feature interactions and on designing human-machine interfaces that avoid cognitive overload when new applications and devices are added. The quality assurance methods include verification and validation using model-based techniques to improve effectiveness and reduce cost, and a method to certify the use of new software and devices in a SEASAR-enabled vehicle. The technology will be demonstrated by adding personalization of interior lights, an alcohol interlock, and three driver-assistance functions to a test vehicle extended with SEASAR. The Upgradable Car vision offers tremendous opportunities to Canadian automotive and ICT industry, in that SEASAR will support an ecosystem of automotive apps and devices, providing Canadian automotive parts suppliers and ICT companies with wider access to the automotive supply chain and aftermarket than they have today. The project will also train 28 of highly-qualified personnel in engineering usable, safe, reliable, and secure embedded software and give them hands-on experience in automotive systems on an actual test vehicle.