Proposed Designs

Design	Pros	Cons
Raspberry Pi + LTE Dongle + CAN Dongle	Already needed for the front display Tested in 2019 FSGP	Close to the front; might have reception issues with the chase car
GPy (built-in LTE & WiFi) + CAN Carrier Board	Supports external antenna for optimal placements	Requires a new carrier board
CAN-Ethernet + WiFi Router	Tested in 2018 ASC Requires a long range wifi router for FSGP (cost around $460)	Requires a new low-profile antenna (mechanical might not like the antenna sticking out)
PCAN Wireless Gateway	Turnkey solution	Expensive ($500) The Wi-Fi antenna might not be as good as the 2018 ASC Ubiquiti one

Wireless Protocols

We should consider to a combination of options to ensure a stable connection during ASC and FSGP

Protocol	Range/Coverage	Data Rate
Wi-Fi	100 m (typical) 3-5 km (long-range & omnidirectional) Direct line-of-sight to the router	> 36.1 Mbps
LoRa	10 km Better non-line-of-sight performance due to a lower frequency of 915 MHz than 2.4 GHz	< 27 kbps
LTE/LTE-M	Verizon has LTE coverage over the FSGP track and most of the roads along the ASC route Direct line-of-sight to the tower	< 300 kbps
CAN		= 500 kps

Method	Description
CAN → Ethernet → Wi-Fi	Used a the CAN-ethernet bright and a Ubiquiti Wi-Fi stick during the 2018 ASC. Experienced connection issues during the 2018 FSGP
CAN → LTE (RPi) → Internet → Wi-Fi	Used the RPi to connect to a pub-sub server on the internet via a LTE dongle during the 2019 FSGP. The pit stop listened to the server via the Wi-Fi
CAN → Wi-Fi	We can consider a low-power Wi-Fi MCU, such as ESP32
CAN → LoRa	We may need to filter or delay non-essential CAN messages due to limited bandwidth
CAN → Wi-Fi → LTE (Phone)	We can use a portable LTE hotspot or a phone to connect the Wi-Fi to the internet

Location	LTE Coverage
Heartland Motorsports Park	All carriers
Topeka - Kansas City	All carriers
Stage 1	Verizon and AT&T
Stage 2	Verizon: 90%; poor reception around Whiskey Park
Stage 3	Verizon: 90%
Stage 4	All carriers

This will have a web-app on someones laptop that will be able to view and log all the important data about the car's performance.

Lower priority, mostly a front end display data kinda thing.

Section	Information Visible
Battery	Voltages, temperatures, charge, etc
Relay States	Motors, battery, solar
Solar Cell	Voltages, temperatures, etc.
Power Consumption	Battery pack, each board, each light, motors, etc.
Charging	Current, voltage, state of charge, calculation of time left till full charge, etc.