A large OEM manufacturer of automotive components needed to conduct a long-term test to evaluate the reliability of its latest device. This automotive component testing involved data collection from multiple vehicles at various locations across the US to study the effects of different uses and environmental conditions on the components. The test was to run for 3 years to capture enough data for accurate statistical evaluation and lifetime predictions. It required more than 20 measurements including temperature, voltage, and other operating parameters. Engineers began searching for an intelligent data-logging solution with the versatility to accommodate all these different types of signal inputs. During the requirements definition, 3 other key concerns were identified:

1. Overall power consumption was significant–the logger only needed to collect data while the vehicle was running, but it had to be continuously powered to quickly respond on startup. Therefore, the idle power consumption needed to be very low to eliminate the possibility of discharging the vehicle battery if it was parked for a long time
2. Since the vehicles were dispersed throughout remote locations across the country, manual data retrieval was impractical, so the manufacturer wanted to implement a periodic automated data upload via a cellular connection.
3. The data logging system needed to be as unobtrusive as possible, since these test vehicles were currently being driven by end users. It had to be small enough to fit in an enclosure that could be “hidden” in the trunk.

Installation

After extensive evaluation of different types of devices for vehicle data collection including data acquisition systems and data loggers, the customer selected the dataTaker DT80 data logger plus CEM20 expansion module for the test project. These intelligent low-power devices featured 5 flexible input channels that allow up to 10 isolated or 15 single-ended analog inputs. A key feature of the logger is the multiple analog voltage measurement ranges from 30 VDC to 50 VDC with 18-bit resolution allowing accurate measurement of very small voltage drops across contacts and cables up to full battery and charging voltage. In addition to voltage, it can measure temperature, resistance, bridges, strain gauges, and frequency. Any of the measured values could all be scaled to engineering units, logged with statistical reporting, or used in calculations. Since the number of inputs required was more than could be accommodated with the logger by itself, a CEM20 expansion module which provides 20 additional channels per unit was used. A total of 5 CEM20 modules can be added to the DT80 to allow up to 100 input. channels.

Usage

To power, the data loggers, a connection from the battery was run to the main power input of the logger while a separate wire was run from the keyed ignition signal to one of the digital inputs and the wake input of the data logger. The wire from the ignition was only energized when the ignition was on. Then, utilizing the ability to have multiple schedules within the data loggers and the capability of starting and stopping schedules under program control, a simple schedule triggered by the key turning on or off was created, and in turn, this schedule controlled the main data collection schedules within the loggers. Using the various configurable power settings, the loggers were set to go to sleep whenever the ignition was off to reduce power consumption to a minimum but wake immediately when the key was turned on to start recording data.

To simplify data retrieval, each datalogger was paired with a Microhard LTE Cube cellular modem that could be connected directly to the Ethernet port of the data logger. Power for the modem was sent through the programmable relay channel of the DT80. A timed schedule was created to trigger the data upload at a specific time each day. Once activated, this schedule would close the relay to power up the modem, wait for the modem to register, establish its connection to the cellular network, send the data via the DT80s’ built-in FTP server, and then power down the modem when done, again to minimize power consumption. Since multiple data loggers were used in the project, the upload times were staggered so that the loggers wouldn’t try to send their data to the server at the same time. All of the data was easily segregated by assigning each data logger a specific directory on the destination computer. A key feature of the data upload was the ability of the logger to keep track of what had been sent using an internal pointer to any new data that hadn’t yet been successfully unloaded. This allowed the dataloggers to automatically handle situations where the modem wasn’t able to make a connection to the cell network because of poor coverage or when the upload couldn’t complete successfully for some reason. To handle a worst-case situation, the DT80 has a USB memory slot that allows the users to manually retrieve data by copying it to a USB stick.   With an internal memory for up to 10 million data points, the data logger could easily hold several months’ worth of data so data loss if this occurred was not an issue.

