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<p>Active safety systems for automobiles in the form of camera systems have evolved rapidly the last ten years, Autoliv Electronics in Linköping develops multiple such systems. In their development process there is a need for a Break out Box (BoB) to record and playback video and CAN data as if the camera system was used in an actual automobile. The aim of this thesis has been to develop a BoB for these camera systems. The work has been divided into three phases; identification of requirements, design of the BoB and implementation of a prototype. The project has addressed four known issues with the currently used BoB; bandwidth, modularity, synchronization and usability. The result is a new BoB which is based on an FPGA connecting to a PC over Gigabit Ethernet. The design is an extendible platform for multiple channels of video, CAN data, other serial data and future extensions. A prototype proves the design concept by successfully recording video for the Autoliv NightVision system onto a PC.</p>

Active safety systems for automobiles in the form of camera systems have evolved rapidly the last ten years, Autoliv Electronics in Linköping develops multiple such systems. In their development process there is a need for a Break out Box (BoB) to record and playback video and CAN data as if the camera system was used in an actual automobile. The aim of this thesis has been to develop a BoB for these camera systems. The work has been divided into three phases; identification of requirements, design of the BoB and implementation of a prototype. The project has addressed four known issues with the currently used BoB; bandwidth, modularity, synchronization and usability. The result is a new BoB which is based on an FPGA connecting to a PC over Gigabit Ethernet. The design is an extendible platform for multiple channels of video, CAN data, other serial data and future extensions. A prototype proves the design concept by successfully recording video for the Autoliv NightVision system onto a PC.

Through this research, engineering students and conservation biologists constructed an off-grid video system for observing western burrowing owls in El Paso, Texas. The burrowing owl has a declining population and their range decreasing, driving scientists' interest to see inside the den for observing critical nesting behavior. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) biologists wanted videos from inside the dark, isolated hillside owl burrows. This research yielded a replicable multi-camera prototype, empowering others to explore applications of engineering and wildlife monitoring. The remote station used an off-the-shelf video recording system, solar panels, charge controller, and lead acid batteries. Four local K-12 science educators participated in system testing at Lake Ray Roberts State Park through the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET, NSF #1132585) program, as well as four undergraduate engineering students as senior design research.