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In vehicular communications, safety applications are the most challenging and they have become a main target in the research activity. Comprehensive testing and validation of such applications is very complex, but it is absolutely necessary if the applications are going to be widely used in vehicles all over the world. In this scope, simulation is an indispensable tool for leading the way to new test strategies. The integration of specific purpose simulators under a common platform is necessary in order to test complex network/system interactions, although simulators are not always developed sufficiently to reproduce the physical interactions that can take place in a vehicular environment. Thus, hybrid simulators can fill the gap when pieces of hardware have to be included inside of the simulation process. However, the transition from a fully simulated environment to a completely real one is still an unsolved problem. In this work, we present a set of key concepts for the design of a simulation platform that allows both the integration of other specific purpose simulators with real or emulated objects, and the seamless transition from a software to a hardware environment. The main characteristics of such a platform include final binary code execution, integration of simulated and real objects, realistic modeling of component interaction, ease of extension to new characteristics, and scalability. The approach is powerful and can easily be adapted to any simulation scheme.

The Telecommunications Engineering degree contains the study and understanding of a wide variety of knowledge areas, like signal theory and communications, computer networks or radio propagation. This diversity of fields makes it hard for the students to integrate all these knowledge, which in turns results essential to tackle real and practical problems that involve different subjects. As a response to this need of integration, in University Rey Juan Carlos an educational project based on Problem Based Learning (PBL), called the Wireles4x4 Project, has been carried out. In this project, groups of students build a complete system that is able to autonomously drive a radio controlled car, involving different technologies such as wireless communications, positioning systems, power management or system integration. The objectives of this educational project are: (1) The development of an active learning methodology, by which the students acquire integrated knowledge and skills on a variety of subjects; (2) The acquisition of professional skills like teamwork capabilities, oral and written communication, and long term task scheduling; (3) The participation of the students in an interdisciplinary engineering project with time and budgetary constraints. The results show that the participating students improve not only their specific knowledge on the involved issues, but also their capability of integrating different subjects of the degree and the skills for autonomous learning.

The Telecommunications Engineering degree contains the study and understanding of a wide range of knowledge areas, like signal theory and communications, computer networks, and radio propagation. This diversity makes it hard for students to integrate different concepts, which is essential to tackle real and practical problems that involve different subjects. As a response to this need of integration, a group of professors at Rey Juan Carlos University carried out an educational project based on Problem Based Learning (PBL), called the Wireles4x4 Project. In this project, groups of students build a complete system to autonomously drive a radio controlled car, involving different technologies such as wireless communications, positioning systems, power management, and system integration. The results show that the participating students improve not only their specific knowledge on the involved issues, but also their capability of integrating different subjects of the degree and the skills for autonomous learning.