Project 1 - Architecting Solutions in the Cloud

Case Study:

An automotive giant has decided to set up a separate entity for its electric vehicles - both 2W and 4W. This entity will operate separately and independently. They have approached you as a Cloud Solutions Architect to set up the infrastructure and application solutioning for them. You are expected to present them with at least 2 variable solutions and strong reasoning that will cover aspects of their compute, storage, databases, analytics and security. This should encompass all departments that you would expect within a Company.

Detailed Description of the Project (Minimum 10 lines)

1. Architectural Diagrams
1. Showcasing various components used
2. Security and Data flow

The above architecture diagram represents the various components those are:

1. Vehicle engineer
2. Data engineer
3. AWS IoT FleetWise Edge Agent
4. CAN drivers
5. CAN bus
6. Customer’s AWS Account
7. Vehicle data storage
8. Battery management
9. Notification queue

• The vehicles will be simulated by one Amazon EC2 instance each. The EC2 instance will run a script generating CAN bus messages to simulate BMS.
• Both vehicles will intentionally use little different CAN signals encodings to demonstrate the ability of AWS IoT FleetWise to provide unified access to heterogeneous vehicle fleets.
• Data Engineer has a task to make the raw data from the vehicles usable by the stakeholders inside the organization.
• One example is a Quality Assurance department, who is interested in using vehicle data (e.g., temperature sensors) for the root cause analysis of vehicle quality issues.
• Another example is a team developing an EV battery health monitoring solution, who needs access to BMS system data each time EV battery temperature is above a specific threshold.
• A Vehicle Engineer has a detailed knowledge of the vehicle and is aware of both the signals provided by an individual ECU as well as encoding of these signals in a specific vehicle network (e.g., CAN bus).

The solution includes the following components:

1. Vehicle engineer models vehicles and configures decoding rules

First, the Vehicle Engineer uses their deep knowledge of the vehicle design to configure the necessary cloud resources for the AWS IoT FleetWise service, These resources include Signal catalog , Vehicle model , Decoder manifest , and Vehicle instances .

2. Data engineer starts vehicle data collection campaign

Now, the Data Engineer can initiate a data collection campaign in AWS IoT FleetWise.The campaign configuration contains data like:

• Unique names of the vehicle signals to be collected and transferred to the cloud
• For time-based campaigns, a sampling rate for the signal collection

3. The Edge Agent ingests the collected vehicle data to the AWS.

• AWS IoT Core service provides secure and scalable transport of data between the Edge Agent and AWS cloud.

4. AWS IoT FleetWise stores vehicle data

• For data persistence we will use Amazon Timestream, a fast, scalable, and server-less time series database.

5. Battery health detection service analyses vehicle data

• The battery health detection component is implemented using an AWS Lambda function. The AWS Lambda function at a regular rate.
• On each run the AWS Lambda function queries the vehicle data and analyzes, For each identified battery health issue, the AWS Lambda function will ingest a message into Amazon Kinesis Data Streams .

6. Battery management service acts on battery health data

• The battery management component will be implemented using an AWS Lambda function. For each insight that requires a user notification, it will retrieve the driver’s contact data from Amazon DynamoDB and send a notification request to an Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS)

7. Notification handler service sends an SMS notification to the driver

• The notification handler service reads the notification request from Amazon SQS, enriches the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) data of the vehicle with the contact data of the current vehicle driver, and sends a message to the driver via Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)

2. An write up of more than 5oo words explaining why they choose this solution and how it helps alleviate the issues highlighted in the given problem statement

While electric vehicles (EVs) have been all around for a longer time, the level of innovative development and interest has accelerated over the past decade.

EVs, in fact, fare better than ICE vehicles on a range of transport policy goals, including enhanced energy security, reduced reliance on crude oil, better air quality and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

EVs are, therefore, emerging as the preferred clean technology for the future of mobility. The economics of EVs has also improved significantly, while advancements, especially in battery and charging technologies, are expected to reduce costs further. The EV opportunity has long been seen as a game changer for the automotive sector in India.

A desire to reduce pollution levels and dependence on oil imports has bolstered the case for EV adoption. India’s post-liberalization journey has encompassed rapid urbanization, migration and economic growth—factors that have also led to vehicular congestion in sprawling metropolitan regions and a drastic deterioration in air quality.

In today's technology everyone is behind the EV vehicles, so I as a Cloud Solution architect would like to show the graph analysis for the sales of the year 2016-2023.

Since everyone wants to save world, save money on diesel and petrol

There is a good solution called Electric vehicles which can be developed in 2- Wheelers and 4- Wheelers as well.

Look into the graphical representation below which gives you the clear idea how people have shifted .

So, in 2023 there will be a great boom in sales for EV vehicles.Everyone started using the EV vehicle as their primary vehicle for traveling from point A to Point B.

The main two solutions for choosing EV are:

1. LOWER MAINTENANCE COST & LOWER RUNNING COST
2. CONVENIENCE OF CHARGING AT HOME & PUBLIC PLACES

• LOWER MAINTENANCE COST & LOWER RUNNING COST:

The running cost of an electric vehicle is much lower than an equivalent petrol or diesel vehicle. Electric vehicles use electricity to charge their batteries instead of using fossil fuels like petrol or diesel. Electric vehicles are more efficient, and that combined with the electricity cost means that charging an electric vehicle is cheaper than filling petrol or diesel for your travel requirements. Using renewable energy sources can make the use of electric vehicles more eco-friendly. The electricity cost can be reduced further if charging is done with the help of renewable energy sources installed at home, such as solar panels.

