Automakers, National Lab Prepare Specs for Wireless Sensors

The assembly floor of an automobile manufacturer can have hundreds of sensors located in a small area, Workman says, and automakers need a system that can read all such sensors reliably. Wireless systems tested by automakers, he notes, have typically been too slow. "We need a round-trip 10-millisecond return on transmission," he says, referring to the rate at which data is transmitted and received. In contrast, 100 milliseconds has been the common round-trip transmission rate with the wireless hardware they have tested to date. "A robot needs to know what the part in front of it is, while the part is in front of it," he explains. "One hundred milliseconds doesn't do the job."

Because of this shortcoming, Workman says, the auto industry rarely employs wireless sensors. But the need for wireless technology is high, since the cables that pass along the robotic arms get flexed so frequently that they tend to deteriorate very quickly. "We're interested in a secure, high-speed wireless platform," he summarizes, though for carmakers, speed is a greater priority than security.

GM's Gary Workman

SRNL first began looking into a standards platform for wireless sensors approximately three or four years ago, Cordaro says—for its own use, as well as for the government's. About 18 months ago, USCAR joined these efforts, first discussing its common needs with the lab, then signing a cooperative agreement in January of this year to develop a standard. Since then, SRNL and USCAR have worked to develop the specification, and the team next plans to go to technology vendors in the hope of having prototypes sometime in 2010.

In the meantime, Workman says, the automakers have agreed to share the results of their previous research into wireless sensors among SRNL and USCAR members, "including our individual assessment of products in the market."

"Certainly, our hope is for a standard," Workman states. "There is already a fair amount of proprietary technology out there, but no spectrum of wireless sensors that the variety of users require. We would hope to have a standard with which we can buy technology from multiple vendors with interoperability." A secure and high-speed wireless system for the auto industry, he says, "would increase productivity and provide cost savings."

Although Cordaro declines to provide details regarding the specifications the team has developed, he says the standard sought would provide the highest security of any existing wireless sensor system, using advanced encryption algorithms and operating at high speed. Once vendors provide a prototype, Cordaro says, SRNL plans to test it at the lab's 300-square-mile compound at the Savannah River Site.