Remote Control Operation of Autonomous Cars Over Cellular Network Using PlayStation Controller

Abstract: A big challenge regarding the development of autonomous vehicles is how to handle complex situations. If an autonomous vehicle ends up in a situation where it cannot make a decision on its own it will cause the car to stop, unable to continue driving. For these situations, human intervention is required. By making it possible to control the car remotely there is no need for an actual human in the car. Instead, a human operator can remotely control one or several cars from a distance. The purpose of this project was to identify such complex situations, evaluate remote control options and implement one of these controllers to drive the SVEA cars in the Smart Mobility Lab. After evaluation of possible remote control options, the PlayStation controller was chosen to be the simplest and most intuitive steering option. The controller was successfully implemented first in simulation and then on the SVEA cars in the Smart Mobility Lab. A test track was designed to measure the performance of the implemented controller and to be able to measure user-friendliness through a survey. It was concluded that a majority of the participants would not feel comfortable steering a real car using the PlayStation controller. However, a more extensive evaluation would be required to draw any major conclusions.