Electric vehicles have very low maintenance costs because they don’t have as many moving parts as an internal combustion vehicle. The servicing requirements for electric vehicles are lesser than the conventional petrol or diesel vehicles. Therefore, the yearly cost of running an electric vehicle is significantly low.

• CONVENIENCE OF CHARGING AT HOME & PUBLIC PLACES:

Electric vehicles don’t have gears and are very convenient to drive. There are no complicated controls, just accelerate, brake, and steer. When you want to charge your vehicle, just plug it into a home or public charger. Electric vehicles are also quiet, so they reduce noise pollution that traditional vehicles contribute.

Electric vehicles have the silent functioning capability as there is no engine under the hood. No engine means no noise. The electric motor functions so silently that you need to peek into your instrument panel to check if it is ON. Electric vehicles are so silent that manufacturers have to add false sounds in order to make them safe for pedestrians.

Imagine being at a busy fuel station during peak hours, and you are getting late to reach your workplace. These problems can easily be overcome with an electric vehicle. Simply plug your vehicle in at your home charger for 4-5 hours before you plan to go. If you are able to get a charger where you park at home, it is very convenient to plan your journeys in advance. What if you forget to plug in your machine someday? Then you can easily take the help of fast chargers or even battery swapping services if you are on a two-wheeler on the road.

Key Highlights of the Project (Minimum 5 Points)

1. Service Understanding
2. Service Integration

SERVICE INTEGRATION:

• We mainly focus on providing the integration solution for the fleet owners and driving solutions will be our main goal in the service integration.
• Since EV vehicles are providing the smart ways for charging the vehicles, identifying the smarter way for the service charging and location.
• Working on the Grid integration service for the greater two ways of charging the EV.

SERVICE UNDERSTANDING:

• My understanding of service is that EVs can work as a Charging as a service(CaaS).
• CaaS helps in operating and installing the EV charging station at minimal cost.
• EV vehicles are now in boom and people started using them often since it helps in Mobile applications for locating the charging station.
• It helps in monitoring EV charging operations, handling EV billing and so on.
• It will also manage the information that is received from EV vehicle drivers.
• It also plays a vital role in fleet owner management.

Deliverables Expected Outcomes of the Project (Minimum 5 Points)

EVs are increasing in demand in recent years due to the need to reduce vehicle emissions which are damaging to the environment. Government incentives and private companies are working on schemes to quicken the adoption of electric vehicles. Since EVs do not produce any emissions, they are more environmentally friendly than conventional vehicles are. The generation of the electricity used to charge the vehicles also comes from solar energy (a renewable energy source) and not fossil fuels which makes them sustainable. EVs can meet the same performance standards of conventional vehicles and even surpass that of theirs and this has been seen with the automotive company Tesla. The Tesla Model 3 is the best selling EV in the world and is capable of a range of approximately 350 km on single charge. It also has an acceleration of 0 - 60 mph in 5.6 seconds and a top speed of 130 mph.

EVs offer several advantages over conventional vehicles besides the lack of pollution and lack of need to rely on fossil fuels. One is that, EVs are more efficient meaning that they offer more MPGe (miles per gallon gasoline equivalent), meaning that you will spend less on recharging an EV than you would to refuel a conventional vehicle. This is because the more efficient the EV is, the more distance you travel with the available energy. In the US, Tesla owners can charge their EVs for free at their private charging stations for life which results in significant savings in fuel. Regenerative braking in EVs adds to their efficiency as the unused energy in braking gets reused purposefully. Another benefit is that EVs have fewer moving/rotating parts and this means lesser maintenance costs than you would have with IC engine vehicles e.g. changing oil, transmission fluid. This, in the long term, would give better savings than you would get with conventional vehicles. Lesser moving parts means there is lesser friction between moving parts and hence quieter operation.

In spite of these feats, it will be difficult for a worldwide adoption of EVs for several reasons. One reason is convenience. In order for EVs to dominate the automotive market, there needs to be more convenient ways for consumers to be able to charge their vehicles. There needs to be several charging stations on the highways and roads and this can be supported if everyone's homes were generating solar power. It needs to be as easy to charge an EV as it is to fill an IC engine vehicle with fuel at a petrol station. Another reason is the cost of the EVs. EVs are still a relatively new technology and only account for 2-3% of the worldwide market. This is because they cost considerably more than conventional vehicles due to the high cost of batteries and electric components. But, the cost of batteries is getting cheaper over time and manufacturers are developing newer and more efficient batteries. The goal is to produce a 'million mile' battery which, if made, will be a revolution in the automotive sector. Another disadvantage is that the components in EVs operate at high voltages and currents and this can be a hazard if the components explode or don't work as they should.

A compromise between IC engine vehicles and EVs exists as Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs). HEVs combine an IC engine with an electric propulsion system to produce a 'hybrid' between the two different classes of vehicles. The purpose of this is to use the power available form the electric powertrain to improve the fuel economy of the vehicle so that it does not rely solely on the petrol/diesel it uses as fuel. This in turn will also improve the overall performance of the HEV. The IC engine can be used to power the electric motor to charge the battery or use directly in the electric drive motor with a combination of a motor and generator in one. HEVs also implement regenerative braking to recharge their batteries among other features used in EVs. Compared to EVs, HEVs represent more of the automotive market with a 19% market share of all automobiles in the world. This is because HEVs still run on fossil fuels which is still more convenient as a fuel source in most parts of the world. The all time best selling HEV to date is the Toyota Prius.