A design of in-car multi-layer communication network with Bluetooth and CAN bus

This paper presents a novel design for tablet controlled 4-Wheel Independent Drive and Independent Steering (4-WIDIS) Electric Vehicle (EV) with multilayer communication network. The tablet acts as a human machine interface (HMI) and the host computer of the EV operation control computation for individual wheel-units via Bluetooth, CAN bus, and a gateway that connects the two interfaces. An experimental prototype demonstrates that Bluetooth 4.0 communication rate is insufficient to maintain absolute control required of an EV travelling at high speed. Therefore, it is recommended to designate the tablet as an auxiliary HMI, and upgrade the gateway to a powerful central controller. Such a system structure requires further examination.