Due to the increasing importance of cyber-physical and embedded systems in industry, there is a strong demand for engineers with an updated knowledge on contemporary technology and methods in the area. This is a challenge for educators, in particular when it comes to creating hands-on experiences of real systems, due to their complexity and the fact that they are usually proprietary. Therefore, a laboratory environment that is representative of the industrial solutions is needed, with a focus on software and systems engineering issues. This paper describes such an environment, called the Mobile Open Platform for Experimental Design (MOPED). It consists of a model car chassis, equipped with a network of three control units based on standard hardware, and running the automotive software standard AUTOSAR, which consists of operating system, middleware, and application software structures. It is equipped with various sensors and actuators, and is open to extensions both in hardware and software. It also contains elements of future systems, since it allows connectivity to cloud services, development of federated embedded systems, and continuous deployment of new functionality. In this way, the platform provides a very relevant learning environment for cyber-physical systems, today and in the future.

The automotive industry has recently agreed upon the embedded software standard AUTOSAR, which structures an application into reusable components that can be deployed using a configuration scheme. However, this configuration takes place at design time, with no provision for dynamically installing components to reconfigure the system. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a dynamic component model that extends AUTOSAR with the possibility to add plug-in components at runtime. This opens up for shorter deployment time for new functions; opportunities for vehicles to participate in federated embedded systems; and involvement of third-party software developers.