BlackPearl – Connected Automated Vehicle Demonstrator

The BlackPearl is the second-generation automotive demonstrator. It provides a modular research platform for connected and automated driving, enabling the development and evaluation of Car2X communication, distributed embedded systems, computer vision, and cloud-based automotive services

Purpose & Motivation

Modern intelligent vehicles combine embedded software, sensor fusion, vehicle communication, and cloud services. Evaluating these technologies on production vehicles is costly and limits experimental flexibility.

The BlackPearl was developed as a modular research and teaching platform that bridges the gap between laboratory experiments and real automotive systems. It enables students and researchers to develop, validate, and demonstrate advanced automotive software architectures, connected vehicle technologies, and automated driving functions under realistic conditions.

Technical Description

The demonstrator is based on a modified Henes F820 electric vehicle platform and focuses on Car2X research and developments.

Hardware

• Henes F820 vehicle platform
• Modular ECU box with exchangeable Electronic Control Units (ECUs)
• Raspberry Pi multicore processing modules
• Integrated control and visualization panel
• On-board sensors and actuators

Software & Technologies

• AUTOSAR 4.0
• Distributed embedded software architecture
• CAN communication
• Computer vision
• Traffic sign recognition
• Cloud computing integration
• Car2X communication
• TraffiCloud connectivity

System Architecture

The BlackPearl employs a distributed ECU architecture in which embedded controllers communicate via CAN while high-performance Raspberry Pi modules execute computationally intensive image-processing tasks. Cloud services are integrated through the TraffiCloud platform to support cooperative vehicle applications.

Research Context

The demonstrator supports a wide range of research and educational scenarios, including:

• Automated driving functions
• Vehicle lighting control
• Traffic sign detection and recognition
• Distributed ECU communication
• Cloud-assisted vehicle services
• Car2X communication
• Vehicle diagnostics
• Remote monitoring and visualization

Multiple demonstrators can exchange information to investigate cooperative driving scenarios and connected mobility concepts.