Benefits

The DT80 dataloggers’ small size was another important part of the project. The manufacturer was able to conveniently package the DT80, CEM20, and cell modem in a fiberglass NEMA-rated enclosure that was less than .75 ft3. This enclosure was easily mounted in each car’s trunk, creating minimal impact for the vehicle owner and reducing the possibility of tampering. A remote cellular antenna was mounted close by on the underside of the rear shelf below the back window for good signal reception.

The manufacturer realized several key benefits from installing the dataTaker DT80 in its extensive automotive component testing program. The DT80 intelligent datalogger had the flexibility to accurately measure all the physical and electrical values including temperature and low voltage required by the demanding tests. These devices also featured low power consumption, simplified data retrieval (enabled with a connection to the modem), and a small size which were all essential for this application.

About 18 months into the test program, the reliability of the data loggers has been very good. Most of the loggers uploaded data every night, and although some may have missed a day or 2 because of poor cellular coverage in their location, they recovered and uploaded any missing data once they got back to a better location. The quality of the measured data met or exceeded all of the customer’s expectations. The one hardware failure that occurred was attributed to the data logger being submerged as a result of a collision!

For further information on the dataTaker DT80 Intelligent Universal Input Data Logger, automotive component testing, 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.

The post Versatile Data Acquisition for Automotive Component Testing appeared first on CAS Dataloggers.

CAS DataLoggers provided a comprehensive data logging solution for a major automobile manufacturer’s vehicle performance testing. Engineers needed highly accurate, reliable equipment to gather detailed records of a car’s data throughout speed validation tests. The devices had to measure multiple parameters and be portable for quick placement and retrieval from hundreds of test cars.

Installation

Plant management installed 20 Grant Squirrel SQ 16 Data Loggers in an equal number of their test cars. Subsequently, test engineers put their development cars through testing on the track at high speeds as part of their endurance testing program, equipped with temperature and pressure sensors feeding data into the SQ2040 data loggers. The loggers were set to record the data at preset regular intervals throughout the tests, including road conditions, engine temperature, and pressure data, all recorded into each Squirrel’s memory. This data gave engineers vital information on performance concerning a whole host of vehicle components.

Usage

Grant SQ16 data loggers have 32 universal analog inputs for voltage, current, or resistance and 8 inputs for digital pulse and event. They support a wide range of analog inputs, including thermistors, thermocouples, RTD temperature sensors, voltage, current, and resistance. Twin processors and multiple 24-bit ADC converters enable precision measurements with a high basic accuracy of 0.05%. 4 alarm outputs provide early warning capabilities for out-of-spec parameters. The Squirrel data loggers are compact and lightweight for easy transport and vehicle performance testing. They have 128 MB of internal memory and a removable SD card for multi-channel testing. Engineers easily download and analyze data for safer automobiles.

Benefits

The automobile manufacturer saw significant benefits after implementing the Grant Squirrel SQ16 data loggers in their quality assurance program. The loggers could measure a wide variety of parameters, had many universal channels, offered multiple communication options, and were affordable. They were also portable and easily configurable, giving the project a head start.

A quality performance engineer commented: “We chose the Squirrels because they’re about the size of a small notebook but extremely sophisticated and very easy to use. Downloading the information from the loggers to our PCs enables us to analyze the data quickly and clearly. We’ve already tested hundreds of cars and the Squirrels have proven to be invaluable tools for improving the reliability of our vehicles. With these devices, you don’t need to be a computer scientist to collect, download, and analyze your data.”

For more information on Grant Squirrel Data Loggers, vehicle performance testing 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 Reliable Vehicle Performance Testing appeared first on CAS Dataloggers.

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.

The post Maximize Efficiency: Tracking Battery Health For Last Mile Delivery Trucks appeared first on CAS Dataloggers.

A customer needed to gather data from multiple tractors working in the field in various locations.
Collecting data from each tractor had become challenging due to multiple unfavorable conditions. Data needed to be collected across multiple geographical locations. Each location had variable climatic and soil conditions. In addition, the required data collection needed skilled technicians to be in multiple locations at the same time, an impossible task. The customer also wanted to collect data from all of the tractors at the same time.

