CAS DataLoggers provided the data logging solution for an established last-mile delivery vehicle manufacturer as they launched a new fully electric delivery vehicle. The new vehicle is fully electric and the battery supplier required a full battery health record of the parameters (state of charge, discharge, hours of operation, etc) to serve as a measure of value at the time the battery lease period ends. Essentially, the battery supplier requires a Battery Passport which has a complete record of the batteries’ life cycle within the vehicle. This is critical to assigning value at the end of the lease period as well as providing critical performance data to the vehicle manufacturer to maximize efficiency and assist with the support and design of next-generation products.

The manufacturer required the data logger to record CANbus battery health and electrical system data on two Canbuses at a down-sampled rate of once per second. Data was broadcast at a much faster rate, but the RexGen was configured to average the subsecond data points and store a once-per-second average. Data was stored on the internal eMMC flash memory with time/date stamps. Numerous strategies were discussed to determine what was required to provide the battery manufacturer with the information they needed. These strategies included recording triggered events or threshold excursions as well as recording peak and minimum values on parameters over 30-day periods, then storing the minimum, maximum, and average values of each parameter over the 30-day interval. The decision was finally determined to record the 1 second down-sampled data for a 90 day period. The data can be offloaded during maintenance checks via USB.

Installation

The manufacturer installed a modified Influx RexGen Air into each vehicle. The customer did not require the GPS nor the cellular streaming features of the RexGen Air, so those components were removed to reduce cost resulting in a custom version of the RexGen Air. The RexGen Air features an automotive industry standard Molex connector which connects directly to the vehicle wiring harness. This allows communication on both CANbus networks so the required data and status messages can be recorded. Additionally, the USB connection is also wired to the vehicle harness which allows the technician to unload data without having to physically access the RexGen Air directly.

Usage

The RexGen Air offered a flexible and powerful data logging solution for this application. It is also capable of capturing other real-time data from several sources including temperatures, RPM, accelerator pedal position, and speed, so as to evaluate driver performance in addition to the vehicle and battery health performance. For other applications, RexGen Air provides a flexible full-featured tool for engineering data acquisition, vehicle testing in the field, or customer problem investigation. It can simultaneously capture data from up to 4 different CANbus sources plus 1 K-line bus and save up to 64 GB of data to onboard eMMC.

Two analog inputs allow it to acquire data from additional voltage output sensors. The standard RexGen Air features 18 Hz GNSS for inertial and position measurements and an LTE modem for data transfer via FTPs. The compact, robust enclosure is well suited for the demanding automotive environment and the standard Molex Mini50 connector allows seamless integration into production vehicle harnesses for easy access to the CANbuses as well as to the RexGen Air itself. The onboard backup battery retains the real-time clock setting so that accurate timestamps are applied to the recorded data.

The vehicle engineers found the RexGen Air easy to set up using the freely distributable RexDesk configuration software. The output of RexDesk is standard XML which can be edited using any ASCII text editor making field updates trouble-free. The simple, intuitive interface allowed the engineers to construct data logging configurations using the simple graphical interface in a few minutes. Configurations can be uploaded to the logger via USB. RexDesk can import industry-standard dbc formats to build a list of available messages. RexDesk exports data to CSV as well as industry-standard formats including mf4, blf, and mat.

Benefits

The customer gained multiple benefits from installing the Influx RexGen Air Vehicle Data Logger for monitoring battery health and charging system performance in the electric delivery vehicle. They were able to satisfy the supplier’s requirements for monitoring the performance and usage of the battery system as well as provide their design team with valuable information for revisions to vehicle software and insight for the design of the next-generation platforms. The modified RexGen Air provided a cost-effective tool to satisfy the data needs at an economical price.

The ability to connect directly to the vehicle wiring harness and the compact size of the RexGen Air made integration into the existing vehicle design a simple exercise. XML configuration allowed for easy configuration and modification during the acceptance phase and required little instruction or training from the engineering team. With a standard RexGen Air, cellular LTE transmission of data files via FTPs allows for remote data analysis at very low cost since no proprietary software or servers are required making the RexGen Air an optimal tool for remote vehicle or system monitoring.

The RexDesk software tool, being freely distributable further reduces costs across engineering teams as no licenses are required regardless of the size of the team.

For further information on the RexGen Air data logger, or to find the ideal solution for your application-specific needs, contact a CAS Data Logger Application Specialist at (800) 956-4437 or request more information.

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Dearman is an innovative technology company developing zero-emission power and cooling solutions. At the heart of Dearman’s technology portfolio is an innovative piston engine powered by the rapid expansion of liquid nitrogen – the Dearman Engine. The Dearman Engine is the first engine to deliver efficient power and cooling from the expansion of a cryogen. Its first application is a zero-emission transport refrigeration system. Performance and durability in application testing is a vital part of its development, so it’s crucial for the company to see all relevant data and to be able to select specific channels for reporting and performance iteration comparisons. With this in mind, Dearman turned to Influx Technology for a vehicle data collection solution. As a North American distributor of Influx, CAS DataLoggers presents this Case Study showing the business benefits.

Installation

Since May 2015, Influx’s Rebel CT Vehicle Datalogger has enabled the Dearman team to remotely monitor the Dearman engine’s health parameters –e.g. pressure and temperature. Due to the compact size and robustness of the Rebel data loggers, they are uniquely suited for problem investigations in the field. The Rebel data logger can be confidently and discretely fitted to customer vehicles to investigate anomalies or performance.

