Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
Towards the automotive plant of the future: leveraging wireless vehicular communication to enhance the assembly line
Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2025.
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613907496992768 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Jordaan, Waldo |
| author2 | Booysen, M. J. (Thinus) |
| author_browse | Booysen, M. J. (Thinus) Jordaan, Waldo |
| author_facet | Booysen, M. J. (Thinus) Jordaan, Waldo |
| author_sort | Jordaan, Waldo |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2025. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/134645 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:43:36.390Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/134645 Towards the automotive plant of the future: leveraging wireless vehicular communication to enhance the assembly line Jordaan, Waldo Booysen, M. J. (Thinus) Steed, C. A. Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Electrical & Electronic Engineering. Automobile industry and trade -- Technological innovations Wireless communication systems Vehicular ad hoc networks (Computer networks) Assembly-line methods Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2025. Jordaan, W. 2025. Towards the Automotive Plant of the Future: leveraging wireless vehicular communication to enhance the assembly line. Unpublished masters thesis. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/686b856e-535f-4ba9-bae8-d6367ade5544 ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Automotive manufacturers increasingly equip vehicles with powerful compute and wireless interfaces, yet these are rarely exploited during production. This thesis investigates how vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication can enhance automation, efficiency, and resilience within the automotive assembly line, aligning with the “Plant of the Future” vision in which vehicles act as intelligent, networked agents during their own production. The central research question asks how wireless vehicular communication can be leveraged in assembly, and the work pursues five objectives: to synthesise relevant technologies and network architectures, identify assembly-specific V2V use cases, evaluate their feasibility against line requirements and constraints, implement a proof-of-concept (PoC), and assess performance against operational requirements. A Double Diamond process structures the work from discovery to delivery, while an adapted House of Quality provides a traceable mechanism for ranking use cases and technical enablers. Guided by these, the PoC realises a vehicle-centric mesh using B.A.T.M.A.N. for ad-hoc routing and Named Data Networking (NDN) for data-centric dissemination. Experimental evaluation on Raspberry Pi 4 nodes over IEEE 802.11ac examines throughput, latency, resource usage, and overhead. Results show the B.A.T.M.A.N–NDN framework sustains low latency and predictable scaling under multi-hop and parallel load: median round-trip time remained below 15 ms even after seven hops, and throughput stabilised beyond the fifth hop. Ephemeral (in-memory) repositories reached 65 Mb/s (≈85% of total network capacity), while persistent storage traded speed for durability and recovery benefits. Two prioritised use cases – V2V ECU Commissioning and V2V Network Handoff (Network Fallback) – were demonstrated without reliance on fixed infrastructure, evidencing infrastructure-independent, vehicle-centric operation for assembly. Although the current prototype does not yet meet future high-volume flashing targets (e.g., ≈100 GB in 15 minutes), the gap reflects constrained hardware and conservative channel settings rather than architectural limits, leaving headroom for Wi-Fi 6/7 or 5G deployments. The work contributes (i) an end-to-end design integrating B.A.T.M.A.N. with NDN for factory V2V, and (ii) a reproducible measurement framework. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Motorvervaardigers rus voertuie toenemend toe met kragtige rekenvermo¨e en draadlose koppelvlakke, maar dit word selde tydens produksie benut. Hierdie tesis ondersoek hoe voertuigtot- voertuig (V2V) kommunikasie outomatisering, doeltreffendheid en veerkragtigheid binne die motor-monteerlyn kan versterk, in lyn met die “Aanleg van die Toekoms”-visie waarin voertuie as intelligente, netwerkgekoppelde agente tydens hul eie vervaardiging optree. Die sentrale navorsingsvraag vra hoe draadlose voertuigkommunikasie in montering benut kan word, en die werk volg vyf doelwitte: om relevante tegnologie¨e en netwerkargitekture te sintetiseer; monteerlyn-spesifieke V2V-gebruiksgevalle te identifiseer; hul uitvoerbaarheid teenoor lynvereistes en -beperkings te evalueer; ’n bewys-van-konsep (BvK) te implementeer; en prestasie teenoor operasionele vereistes te beoordeel. ’n Double Diamond-proses struktureer die werk van ontdekking tot lewering, terwyl ’n aangepaste House of Quality ’n naspeurbare meganisme bied om gebruiksgevalle en tegniese moontlikmakers te rangskik. Gelei hierdeur realiseer die BvK ’n voertuiggesentreerde maasnetwerk wat B.A.T.M.A.N. vir ad hoc-roetering en Named Data Networking (NDN) vir datagesentreerde verspreiding gebruik. Eksperimentele evaluering op Raspberry Pi 4-knope oor IEEE 802.11ac ondersoek deurset, latensie, hulpbronverbruik en oorhoofse las. Resultate toon dat die B.A.T.M.A.N–NDN-raamwerk lae latensie en voorspelbare skaalbaarheid onder multi-sprong en parallelle las handhaaf: die mediaan-rondegangtyd het onder 15 ms gebly selfs na sewe spronge, en deurset het n´a die vyfde sprong gestabiliseer. Vlugtige (in-geheue) bewaarplekke het 65 Mb/s bereik (≈85% van die totale netwerkkapasiteit), terwyl persistente bewaarplekke spoed vir duursaamheid en herwinningsvoordele verruil het. Twee geprioritiseerde gebruiksgevalle – V2V ECU-kommissiering en V2V-netwerkoordrag (terugvalnetwerk) – is sonder afhanklikheid van vaste infrastruktuur gedemonstreer, wat infrastruktuur-onafhanklike, voertuiggesentreerde werking vir montering aantoon. Al voldoen die huidige prototipe nog nie aan toekomstige ho¨evolume-flitsdoelwitte nie (bv. ≈100 GB in 15 minute), weerspie¨el die gaping beperkings in hardeware en konserwatiewe kanaalinstellings eerder as argitektoniese perke, wat ruimte laat vir Wi-Fi 6/7- of 5G-ontplooiings. Die werk dra by (i) ’n end-tot-end-ontwerp wat B.A.T.M.A.N. met NDN vir fabriek-V2V integreer, en (ii) ’n herhaalbare meetraamwerk. Masters 2025-12-22T06:46:55Z 2025-12-22T06:46:55Z 2025-12 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/134645 en Stellenbosch University xiv, 117 pages : illustrations application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Automobile industry and trade -- Technological innovations Wireless communication systems Vehicular ad hoc networks (Computer networks) Assembly-line methods Jordaan, Waldo Towards the automotive plant of the future: leveraging wireless vehicular communication to enhance the assembly line |
| title | Towards the automotive plant of the future: leveraging wireless vehicular communication to enhance the assembly line |
| title_full | Towards the automotive plant of the future: leveraging wireless vehicular communication to enhance the assembly line |
| title_fullStr | Towards the automotive plant of the future: leveraging wireless vehicular communication to enhance the assembly line |
| title_full_unstemmed | Towards the automotive plant of the future: leveraging wireless vehicular communication to enhance the assembly line |
| title_short | Towards the automotive plant of the future: leveraging wireless vehicular communication to enhance the assembly line |
| title_sort | towards the automotive plant of the future leveraging wireless vehicular communication to enhance the assembly line |
| topic | Automobile industry and trade -- Technological innovations Wireless communication systems Vehicular ad hoc networks (Computer networks) Assembly-line methods |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/134645 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jordaanwaldo towardstheautomotiveplantofthefutureleveragingwirelessvehicularcommunicationtoenhancetheassemblyline |