Researchers Just Trained a Car on SuperTuxKart
Summary
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Researchers use a Clio Renault to create a functional controller for a racing game by intercepting and manipulating CAN data.
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The required decoding project can report management, acceleration and braking to translate them into play entries.
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The real world controls have been mapped to “Supertoxkart” in proof of concept, but the limitations prevented complete integration.
The last Mario Kart The entrance to the Nintendo Switch 2 is quite cool. But have you ever wanted it to seem a little more … real? With a car and a supertoxkart, it can be done. Type of.
The researchers transformed a standard tailgate into a fully functional controller that works for a race video game. The project was undertaken by the Security Council based in the United Kingdom Pensiers (PTP). The team used their internal research vehicle, a renault clio 2016, for experience, and the ultimate objective was to demonstrate how to intercept and manipulate data from the controller zone network (CAN), critical competence for anyone entering the field of automotive security. The CAN bus is the internal communication network which allows various electronic control units (ECU) in a car to exchange information, allowing functions such as braking, acceleration and management.
It therefore has legitimate and serious applications that do not play games. But you could. By explaining this network, the researchers aimed to map the real world of the car controls at the entrances to “Supertoxkart”, a free racing game and open source similar to “Mario Kart”. PTP hardware hacking, David Lodge, led the technical effort, which started by physically spouting into the wiring of the Clio box. It was also necessary to decode the torrent of data circulating in the network. This required a combination of studying vehicle documentation, using open source tools designed to decipher specific clio codes, and of course, a good old test and error and a certain fatty fat (perhaps literally). Lodge meticulously pressed the pedals and turned the steering wheel to observe the “arbitration ID” – unique identifiers for CAN messages – corrupt with each specific action.
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Once the specific signals can steering, acceleration and braking signals have been isolated, they were translated into play entries. The brakes were relatively simple to configure, as they operate as a simple ON / OFF switch. The management, however, presented some physical challenge. Since the car was motionless, an aggressive turn would excessively carry the tires on the exposure soil. The team resolved this by fixing a minimum steering angle threshold, allowing the game control without damaging the vehicle.
The project was not without its limits. The team had hoped to use the clio horn to activate the articles at stake like the Power-Ups, but they discovered that the operation of the horn is not transmitted to the CAN bus. In addition, a tight deadline prevented them from binding the real speed counter of the car on the game screen, although Lodge is convinced that it could be made by sending specific messages to the vehicle instrument group. The ultimate result is probably not yet something that feels good to play, and it will clearly not be something that you can ever play, but it is nevertheless proof of cool concept.
Source: the register