Usage

Offering a complete solution for CANbus network and sensor data, the Rebel CT records any available CANbus parameter such as temperature, speed, and diagnostic trouble codes, DTCs. Setup is easy with no need to write complex scripts so users can start monitoring in minutes. For CANbus datalogger applications, the Rebel data loggers can be used to collect raw CAN messages in a ‘Listen Only’ mode. Additionally, any of the OBD data users require can be acquired without the need for other instrumentation.

The logger features up to 9 CAN bus inputs, a K-Line input, four digital I/O channels, and four analog input channels. This allows robust and reliable collection of data from several sources, without any user interaction, for extended periods. The Rebel CT is also equipped for USB communication and supports SDHC card data storage, with the SD card securely housed behind a flap panel. It is packaged in a robust IP68 enclosure and can be optionally equipped with GPS, an accelerometer, WiFi, and 4G. Users can also opt for a 1kHz internal XYZ accelerometer (+/-16G max), a K-Box, and a dash display.

OEM Engineering Data Acquisition

The Rebel family of data loggers is also ideal for OEM vehicle and powertrain calibration engineering. The high-speed sampling rates acquire internal ECU parameters. Advanced protocols support CCP/xCP and UDS fast data acquisition making the Rebel an ideal tool to support engineering projects.

Benefits

The Influx Rebel CT continues to be an important part of Dearman’s remote monitoring process and vehicle data collection. Its Wifi and 3G/4G connectivity enable both the pioneering operator and the Dearman team to gauge the health and performance of the system remotely. Dearman’s CTO comments:

“The Influx Rebel CT continues to be an important part of our refrigerated transport application development program. Dearman is bringing zero-emission power and cooling technology to market in a compressed time frame, and the Influx Rebel CT has supported our intensive application performance and durability testing program with outstanding reliability.” –Nick Owen, Chief Technology Officer, Dearman

For more information on the Rebel CT Data Logger, more Influx Technology products, vehicle data collection or to find the ideal solution for your application-specific needs, contact a CAS DataLogger Application Specialist at (800) 956-4437 or request more information.

The post Innovative Tech Company Relies on Vehicle Data Collection appeared first on CAS Dataloggers.

Real-Time Data Collection for Analog, Digital and CANbus Applications

In the automotive industry, Drive-by-wire (AKA X-by-wire) technology has replaced many traditional mechanical control systems with electronic and electro-mechanical control systems including brake-by-wire and electronic throttle control. This has resulted in improved safety and ergonomic designs along with more options in commercial cars. Drive-by-wire systems require rigorous testing and data collection, and for these applications CAS DataLoggers offers ADwin Real-Time Data Acquisition Systems. German manufacturer Jager-ADwin’s systems log signals from Analog and Digital sensors along with CANbus interfaces—all in real time. For more information call CAS DataLoggers at (800) 956-4437 today.

Drive-By-Wire Technology in Today’s Cars:

Modern automotive mechatronic systems employ a complex network of sensors to quickly determine the driver’s intention and to continually check system conditions. Increasingly, automotive designs use contactless sensor solutions to increase both the reliability and availability of mechatronic systems. The inductive measuring principle has proven to be highly suitable for this type of data collection application.

Here position sensors are of central importance. With this sensor technology, the momentary position of accelerators, throttles, leveling systems or turbochargers are reliably determined, all while undergoing demanding industrial environmental test conditions.

Analog, Digital, or CAN–ADwin Keeps Overwatch

The use of the various signal outputs provided by these position sensors depends on the specific measurement task or on the specific manufacturer.
For example, data can be collected from:

• Analog signals (ratiometric, current, voltage)
• Digital signals (PWM)
• CAN bus interfaces

The synchronicity of the data on all these outputs and interfaces is a key criteria in automotive production and development. To accomplish this, many users employ ADwin data acquisition and control systems which are expressly designed for automotive applications.

As a common example in a test environment, ADwin controls a stepping motor for the set point positioning and simultaneously acquires the reference position by an incremental encoder along with all signal outputs of the sensor under test. As an example, ADwin evaluates the time relation between the arrival of a CAN message, an analog signal output, and the reference position value, and then checks for compliance with the specified values. Thus the system can immediately calculate how well the DUT matches the required specifications.

ADwin: Real-Time Data Acquisition:

ADwin benefits:

• High-speed data acquisition can measure transients
• Easy to use
• Quick development time

ADwin systems can be configured individually in order to meet all test specifications.
ADwin data acquisition and control systems are commonly used for automotive test applications for ECUs and other CANbus devices, for actuators, sensors, combustion engines, field bus systems, and many more.

ADwin-light-16 and ADwin-Gold systems are low-cost solutions for applications with few I/O channels and limited expansion or configuration requirements. In contrast, the modular and expandable ADwin-Pro system is recommended for applications with many channels and flexible configurations.

ADwin applications always run in real time. ADwin’s strictly deterministic functioning principle with response times as short as 300 ns ensures that no information gets lost in testing of X-By-Wire components. This is due to the system design which incorporates a local CPU, additional analog and digital interfaces, and expansion options.

Data Analysis:

The PC can access the results on the ADwin system for further analysis and data logging. Since programming in ADbasic is simplified, users quickly gain a clear insight into their components under test. ADwin’s external SDRAM stores the recorded post-test data which has significant value to:

• ECU Manufacturers
• Systems integrators
• 3rd-party Testers

ADwin systems perform all the necessary tests and also perform post-test data analysis. Test information and measurement data is transferred to a control system and displayed on the PC through a graphical user interface (GUI). This is done via Ethernet or a Fieldbus interface. On production lines, a programmable controller is typically connected via Profibus, Interbus, CAN, serial interfaces etc. The ADwin automatically generates a table of the data and this information can then be stored as quality records in the production database.

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