[Proposal] C-V2X Module for Sending and Receiving C-V2X Messages

[Croquembouche]

Hi All,

We have finished integrating a C-V2X module with Autoware. Here is the Github Link, and the demo video.

Why do we need C-V2X for Autonomous Driving

Autonomous vehicle are single-agent systems and they make decision solely based on their own sensors. Inherently, LoS (Line-of-Sight) becomes a huge problem. C-V2X is the solution to this. While most current C-V2X functions are just for redundancies, we believe it will play a more active role in ensuring the safety of autonomous vehicles.

Method

This is an overview graph of what the module will do. Once a message is received by Autoware, it will parse the information, then deliver the information to the corresponding modules, planning or perception. For the ego vehicle, the module will use the information from the planning, perception, and control modules to create C-V2X messages to broadcast.

Limitations

We have only created the messages as defined by the C-V2X J2735 Standards. We will continue to add in more messages for vote/request.

Evaluation

The evaluation is done in Carla 0.9.13 with Autoware.Universe Galactic. The evaluation is also done in Carla 0.9.14 with Autoware.Universe Humble.

Autoware Integration

I plan to merge as follows referring to Eagleye:

Place the module in universe/external by adding autoware.repose in autoware.
Add an option to autoware.launch to start the C-V2X module
Add a launch file to run the C-V2X module.

In the future, if it becomes difficult to maintain in a separated repository or becomes commonly used, I plan to place itdirectly in autoware.universe.

We will maintain the C-V2X module for the next 5 years, at least.

Please let me know if you have an opinion about how to integrate 🙏

Current Status

You can run the C-V2X module as a standalone package within ROS2. Simply download the Repo and source the setup file.