2023 Author: Bryan Walter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 22:24
The American company Comma.ai has presented its own adapter for the OBD-II diagnostic connector, which allows collecting readings from various vehicle sensors. The company also presented a software platform for analyzing and synchronizing the collected data with the video recorder's recording. This is stated in the Comma.ai blog on Medium.
Many modern cars are equipped with auxiliary systems that allow partially or even fully automate the movement of the vehicle, however, in the vast majority of cases, such systems are installed by the manufacturer and are not sold separately.
Sometimes enthusiasts try to automate driving their own car on their own, but for the most efficient and safe movement of an unmanned vehicle, it is necessary to process data from a large number of sensors. In most cases, car manufacturers are not interested in such "arbitrariness", so it is difficult to find the information developers need in open sources. Comma.ai believes that this problem can be solved with the help of their new Panda diagnostic adapter and software platform for analyzing the collected data.
Unlike most commercially available OBD adapters, Panda not only provides basic information about the condition of the engine and the main systems of the car, but also collects a large amount of "raw" data. The adapter supports CAN, LIN, and GMLAN standards, and can also synchronize with the chffr auto-logger application, so that changes in sensor readings can be correlated with what is happening on the road. Also, the adapter can be connected to a computer via USB or Wi-Fi.
In the cabana app, you can explore and edit the data collected by Panda and synchronized with the dash cam recording.
For data analysis Comma.ai proposes to use the comma cabana program, which can work with both the new Panda adapter and the Comma Neo "autopilot" presented at the end of last year. According to the Comma.ai representatives, the project will interest self-driving car enthusiasts who will independently decipher the sensor readings and add them to the shared open library - for each specific car model it is enough to do this only once, after which other developers will be able to use this information.
Startup Comma.ai emerged from the garage project of George Hotz, the company's founder, who turned his Honda Acura ILX into a self-driving car. The startup planned to fill the empty niche of "external" autopilots with the Comma One device, which was intended for self-installation on some modern cars, but later George Hotz abandoned his plans due to the threat of a large fine from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Comma One has evolved into Comme Neo, an open research platform.