Installation

In order to provide successful and efficient field testing of the tractors at multiple locations across the country (and abroad), Influx Technology provided the customer with Rebel series data loggers. Each tractor in the fleet was fitted with a Rebel CT4 to collect electronic control unit (ECU) and instrumentation data and transmit it to the cloud server. ECU data includes high-speed CAN Calibration Protocol (CCP) / Universal Measurement and Calibration Protocol (XCP) data. Along with the Rebel CT4, a K-Box device was provided to measure parameters such as flow, RPM, plow depth, etc.

Usage

Critical data is transmitted live to the StreamLog server over 3G/4G, using the stream data feature. The customer uses this streamed data to improve vehicle calibration. Accurate location data from the Influx rebel logger estimates the area covered during a test. GPS enabled the customer to plot the track coordinates and study the area covered in detail. The customer has set up email alerts and stream data transfer over SFTP to their cloud data processing system to ensure easy access to data at all times.

Rebel CT4 unit fitted to a tractor in the customer’s fleet. From “Tractor Fleet
Monitoring” by Influx Technology, 2022.

In this case, the user needs to change the configurations in the logger to match the different versions of the vehicle calibration after updating it with a different A2L file, failing which the data may be incorrect. Since the customer is using StreamLog, they can easily switch the configuration over the air.

Example map of the location covered by the tractor during a test. From “Tractor
Fleet Monitoring” by Influx Technology, 2022.

About the Author

This Application Note has been adapted from an article written by Influx Technology. Influx Technology is the manufacturer of the Rebel CT Flexray, part of the Rebel series of data loggers ideal for vehicle engineering teams.

For more information on the Influx Rebel CT4, 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 Tractor Fleet Monitoring Using CAN Vehicle Loggers appeared first on CAS Dataloggers.

NASA’s Space Launch System, or SLS, is a powerful, super heavy-lift launch vehicle for a new era of human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit. With its unprecedented power and capabilities, SLS will launch crews of up to four astronauts in the agency’s Orion spacecraft on missions to explore multiple, deep-space destinations.

During the validation of the Space Launch System, the pyrotechnic cabling needs to be monitored for stray, induced current on the firing initiation lines. Because of limited access and the thermal environment inside the launch vehicle, it was vital to have a small, robust battery-powered device to record these measurements. The Grant Instruments YoYo devices were tested to verify they would operate under the stringent SLS thermal and EMI environment. The result was the selection of the 2YL-M90-4M loggers being selected for the stray current monitoring system.

This device provides 2 configurable analog inputs for external signals along with internal sensors for ambient temperature and humidity. The 2YL-M90-4M is being used in conjunction with the YY-CU cable to allow it to accept a 0-10 volt input. In addition to voltage, the two configurable inputs can be set up for the wide range of probes available from Grant Instruments or any type of sensor with a standard output signal, for example, 0.20mA, 0.10V, pulse/frequencies, PT100, PT1000, and most thermocouples. On-board memory allows the device to store up to 4 million data points which can be retrieved via its USB interface. An internal replaceable battery provides up to 4 years of operation depending on the sample rate.

For more information on Grant Data Loggers, 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 Stray Current Monitoring of NASA’s Space Launch System appeared first on CAS Dataloggers.

The ReXgen2 IMU is an intelligent data logger from Influx that not only demonstrates its significance in use with road-running automobiles but also delivers remarkably excellent results when employed in aircraft. The existing multirole mini aircraft lacks a robust data logging system that can record all the events occurring during a flight. The Influx ReXgen2 IMU can effortlessly log the CAN network data and IMU data to study flight dynamics in technically advanced machines, like in such aircraft. In addition, the engine performance can be studied after decoding the recorded data using CAN DBC files.

Practically, the data logger can be used as an in-flight black box data recorder to record flight data and CANaerospace protocol. ReXgen provides the user with the information regarding:

• What was the route taken?
• Challenges in the route taken
• What were the weather conditions?
• Was the planned flight route followed/or not?

Knowing the flight path is very important as it helps in knowing:

• How much fuel was available?
• What was the duration of the flight?
• How much fuel was consumed with average altitude?

