June 2015

CAN Newsletter
Hardware + Software + Tools + Engineering

Concierge and assistance robot

Actuators

Rise of the service robots

The elephant of off-highway vehicles

E-quad: driving e-mobility forward

www.can-newsletter.org
Hardware
& Software for CAN / LIN Bus Applications
PCAN-GPS PCAN-Explorer 5
Programmable Sensor Module with CAN Universal CAN bus monitoring software
The PCAN-Explorer 5 is a comprehensive Windows software

Simultaneous connections to multiple networks

(connected via the same hardware type)
NXP LPC4000 series microcontroller (ARM Cortex-M4)

Data logging with tracers and the 4-channel Line Writer

and three-axis accelerometer
Easy message transmission
VBScript interface for the creation of macros
microSD™ memory card slot
Functionality upgrades with add-ins:
Plotter Add-in: Recording and graphical representation
of multiple signal sequences
LEDs for status signaling Instruments Panel Add-in: Representation of digital
and analog signals via graphical instruments for easy
simulation of complex CAN applications
Extended operating temperature range from -40 to 85 °C J1939 Add-in:
network protocol
CANdb Import Add-in:

www.peak-system.com PEAK-System Technik GmbH

 Cover story
The market for service robotics is growing. Service robots
have been employed in industrial settings for many years,
with a steep increase in recent years. Service robots for
domestic use are still under development, but they are
catching up.

Imprint Applications
Publisher Concierge and assistance robot 4
CAN in Automation GmbH
The elephant of off-highway vehicles 8
Kontumazgarten 3
DE-90429 Nuremberg Filtration process for improved drinks 20
[email protected] Rise of the service robots 30
www.can-cia.org Round the world with a green motorbike racer 32
Tel.: +49-911-928819-0 E-quad: driving e-mobility forward 34
Fax: +49-911-928819-79
CEO Holger Zeltwanger
AG Nürnberg 24338
PDF subscribers: 3291
Editors Engineering
[email protected]
CAN timing analysis beyond bus load 10
Annegret Emerich
Cindy Weissmueller Electronics first – or housing? 14
Holger Zeltwanger
Optimized run time behavior 18
(responsible according
to the press law) Connecting automotive standards 24
Layout Developments in China increase 28
Nickel Plankermann
Media consultants
Julia Dallhammer
Gisela Scheib
(responsible according
CAN Newsletter subscription
Table of contents

to the press law)

Meng Xie
Distribution manager The CAN Newsletter appears four times a year, in March, June, September, and
Julia Dallhammer December. It is free of charge. Please fell free to forward it to colleagues,
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CAN Newsletter 2/2015 3

 Concierge and assistance robot
Applications

Assistance robots are still very much in development, but Hollie already has
the basics down: it manages complex tasks and supports people in everyday
situations. The robot can even reach the floor by bending its body forward.

H ollie is a mobile, bi-manual service robot that was de-

veloped at the FZI (Forschungszentrum Informatik)
Karlsruhe as part of the “House of Living Labs” (Holl). In
the future, the robot will carry out different tasks within the
Holl, for example accompany visitors and provide assis-
tance. It comes as no surprise, then, how we arrived at the

Labs intelligent Escort“. With the help of speech synthe-

sis software, a microphone array and an LED-based infor-
mation system within the body, the robot offers possibili-
ties for human-machine interaction that go beyond simple
information services. New tasks can be commanded to the
robot via 3D gesture recognition. This also enables users
to teach Hollie new trajectories, as the robot can mimic and
store human motion sequences.
During the design phase of the service robot Hollie,
the focus was on human-robot interaction as well as the

