CD6 (Center for Development of Sensors, Instrumentation and Systems)

Background

The CD6 is a technological innovation center that was established in 1997 with the goal of promoting R&D activities in the field of Optical Engineering carried out at the Terrassa Campus of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC). One of the center’s lines of research focuses on Optical Metrology and Sensors, emphasizing the development of advanced optical measurement sensors for various applications such as three-dimensional mapping.

The aim of the applied research conducted at the CD6 is to bring the new knowledge generated to the market as new products or processes.

Challenge

The CD6 has received a grant from the Ministry of Science to equip a vehicle with multiple 2D and 3D image sensors for data collection and the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) based on Computer Vision (CV) perception and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to achieve higher levels of vehicle autonomy.

The main challenge was to install in the vehicle a device capable of storing data from all sensors in real time, with a storage capacity of over 4TB, a bandwidth and write speed exceeding 1Gbps, while being robust, reliable, and independent of the main onboard computer.

Solution

The solution was to install the QNAP TS-h886 NAS with a QNAP QXG-10G2SF-X710 network expansion card to connect via 10GbE SFP+ to all the sensors installed in the car, alongside its eight bays using two SSD disks.

The TS-h886 was chosen for its LXC/Docker container virtualization capabilities and hardware features: storage capacity, data transfer and network interfaces. Since the required bandwidth exceeded 1Gbps, they also opted to enhance functionality with the QXG-10G2SF-X710 network expansion card to connect via 10GbE SFP+.

The compact size of the TS-h886 allowed it to be installed inside the vehicle while meeting all the mechanical and electrical requirements. Its design allows for easy drive removal, transportation of the NAS unit, and data uploading via network to available computing servers.

Results

Thanks to the QNAP TS-h886, the data storage needs for all sensors in the vehicle are fully covered. With its hardware features (bays, interfaces and write bandwidth capabilities) and its virtual machine with LXC containers, they have been able to deploy custom programs and applications on the NAS, allowing it to function as an independent controller within their architecture. The NAS can receive and record all data without loss of information, relieving the computational load on the host computer, while its multiple network interfaces enable control through a dedicated SSH channel. In addition, the ability to synchronize with a PTP server allows for precise time adjustments, ensuring all equipment is synchronized with the main controller.

https://www.cd6.upc.edu/en/projects/807