To determine the engine’s efficiency, knowledge about fuel consumption is essential. In addition, every aspect of the flight system needs to be monitored proactively. The flight data is stored on the network for post-flight analysis to study:

• Critical data needed to monitor the flight?
• Any malfunctions?
• Change in the critical parameter?
• Does the flight have a rare issue?
• Is monitoring required for compliance?

The ReXgen 2 IMU enables the user to review past events and diagnose any issues by continuously logging data.

Why ReXgen2 IMU?

The ReXgen2 IMU comes with a 6-axis IMU sensor and an embedded GNSS. The built-in IMU sensor allows the user to track the flight path without any additional module, leaving no need for any additional instrumentation to be used for tracking. It is capable of monitoring every single aspect during the flight:

Ground Run: Aircraft Ground Running is a term generally used to describe the operation of some, or all, of an aircraft’s engines while on the ground, to check the operation of either engines or aircraft systems functionally.

Flight Data: Operational Flight Data Monitoring (OFDM) is a quality assurance process with a vital safety management dimension. OFDM offers an efficient solution to this challenge.

Landing Data: Vital data is monitored when the flight is preparing for landing. As the flight is preparing for landing, many safety-critical systems are activated, such as landing gear.

Taxiing: Taxi time is the amount of time an aircraft spends in movement on the surface of an airport. For the scope of this application, the focus is on departure taxi time (or taxi-out time), which is the time between an aircraft leaving a terminal gate and taking off from an airport.

Some of the key parameters that can be logged using ReXgen2 IMU from the CANbus are:

• Altitude
• Airspeed
• Pressure
• Fuel Level
• Fuel Consumption
• Engine Speed
• Manifold Pressure
• Speed
• Temperatures

Types of connectors available:

DB9: ReXgen 2 IMU is supplied with a standard DB9 connector.

Other types: Other connectors can be used with the ReXgen 2 IMU. Influx recommends identifying the pin-out. After this, you can find an open-wire matching adapter and create your custom cable. Alternatively, you can use the DB9-generic adapter provided by Influx.

Raw wiring Harness– In some cases, you may prefer to log data directly from the CAN wiring harness.

ReXgen2 IMU supports up to two CAN buses that can be logged simultaneously. One can use CAN0 for the vehicular network and CAN1 for analog instrumentation with a wide range of K-series instrumentation or any other make.

The data recorder is equipped with a micro-USB connector. Once testing is complete, and the aircraft is back inside the hanger, the ReXgen2 IMU can be connected to any display device, such as your PC, via USB to view the live data. In addition, the flight data can be exported in various formats for analysis with Influx’s freely distributable ReXdesk Software.

About The Author

This Application Note has been adapted from an article written by Influx Technology. Influx Technology is the manufacturer of the ReXgen2 IMU, part of the ReXgen series of next-generation vehicle and flight data loggers.

For more information on the Influx ReXgen2 IMU, 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 Achieving New Heights With Flight Data Recorders appeared first on CAS Dataloggers.

A vehicle manufacturer used a unique data-logging solution to help perform a series of rigorous tests on its prototype vehicles. The most punishing of these tests is called ‘Heat Soaking—here the vehicle is parked outside in a desert facility and left over an extended period. During this heat soak test, the vehicle’s internal temperature and other parameters need to be measured and recorded as they react to the hot, dry environment. With this in mind, the company’s lead automotive test engineer required a rugged data logger that could be powered by a solar system and to which a satellite data modem could be attached to automatically transmit the data. Needless to say, this data logger device would also need to be able to withstand the desert heat!

Installation

CAS DataLoggers supplied the customer with a dataTaker DT80 Universal Data Logger for automated measurement and remote data transmission. The DT80 is a standalone data logger with analog, digital, and serial data recording capabilities, expandable up to 100 channels as needed. DataTaker data loggers use a dual-channel concept allowing up to 10 isolated or 15 commonly referenced analog inputs to be used in different combinations. The system’s universal inputs allow users to connect with many sensor types to log nearly any value including Temperature, Current/Voltage, 4-20mA loops, Resistance, Bridges, Strain gauges, and more.