requirements we derived the proportions and kinematic

outer hull with its round and friendly geometries. Wherever Figure 1: Hollie performing an interactive dexterous
possible, we applied robust industrial components in the manipulation task (Photo: FZI)
construction. Accordingly, almost all actuators come from
Schunk: Two LWA 4p light-weight robotic arms made with cabinet and set the table. And that is in fact one of the main
Powerballs with CANopen interfaces are employed as ma- application scenarios for the robot: To unburden service
nipulator arms and the neck is also made of a Powerball. staff from repetitious tasks like setting or cleaning the
The upper body is actuated by two Schunk PRL 120 high- table, for example in an elderly care center, escorting
torque rotary modules, which are supported by springs people in public places like in a museum, or execut-
when the body is close to maximum deflection. This is the ing mobile pick and place tasks in shop-floor logistics
case when the robot leans forward to reach objects on the applications or industrial environments. For that, Hollie has
floor. The shoulder axis that carries the arms and the neck a mobile platform with an omni-directional drive system
is kept in a horizontal alignment by a parallelogram system from Segway, which is controlled by the central computer
of levers within the body. This parallelogram system also via a CAN interface.
relieves the upper body actuators from the torques gen-
erated by the arms when they are stretched out forwards
or backwards. Currently Hollie is equipped with two an-
thropomorphic servo-electric 5-finger gripping hands (Sc-
hunk SVH) that allow maximum flexibility when grasping
and manipulating everyday objects.
The mechanical structure of the body allows Hollie
to reach the ground with its hands in a way that is simi-
lar to humans. Grasping objects from the floor is a major
requirement for a robot if it is meant to be a real help for
people with physical handicaps. Therefore, Hollie is able to
autonomously locate and fetch dropped keys or pieces of
clothing. On the other hand, the body kinematic allows the
robot to reach high shelves or windows when stretched up.
The robot then has a shoulder height of 124 cm, which is Figure 2: To relieve elderly care personnel from repetitive
sufficient for example to get dishes from an upper kitchen tasks, Hollie can set the table (Photo: FZI)

4 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

Powerful Control Units for High-Safety
Applications: HY-TTC 500 Family

Flexibility & Usability Connectivity

Single controller for whole vehicle Up to 7 CAN interfaces
for centralized architectures Automatic baudrate detection and
Extensive I/O set with multiple software
Ethernet for fast download and
Open programming environments C, CODESYS® debugging purpose
V3.x and CODESYS® V3.x Safety SIL 2
Performance
Safety
lockstep processor (ARM architecture)

Floating-point-unit
CODESYS® Safety SIL 2 including support
for CANopen® Safety Master and easy
separation of safe / non-safe code
Robustness
Safety mechanisms in hardware to minimize CPU load Automotive style housing suited for
Up to 3 output groups for selective very rough operating conditions
shut-off in case of safety relevant fault
Safety companion and safety mechanism in hardware

