Building Data Visualization Applications to Facilitate Vehicular Networking Research

A web app was developed which allows any internet-connected device to remotely monitor a roadway intersection’s state over HTTP. A mapping simulation was enhanced to allow researchers to retroactively track the location and the ad-hoc connectivity of vehicle clusters. A performance analysis was conducted on the utilized network partitioning algorithm. This work was completed under and for the utility of ETSU’s Vehicular Networking Lab. It can serve as a basis for further development in the field of wireless automobile connectivity

Simulating Vehicle Movement and Multi-Hop Connectivity from Basic Safety Messages

The Basic Safety Message (BSM) is a standardized communication packet that is sent every tenth of a second between connected vehicles using Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC). BSMs contain data about the sending vehicle's state, such as speed, location, and the status of the turn signal. Currently, many BSM datasets are available through the connected vehicle testbeds of U.S. Department of Transportation from all over the country. However, without a proper visualization tool, it is not possible to analyze or visually get an overview of the spatio-temporal distribution of the data. With this goal, a web application has been developed which can ingest a raw BSM dataset and display a time-based simulation of vehicle movement. The simulation also displays multi-hop vehicular network connectivity over DSRC. This paper gives details about the application, including an explanation of the multi-hop partitioning algorithm used to classify the vehicles into separate network partitions. A performance analysis for the simulation is included, in which it is suggested that calculating a connectivity matrix with the multi-hop partitioning algorithm is computationally expensive for large number of vehicles

“Bad Taste in Movies”: HACKing Films as a Site of Praxis for Black Embodiment

During a time of racial unrest and a hyperfocus on inclusion and representation, three Black scholars from different time zones met on Zoom to discuss recent movies. Initially, our conversation revolved around the role of the representation of Black people in film and contentious arguments about the quality of Marvel’s Black Panther. We shifted toward a more analytical trend when we began to interrogate how the world of cinema has attempted to take progressive steps regarding representation, such as moving away from obvious racialized tropes. Essentially, we concluded that the industry has yet to address its deeper and prevailing flaws when it comes to its perception of Blackness. While much of the previous research on film unpacks the tropes and stereotypes that work as limiting factors, our work seeks to understand how Black characterizations in film serve as sites of praxis, whereby audiences learn how to read and understand Blackness. Using frameworks based on Black critical race theory, critical media studies, and critical race theory, as well as aligning that with our focus group study, we have conceptualized the humanizing approaches to cinematic knowledge (HACK). Our findings suggest that HACK will serve as a tool and mechanism to disrupt the patterns in film that act as a generational stagnation in the way we view the Black community on and off the screen

The Cypher

The Black Educology Mixtape is a collective of Black people working to amplify and empower Black educational voices. Black Educology goes beyond the scope of academia to recognize the movers and shakers of emancipatory movements. We imagine this mixtape as a vehicle toward revolution. To that extent, this album informs, confers, and collaborates with educational voices across the Black diaspora. Our scope and sequence focuses on the past, present, and future of Black education, which has been historically and systemically caught in the underbelly of western education. Black Educology is an open-access mixtape that moves beyond academic articles to feature various art forms and voices that are typically muted. Though traditional mixtapes only include songs, we highlight text, audio, images, transcripts, and lyrics. The main tenets of Black Educology’s educational vision are rooted in critical race theory, with a focus on counter-storytelling, Black critical theory, Afro-pessimism, and Black educational epistemology. Our work is grounded in creating mixtapes that are both revolutionary and emancipatory in the name of love, study, struggle, and refusal