The lead test engineer placed thermocouple temperature sensors both inside and outside the test vehicle to monitor its surfaces as they rapidly heat up each morning. Meanwhile, the vehicle’s radiation exposure is measured using a global radiation sensor. Both of these types of sensors plug directly into the DT80 without requiring any other hardware.

The dataTaker DT80 has communications ports for Ethernet and RS-232 communication with a PC. The dataTaker has a large internal memory storing up to 10 million readings which ensures that the heat soak test will be recorded in its entirety for later analysis. The user has connected his satellite modem to the Ethernet port, so it is easily accessible using a static IP address provided by the satellite network. The dataTaker also includes USB memory stick support for quick data and program transfer, which will later be used in some of this manufacturer’s more traditional laboratory tests.

Standalone and Durable

Throughout the heat soak test, dataTaker’s world-famous ruggedized design and construction provide reliable operation even under harsh desert conditions. The DT80 system is powered by external batteries that are charged by solar cells and a solar conditioner. Providing that this solar system is specified well enough to keep the batteries charged, the whole dataTaker system can monitor and record test conditions for months at a time within its enclosure in the middle of the desert without any human interaction. That’s a feat few data loggers can match!

Remote Data Transfer

Given that the data logger is connected to a satellite modem, the built-in dataTaker web interface (dEX) is available online from anywhere in the world, saving costly time otherwise spent traveling back and forth to the DT80.

Without needing any additional software and after minimal configuration, the lead engineer has scheduled the DT80 to automatically upload all recorded data to an FTP server once a day. This gives him remote access to recorded data, configuration details, and alarm events. Alternatively, he can log onto dEX and retrieve the data on demand.

Test Benefits

Having a single system handle data measurement, communication, and storage is very cost-effective, especially given the system’s high durability in this punishing environment. Additionally, the DT80’s ease of use has ensured that the application has gotten off to a fast start. Test data will be used to accurately evaluate vehicle stagnation temperatures for use as the basis for further accelerated environmental testing programs.

For more information on dataTaker Universal Data Loggers, a heat soak test or to find the ideal solution for your application-specific needs, contact a CAS Data Logger Applications Specialist at (800) 956-4437 or request more information.

The post Heat Soak Test Verifies Prototype Vehicles appeared first on CAS Dataloggers.

CAS DataLoggers supplied the data acquisition solution for an automotive manufacturer of passenger vehicles who needed to evaluate the reliability of a prototype vehicle’s brake system. This would give them a highly accurate view of both component life and service expectations. The front disk pad temperatures, MPH, average deceleration & braking duration all needed to be recorded immediately before the brakes were applied. Since performance needed to be tested in a wide variety of traffic conditions automatic data collection was required so that the driver was free during testing. Therefore the customer needed a data acquisition system to work as brake testing equipment that could quickly “drill down” on the braking event’s data & store the data on an external device, and which also offered flexible communications capabilities with a PC.

Installation

The manufacturer installed an ADwin-Gold Real-time Data Acquisition and Control System in the car’s backseat, enclosed in a Pelican industrial case. Through the enclosure’s side port, the DAQ system was connected to a variety of sensors including thermocouples, an accelerometer, and a road speed sensor to work as brake testing equipment.

The ADwin-Gold was then programmed to start recording when the ignition was turned on and to go back to sleep mode when the car turned off. During operation, the ADwin was also programmed to constantly read all the sensors and record data whenever the brakes were applied.

Usage

All measurements on the 16-channel DAQ system were recorded in real-time at 16-bit resolution. The ADwin-Gold system’s local real-time DSP CPU supported parallel, individually-controlled real-time processes while running independently of the PC’s operating system, providing deterministic operation with 1 second or fewer response times. Versatile communication with the PC was performed using the system’s built-in Ethernet interface.

The ADwin software environment could operate using Windows, LINUX, or as a stand-alone data acquisition system. The system also enabled calibration of the system’s analog inputs and outputs and had drivers for many popular programming environments including VB, VC/C++, LabVIEW, Python, and others. The ADwin Gold stored all the test data on the hard drive of the connected laptop providing instant access when the test engineers began analysis.