www.ttcontrol.com/HY-TTC-500-Family

Safety General I/O Safe I/O Operator

Purpose Modules Modules Interfaces
ECUs ECUs
 Two Sick laser range finders with a 270-degree field body, this enables a
Applications
of view each are mounted on opposing corners of the plat- broad field of applica-
form, slightly above the wheels. The laser range data is tion scenarios: Starting
used for navigation purposes as well as for collision pro- with the motivation for
tection. A software package that has been deployed in au- physical training of older
tonomous unmanned transportation systems for hospitals people (the robot demon-
for over ten years now allows Hollie to navigate in all en- strates Tai Chi exercises),
vironments without requiring any structural modifications to the usage as an em-
or markers. The robot is small enough to maneuver in any bodied telepresence sys-
building that is suitable for wheelchairs. tem (the robot represents
The delicate outer appearance of the robot deceives the contact person), and
about its weight of 160 kg. Within a footprint of around 80 last but not least as a
cm x 80 cm, batteries, two computers, network equipment, mobile nursing assistant
sensors, and a total of 61 movable axes are located. Of (the robot patrols a build-
these 61 axes, 38 are individually actuated. ing, reaches patients by
To achieve an appealing form language of the outer opening doors, and uses
paneling without restricting the functionality of the robot, elevators).
we made use of large, individually designed 3D-printed The energy sup-
parts. Also, the head hull, which acts as a mount for a ply of the robot is built
stereo camera system, an RGB-D sensor, and various of four lithium-polymer
microphones, was completely rechargeable batteries,
printed in two parts via Laser which power the mobile
Sintering. The front and back platform and all on-board
panels of the body are electronic devices, ex-
covered cept the logic and power
stages of the upper body Figure 3: Mechanical
actuators, including the structure of the upper body
arms and hands. These that allows the robot to
are fed from an addition- bend forward (Photo: FZI)
al lead acid gel battery.
A switch-over-circuit allows the charging of all batteries
during operation and the seamless switching between
external and internal power supply while in operation.
The total number of 38 actuators is controlled by
an architecture consisting of two computers that are
interconnected via Gigabit-Ethernet. The internal
network also connects the two laser range finders and
a Wifi bridge. A high-performance Linux Quad-Core
with fab- embedded computer handles the sensor-data process-
ric, as they ing, the navigation, and the motion planning. The second
have to be flex- embedded system is a dedicated interpolation computer,
ible when the responsible for the low level control of all actuators.
body is bending. Therefore, it is equipped with four CAN interfaces: The
- Segway platform requires two separate CAN networks,
pearance invites users the other two buses run a CANopen protocol and control
to interact with the twelve arm nodes plus four additional nodes in the
robot while it is still torso and neck modules. Also, two serial
far enough from EIA-485 buses are required for the two Schunk SVH
being too human- hands, which each posses nine current-controlled
oid, as this can degrees of freedom.
be perceived The real-time control and the low-level hardware
to be creepy
– roboticists robot control framework, written in C++. The event-based
know this high-level software was composed in the open source
phenomena framework ROS (Robot Operation System) and contains
as the “Uncan- C++ and Python nodes. Both frameworks are network
ny Valley”. transparent, so that single function blocks can also be
Hollie is able run off-board.
to recognize persons via
face detection algorithms. Com- as a speech-dialogue system can be used to command
bined with the anthropomorphic upper tasks.

6 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

 SENSORS FOR MOBILE MACHINES

Figure 4: Human-sized servo-electric 5-finger hands

from Schunk allow Hollie to grasp and manipulate objects
(Photo: FZI)

The robot is also equipped with a full color LED-ribbon that

runs around the mobile platform and which is used to
signal driving intentions or the direction and distance to
an obstacle that blocks the task execution.
Another full color LED-badge in the chest of Hollie
visualizes the overall system status, which includes the
battery status or the degree of autonomy.
Recently, the robot was equipped with a 3D collision
detection system that runs on a GP-GPU (General Pur-
pose Graphics Processing Unit). The system processes

and does a live motion prediction of all moving obstacles

in the surroundings. These predictions are taken into con-
-
rithms are fast enough to plan collision-free trajectories in
dynamic environments without noticeable delays. Thus,
the robot can even be employed in close proximity to
humans and safely execute its assigned tasks. Absolute Rotary Encoders
Altogether, Hollie is a flexible and innovative and Inclinometers
service robot that can be used as a research platform
for a manifold of research aspects. Numerous demon-
Reliable Measurement under
strations and exhibitions on fairs have demonstrated
the practical usability and stability of the industrial Harsh Conditions

software. High Protection Class: IP69K

Fieldbus and Analog Interfaces

Safety and ATEX

Ex-Proof Versions Available

Successfully Integrated in
Concrete Pumps, Drilling Machines,
Working Platforms, Cranes, Wheel Loaders,
Leader Masts and More

Author

Andreas Hermann
FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik
www.fzi.de
[email protected]

Related links www.posital.com

Hollie picks up laundry from the floor
Over hill, over dale: The six-legged robot does wander everywhere

POSITAL
Germany, Singapore and USA
www.posital.com, [email protected]
 The elephant of off-highway vehicles
Applications

Micro-controller based and in a robust housing, the 8960 actuator

(Photo: Fendt)
series by Sonceboz is like an elephant. It was specially developed
for transmissions in off-highway vehicles.

