The latest version of RT Software Suite now gives users the opportunity to log up to 12 messages, which is typically 48 signals from a third-party CAN bus directly into an RT. It means important information—like when a vehicle alerts the driver to a potential collision, steering torque or steering angle (where available), can now be viewed in real-time along with inertial navigation measurements. This is an important improvement as the NHTSA have specified signals from a vehicle’s CAN bus may be used when testing. It also reduces the time, cost and complexity of installation because the RT represents a true one-box solution for automotive engineers.
The software isn’t limited to vehicle CAN data either. Once configured, any CAN packet may be recorded by the RT. This is preferable to most users because it means they can simply import externally generated channels into the RT—rather than finding something capable of handling the large amount of inertial navigation information the RT can output via CAN.
Incoming CAN signals are sampled at either 100 or 250 Hz depending on the speed of the RT model. They’re then time stamped and incorporated directly into the RT’s internal data file. This means they can easily be viewed, manipulated and exported along with all existing inertial navigation data using most of the RT software tools. RT-View, our graphing software for the RT systems, will support CAN in its next release, completing the RT software tools that support CAN.
An enhanced version of our NCOM protocol, called XCOM, has also been developed for the new software release. This makes it possible for logged CAN channels to be passed over Ethernet from an RT back to Enginuity for live viewing on a laptop PC.
To reduce the workload on end-users, the management and configuration of CAN libraries is handled by a revised section of the RT-Config software. This new acquisition tab allows users to build large libraries of different CAN identifiers by importing DBC files. Twelve messages, which can contain up to a total of 48 signals, can then be selected for acquisition. The system is configurable to interface to any CAN bus with a bit rate of 1 Mbit/s, 500 kbit/s or 250 kbit/s.
To find out more, please contact your local representative, or OxTS directly.
