Collaborate, Integrate, Innovate, and Create!
Think the Eclipse SDV Working Group is just another microcosm where technology silos dominate, with each project team doing their own thing? Think again! The Eclipse SDV Hackathon, set to take place from November 20-22, 2024, will showcase the capabilities of Eclipse SDV technologies, highlighting their seamless integration with each other and with relevant software and hardware platforms.
Collaboration Equals Integration
In an ecosystem where collaboration is key, integration, interfaces, and interoperability must also be treated as first-class priorities. Within the Eclipse SDV Working Group, the Blueprints initiative exemplifies how projects collaborate to shape the broader SDV landscape across various use cases, including Fleet Management, Data Spaces, and Software Orchestration. In addition, projects such as Eclipse Kuksa are gaining traction in open source communities beyond Eclipse SDV, thus breaking down silos between different open source ecosystems. And let’s not forget about projects such as Eclipse uProtocol or initiatives such as the Special Interest Groups (SIGs), where several companies and stakeholders team up to work towards a common SDV vision.
The Eclipse SDV Hackathon takes collaboration and project integration to the next level by harnessing the interoperability of various Eclipse SDV technologies, offering both playful and practical real-world use cases. This year’s challenges have just been published on the event website, and we're excited to share an overview of the technologies and use cases awaiting participants.
Challenge #1: Play by Wire
If you're excited about combining Python, gaming, and (optionally) web development, this challenge could be a perfect fit for you. Here is how the hack coaches themselves explain what they have planned:
Do you remember Pong? Let’s take it to another level – in a vehicle. In our hack challenge, we want to run Pong on an HPC and receive the input signals from a controller that is connected to an ECU and sends its input signals via a Zone Controller to the HPC using Eclipse Kuksa and optionally Open1722. Everything is orchestrated via Eclipse Ankaios, monitored by the Ankaios Dashboard and can run on the upcoming Digital.auto E2E Makerkit. In this way, we touch every point of a modern SDV-enabled EE architecture while having a bit of fun.
Challenge #2: Forget the Conventional – Shift to SDV!
If you’re more into quick rollouts, over-the-air updates, Linux OS, and containers, the following challenge might be just perfect for you:
A full-blown software-defined vehicle requires easy, seamless, on-the-fly and over-the-air integration of new features, possibly provided by third parties. Eclipse Ankaios, eCal and Symphony are prominent examples of free and open source Eclipse SDV projects that provide the high level of dynamics, flexibility and interoperability needed in the base software platform of an SDV. The Ankaios Dashboard, also an Eclipse SDV project, builds on top of Ankaios to provide a smooth developer experience.
This challenge provides the possibility to leave the conventional behind and make a full shift to an SDV allowing an easy rollout of new features to existing platforms.
Hack coaches Oliver Kral and Kaloyan Rusev also explained the goals of this challenge in a video:
https://youtu.be/Rqhwr4NvUiU?feature=shared
Challenge #3: Sunken Kitchen Challenge
Contrary to popular belief, there can never be “too many cooks”, at least when it comes to working on integrated open source software solutions: the more software and hardware knowledge, the better. After reading the abstract of the following challenge, you’ll realise it’s hard to disagree:
In the Sunken Kitchen Challenge, come join us in the kitchen as we provide Eclipse SDV ingredients and ask for your creativity in creating a recipe! The Sunken Kitchen Challenge gives a chance to pull any Eclipse SDV projects from the ecosystem to craft some small apps which communicate over middleware and develop some vehicle functionality, such as monitoring/tracing, over the air updates, autonomous driving components, you name it. Ever want your car to do something special? You can code it up here! Whether deploying on a Raspberry Pi, your laptop, or the cloud, you can craft something new that could even become an Eclipse SDV Blueprint project.
As for ingredients, the challenge will use a mix of Eclipse projects, including uProtocol, Kuksa, Ankaios, Autowrx, and ThreadX, along with a whiff of other technologies to complete the recipe.
To whet your appetite for delicious open source creations, hack coach Peter LeVasseur has created the following invitation video:
https://youtu.be/AAbiN3kUjoc?feature=shared
Challenge #4: Maestro Challenge (SDV Blueprint Orchestration)
We all know that software development is an art, given the amount of creativity and outside-the-box thinking it requires. For those of you looking to discover their artistic vein, the following challenge might be exactly what you are looking for:
Do you want to be the next maestro of the next generation of vehicle software? The time is now! Imagine yourself as the maestro. You are not just writing code. You are composing a masterpiece that will drive the future of transportation. Your work will ensure that every component, from the engine control unit to the infotainment system, works in perfect harmony. So, step up to the podium, take a deep breath, and let your creativity flow. The stage is set for you to become the maestro of in-vehicle software.
In more tangible terms, you will orchestrate in-vehicle components with containers, Eclipse SDV projects (Ankaios, Symphony, Chariott, etc.), and Linux OS. If this sounds like music to your ears, come and take the conductor’s baton!
Challenge #5: To ThreadX and Beyond!
Ever heard of Eclipse ThreadX? It’s the first and only open source Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) certified for safety-critical applications. Within the Eclipse SDV Working Group, there is a Special Interest Group dedicated to the project, and recently the Eclipse Foundation also launched the ThreadX Alliance. For those interested in exploring this powerful RTOS, challenge #5 might be the perfect kickstart:
In this challenge, you will discover ThreadX itself and will integrate it to other SDV projects by leveraging MQTT and REST. Every participant will be given an evaluation board based on the MXChip AZ3166 MCU. The processor core is an STM32F412RG (Cortex-M4).
The challenge will be divided into two phases:
1. Exploration: Starting with a pre-configured template, you will build a ThreadX application capable of MQTT and REST calls. You will be invited to leverage the board's sensors, buttons, and screen to implement a simple use case.
2. Integration: Using your ThreadX application as a stepping stone, you will integrate with other SDV projects through the APIs and integration endpoints they expose.
Since ThreadX ships with a FreeRTOS adaptation layer, you could try porting existing code to ThreadX using it.
Registration and Participation
With so many options to get involved, work hard, and play hard, plus amazing tech prizes waiting for you, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and be part of this year’s Eclipse SDV Hackathon in Karlsruhe. What are you waiting for? Register today!