Benefits

Using the ADwin-Gold system as brake testing equipment, the customer successfully recorded and analyzed all the desired performance data in their prototype during testing. The ADwin provided real-time recording at the extreme speed necessary for highly accurate data capture, along with the deterministic triggering to capture the data exactly when the test engineer’s required it. Additionally, data transmission and accessibility were greatly simplified via the system’s communications capabilities.

For further information on the ADwin-Gold Real-time Data Acquisition and Control System, automotive applications, 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.

The post DAQ System As High-Speed Brake Testing Equipment appeared first on CAS Dataloggers.

Malaysian automobile manufacturer Proton needed to perform the air conditioning performance test of a newly developed A/C system installed in their Proton Persona 1.6 MT-Line test car. During these rigorous tests, the performance was monitored under several different test patterns measuring such factors as ambient temperatures and pressure. Some of these A/C performance tests were conducted in a specialized climatic test chamber and others on test courses or in special conditions.

For example, cool-down performance measured how effectively the newly-designed system could cool the car’s cabin in extremely hot conditions including parking in the sun on a hot day. Idling performance tests checked the air conditioning unit’s performance while the car was idling for long periods of time. Traffic jam tests checked the A/C unit’s effectiveness on the test course while the car was driven during heavy traffic conditions. Other tests such as engine cooling, high-speed runs, and hill-climbing were scheduled to provide enough data to give engineers a complete picture of the A/C system’s effectiveness.

Proton’s automotive engineers began searching for a flexible data logging solution for use in test setups to measure the temperature at multiple points on the test car to verify the effectiveness of the air conditioner’s performance and ensure that it worked within design requirements. The air conditioning performance test equipment is also needed to measure the pressure of the air conditioning system cycle, the blower, the radiator fan, the compressor, and the magnetic clutch voltage. Since frequent access to the logger wasn’t practical, the required device had to be a remote solution with a modem to access data on demand and send results from the field to engineers in the automotive plant.

Installation

Proton engineers installed a dataTaker DT80M Intelligent Universal Input Data Logger inside the trunk of the Persona test vehicle. The DT80M was then interfaced with 4 dataTaker CEM 20 Expansion Modules to expand the data logger’s channel capacity to accommodate the 128 thermocouple inputs needed for the tests. This stand-alone device measures all common thermocouple types to allow the use of a sensor that most closely matched the temperature range being measured.

During each test, the DT80M recorded temperature at all of the different points of the test car including the AC compressor, condenser, and evaporator coils, inside the cabin, on the engine and exhaust system, and outside the car. In addition, it was used to capture other readings from the A/C system itself, including voltage, current, and refrigerant pressure at different points on the high and low sides of the system. Engine speed measurement (rpm) was done using the DT80M’s digital pulse counter connected to a magnetic pickup sensor on the flywheel. The logger features ± 30Vdc input measurement range at 18-bit resolution for accurate measurements without additional signal conditioning.

The DT80M offers a broad operating temperature range of -45°C to 70°C (-49°F to 158°F) allowing operation across a wide range of test climates. All measurements were stored in the data logger’s memory which holds up to 10 million data points. The DT80M has extensive internal math, statistical and alarm capabilities allowing functions like direct calculation of air conditioning temperature differentials between the various points right in the logger.

Usage

The DT80M data logger and its CEM expansion modules were made for compact and low-power solutions in the small space of the test car, and their robust construction protected them against frequent jostling on the test course. Additionally, the DT80M’s sophisticated communications allowed connections to a PC from the test car locally using its Ethernet and USB ports, or remotely using the built-in 3G cellular modem. Test engineers created a schedule to automatically upload recorded data via the modem to their server every day. In case of a critical malfunction, the modem was also capable of sending alarm messages via SMS for immediate notification. The DT80M’s USB memory stick slot allowed local data collection for quick tests in the field, without the need for a PC to offload data. It utilizes a user-friendly software package called dEX which is built into the logger to enable quick setup and configuration directly using a standard web browser and also allows live data to be viewed during the installation and initial checkout.