A gricultural and construction machinery is becoming

increasingly complex. Today, motors and components
do not only need to have the essential attributes but they
why Sonceboz uses a hybrid stepper motor with 200 steps
per rotation. Even at low speed, the motor can provide high
torque, ensuring the necessary failsafe functions thanks to
are also increasingly required to have additional analytical its minimal residual torque.
and diagnostic functions. They must also be able to with-
stand the harshest environmental conditions. Intelligent Reliable even in the harshest conditions
actuators such as the 8960 smart actuator series by Son-
ceboz are the answer. The 8960 series is particularly well suited for use in CVT
Maximum resistance to mechanical, magnetic, and (Continously Variable Transmission) transmissions in
thermal loads as well as to weather conditions and mois- tractors. This actuator can handle dirt, vibration, and
ture: components in agricultural and construction machin- extreme temperatures. Fastened to the outside of the
ery in particular must rise to these challenges - without transmission housing on the tractor, it has already been
compromising functional safety, performance, or preci- tested under the harshest conditions. In the CVT trans-
sion. The robust actuators from Sonceboz, featuring clever mission, the system must respond quickly and accurate-
electronics and corresponding interfaces, have been de- ly to a position signal. The actuator acts as the connec-
signed to meet the requirements of harsh environments tion between the electronic transmission controller and
and can thus provide increased efficiency, safety, and the hydrostatic split transmission. Drivers use their joy-
comfort for off-highway machines. Thanks to their elec-
tronic systems and the corresponding interfaces, they can
be used as self-sufficient components within the system of actuator via CAN. The actuator then converts it into me-
a mobile machine. chanical actuation in the transmission. In other words,
The biggest challenge when developing the 8960 it independently converts the CAN command into a
actuators was to guarantee high positional precision and precise angular position and thus determines the angle of the
reproducibility in any situation. The challenging environ- axial piston pump in the power unit. Meanwhile, a
mental conditions to which the components in agricultur- redundant control system ensures the reliability of the
al machinery are exposed have increased the complexity actuator.
of the developmental process. Reactive forces complicate
position holding enormously. In order to guarantee the po- Availability thanks to OBD
sition even under these conditions, a dynamic torque of
more than 2,5 Nm is essential. At the same time, the resid- In the series, various measuring and testing routines
ual torque when inactive should not fall below 1 Nm. That is of the intelligent control system ensure safety and

8 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

The 8960 smart actuator series (Photo: Sonceboz)

reliability. They enable on-board diagnostics via the CAN

interface as required. Using a magnetic and optical sensor
with a resolution of 8000 steps/rotation, a redundant mea-
suring system controls the precise positioning of the out- Von der Idee
put shaft. If the output shaft is blocked, the OBD (On-Board
Diagnose) initiates a quick diagnosis and sends feedback bis zur Serienfertigung –
to the unit. The unit responds by independently reducing
the speed and increasing the torque for a short period of
ostwestfälisch
ostwestfälisch bodenständig
bodenständig
time to overcome the mechanical hurdle. The diagnostic
system also detects critical situations when it comes to
Engineering in Echtzeit
environmental temperature, supply voltage and power
consumption. If necessary, the system switches to a re- Steuergeräte für Sonderfahrzeuge
duced operating mode and independently sets priorities to CAN Bus · LIN Bus · Automotive
guarantee the safety of the drive. Flash Loader · Class-D Verstärker
Sonceboz specializes in the development of inno-
Mess- und Prüfgeräte
vative solutions for challenging drive problems. The core
area of expertise of the Swiss company is integrating elec-
tronics, motors and mechanics. The company has years Entwicklung und Fertigung
of experience in the mechanical and electronic develop- von Geräten und Komponenten
ment of actuators, particularly those used in harsh en-
vironmental conditions. One of the particular strengths
Hardwaredesign, Leiterplatten- und
of Sonceboz is the development of individual, efficient
drives based on a comprehensive and modular standard Firmwareentwicklung, Testsysteme für
product range. Vibrations, dirt, moisture, temperature Validierung und Serie
fluctuations, tight space constraints, and adaptation to
a wide variety of control electronics and communication Entwicklungsunterstützung
systems are all just part of everyday life for the Swiss
company.
EMV, Pflichtenhefte,
Ultra-Eil-Entwicklung

