  An open-source vehicle testbed to enable the exploration of automation
technologies for road vehicles is presented. The platform hardware and
software, based on the Robot Operating System (ROS), are detailed. Two methods
are discussed for enabling the remote control of a vehicle (in this case, an
electric 2013 Ford Focus). The first approach used digital filtering of
Controller Area Network (CAN) messages. In the case of the test vehicle, this
approach allowed for the control of acceleration from a tap-point on the CAN
bus and the OBD-II port. The second approach, based on the emulation of the
analog output(s) of a vehicle's accelerator pedal, brake pedal, and steering
torque sensors, is more generally applicable and, in the test vehicle, allowed
for the full control vehicle acceleration, braking, and steering. To
demonstrate the utility of the testbed for vehicle automation research, system
identification was performed on the test vehicle and speed and steering
controllers were designed to allow the vehicle to follow a predetermined path.
The resulting system was shown to be differentially flat, and a high level path
following algorithm was developed using the differentially flat properties and
state feedback. The path following algorithm is experimentally validated on the
automation testbed developed in the paper.