Benefits

The Proton plant’s test program immediately benefitted from installing the dataTaker DT80M data logger and its CEM20 expansion modules to gather data for their air conditioning performance tests in several key ways. The DT80M accepted most types of thermocouples, and the CEM20 provided a convenient, very cost-effective method of expanding the DT80M’s channels to carry out the many temperature measurements required as part of the testing. Most importantly, the flexibility of the DT80M handled all the different types of logging needed, monitoring pressure, ambient temperature, voltage, and rpm measurements. The data logger also served as a total remote monitoring solution, giving engineers the data they needed by remotely uploading via FTP and providing critical alarm notifications through SMS messaging.

For further information on the dataTaker DT80 Intelligent Data Logger, air conditioning performance testing, 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.

The post Remote Solution For Automobile Air Conditioning Performance Test appeared first on CAS Dataloggers.

The Peripheral Sensor Interface (PSI5) communications interface is a 2-wire serial interface found in the automotive industry. It is used in millions of vehicles to interface sensors like accelerometers to Electronic Control Units (ECU) in applications for airbag systems. Promoted by major auto suppliers such as Bosch and Continental, the PSI5 interface has been in use for more than 10 years and has shown itself to be both robust and reliable. Figure 1 below shows the PSI5 telegram definition.

Figure 1: PSI5 Telegram Definition

To minimize the number of wires going to the sensor, the physical layer of PSI5 is implemented as a 2-wire interface that carries both the signal and power. The sensor data is sent as a series of current pulses which ride on top of the normal sensor supply current. This allows the interface to communicate at up to 250K bits/second and provides EMC compatibility for conducted and radiated emissions. The standard data packet consists of 13 bits: 10 bits of data, 2 start bits, and a parity bit (see Figure 1 above). The data is encoded using a Manchester coding scheme where a 0 corresponds to a rising edge in the middle of the bit transition time and a 1 by a falling edge in the middle of the bit. Typically, a dedicated receiver IC is used to read the current signal and extract the data.

Implementation

A sensor manufacturer was looking for a system to simultaneously test multiple PSI5 sensors using this interface. Rather than try to build a custom solution around the dedicated interface chips, they were looking for an off-the-shelf data acquisition solution that could be programmed to read the raw signal and extract the data. For this project, an ADwin-X-A20 Real-Time Data Acquisition System was selected. A simple comparator circuit was used to convert the current signal to a digital waveform that could be read with standard TTL logic.

The ADwin system features 8 high-speed digital I/O channels allowing up to 8 sensors to be read at the same time. For each digital input, a simple state machine was implemented in software to monitor the incoming data, look for the start bits, and read and then decode the data.

Figure 2 shows the state machine to read one input. The minimum bit time corresponding to a 0 was 40 microseconds; therefore, to allow for small variations in the timing, the state machine was set up to read the inputs at 8 times the expected clock rate, or 5 microseconds. A watchdog timer was also provided to allow the state machine to reset in the case of a partial or corrupted transmission. Figure 3 lists the ADBasic code for the state machine to reading one sensor. For testing, a second ADwin system was configured to generate various data packets to verify that they could be read correctly.

Figure 2: State Machine to Read PSI5 Data

For this project, it was quite straightforward to create a simple state machine using the CASE structure available in the ADBasic programming environment. Figure 3 shows a portion of the program to look for the start of a word, and read and decode the datagram. The ADwin system was programmed to execute this EVENT: loop every 5 microseconds to match the standard timing of the PSI5 signal.

Figure 3: Sample ADBasic Code For The State Machine to Read One Sensor

Benefits

The deterministic, real-time capability of the ADwin system allowed the data to be read reliably without the need for specialized receiver ICs. The flexibility of the software enabled the different scenarios and failure mechanisms to be tested quickly and easily. By using the ADwin-X-A20, the customer was able to test 8 devices in parallel, dramatically reducing the hardware required.

For more information on ADwin Real-Time Systems or to find the ideal solution for your application-specific needs, contact a CAS Data Logger Applications Specialist at (800) 956-4437 or request more information.

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