Author

Herbert Trummer
Sonceboz SA
Freitag Elektronik und Systeme
Dipl. Ing. Jan Freitag Tel. +49 (521) 2701093
www.sonceboz.com Elektronik u. Systeme Fax +49 (521) 2701094
Sudbrackstraße 38 [email protected]
33611 Bielefeld - Germany www.freitag-elektronik.de

ZUSAMMEN ZIELE ERREICHEN

 CAN timing analysis beyond bus load
Engineering

CAN will keep playing a major role in future automotive network development
– and CAN timing analysis has become a core competence. We take a look at
the most important use cases.

M odern cars contain 50 and more electronic control

units (ECUs) that execute a variety of classical and
novel functions in all domains: engine control systems,
only be released when we have approved all changes.
Otherwise, we must go back one step, change and opti-
mize the placement of new signals into the existing config-
body electronics, active suspension, electro-mechanical uration, and re-approve that change. The approval step is
steering, adaptive cruise control, and the latest advanced a critical one. A bad decision here might falsely reject rea-
driver assistance systems (ADAS). These functions are sonable changes or worse, result in the release of a net-
realized through large amounts of software and a host of work specification that does not work.
complex sensors and actuators that exchange more com-
munication data than ever before. Over the years, the elec- Timing analysis beyond bus load
tric/electronic (E/E) architecture has become something
like an in-vehicle IT infrastructure for the realization of in-
Therefore, leading car manufacturers such as BMW, Daim-
novative functions, with the communication network at its ler, Volkswagen, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, and many
core. And despite the introduction of higher-bandwidth others have established systematic real-time assessments
protocols Flexray and Ethernet, CAN still plays (and will of their network configurations that go far beyond the over-
play, especially with CAN FD) a dominant role. ly simplistic bus load approach. In fact, the bus load is easy
to calculate: divide the message length by the message cy-
Incremental, evolutionary network design cle time, then add these values over all messages, and fi-
nally divide the result by the bit speed of the bus. Spread-
Network architectures are constantly being modified and sheet tools do this easily and approval metrics such as “no
extended. With every new function or function update, ad- more than 50 % bus load” are easy to apply. However, the
ditional data signals must be integrated for the next ver- bus load criterion has crucial limitations. First, it only con-
sion of a car model. These new signals are siders cyclic frames in a proper manner but
either placed in existing CAN messag- has difficulties in capturing the dynamic be-
es (if there are sufficient bits left) or new havior of event-triggered frames. And sec-
CAN frames with suitable CAN IDs and cy- ond, the bus load criterion does not sup-
cle times. Such extensions and modifica- port network designers in selecting good
tions appear continuously as new functions signal-to-frame mappings and CAN IDs,
are developed. At predefined dates (for in- simply because these decisions have close
stance every six months) the network ar- to zero impact on bus load calculations. To
chitecture team (usually a dedicated enti- address this critical weakness of the bus
ty at each vehicle manufacturer) integrates load approach, the mentioned companies
all modifications and releases a new net- have done a paradigm change towards
work configuration to be used in future pro- more expressive timing metrics where the
duction car models. In other words, the net- timing behavior of individual signals and
works grow evolutionarily. Once set, the messages are the focal point.
signals, their mapping, and the CAN IDs The response time analysis is among
and cycle times are usually not changed the most important metrics. The response
in later updates. This ensures compatibili- time of a message is the time that elaps-
ty with existing components. es between the queuing time of the mes-
Another important requirement is that sage in the sending ECU until the reception
the real-time capability of the network and Figure 1: The frame of the last bit at the receiving ECU (see
its configuration must be maintained. New response time is measured Figure 1). This way, the response time is a
signals must not distort the existing signals starting when the message real, physical timing attribute of the travel-
beyond their critical limits in terms of sig- ing bits and bytes, and it covers the arbitra-
nal latencies and message cycle time jit- CAN driver buffer until tion delay (the time until a message “wins”
ters. This means that for every change or the transmission of the the arbitration), which has a dominant ef-
change request, we must ensure that the last bit to the ECU2 has fect on the latency of lower-priority CAN
timing is not compromised by that change. been completed messages and all contained signals (see
Moreover, the entire network update can (Photo: Symtavision) Figure 2).

10 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

 release approval. BMW requires message response times
(and subsequently the latency of all contained signals) not
to exceed a certain portion of the message cycle time. Fiat
[2] has published the same approach with two criteria: the
cycle time is used as the hard deadline which must never
be broken, and a 20 % cycle time is used as the soft dead-
line for which violations can be accepted at a certain sta-
tistical percentage.

Model-based CAN timing analysis

with Symta/S

One crucial precondition for the effectiveness of these

Figure 2: Timing diagram of CAN network with focus on approval metrics is that they must be applied before the
arbitration delays (in red) (Photo: Symtavision) change requests are accepted and essentially before a
new CAN configuration is released. Otherwise, we are un-
This arbitration delay varies dynamically. It is very able to detect latency and jitter violations and incorrect
short (or zero) when a message is sent via an empty (or system behavior before the integration testing, which is
idle) bus, and it can be very long during a burst of high- far too late. In other words, we must be able to predict or
priority CAN traffic. These variations lead to varyingly ef- calculate the expected message latencies based on the
fective (or observed) cycle times of individual messages, configuration alone, without having the test data. And while
also called message jitters. If these latencies and jitters the bus load can be calculated easily, response time cal-
become larger, the receiving functions process signal data culations are complex and require tool support. Therefore,
of different age. And if these variations become too large, many leading car manufacturers including BMW and Fiat
the functions cannot run correctly any longer.
BMW has recently published a survey about its timing- the response time analysis for their approval process, illus-
enhanced E/E development process [1], which contains trated in Figure 3.
a detailed response time analysis at two important pro- SymTA/S takes the CAN configurations as input in for-
cess steps: the change request approval and the network mats such as DBC or Autosar XML (system template), runs
 arriving change requests. It is obvious that a timing analy-
Engineering
sis based on a model (and not its realization) is ideal for
such types of virtual “what-if” evaluations.
In practice, we observe two slightly different ver-
sions of this use case. The first one generally handles all
real change requests according to the incremental de-
sign use cases explained above, and afterwards deter-
mines the future extensibility mainly for tracking reasons.
The other one already includes the additional, virtual
change requests before the real change requests are
evaluated, thereby approving any change only if it keeps
the remaining reserves above a certain limit. The best
choice depends a bit on the overall network strategy and
Figure 3: Timing analysis and approval in incremental usually must be discussed individually.
network design (Photo: Symtavision)
Major network architecture update
simulations (and optionally a mathematical worst-case
analysis) of the timing behavior, determines the relevant So far, we have focused on the detailed CAN timing analy-
message response times, and outputs two-level reports: sis in the context of an evolutionary, incremental network
A quick go/no-go (or green-yellow-orange) report indi- development process, which can be found at almost ev-
cates the general real-time feasibility of the given net- ery OEM today. Powerful timing analysis tools are high-
work configuration, ly valuable and have become standard process compo-
A more detailed report visualizes the response times nents for three key steps: the approval (or rejection) of
and the fulfillment of the requirements (deadlines and individual CAN network change requests, the timing ver-
jitter constraints) and provides direct feedback for ification of a new CAN network release, and the estima-
promising adjustments and optimizations. tion of future extensibility. These are the most common-
Additionally, the model-based timing analysis lets us ly found use cases for CAN timing analysis. The last use
run before/after comparisons of all involved signals and case becomes relevant when there are no more reserves
messages. This lets us track the response times over the for changes and a major update of the network architec-
network architecture lifecycle so that we can detect bottle- ture is needed.
necks early and take appropriate counter measures. Sooner or later, the lifecycle of any evolutionary net-
work architecture will come to an end, at the latest when
Reserves for future extensions all buses are “full” and any added signal will compromise
the real-time behavior and break the communication.
This brings us to the next application of CAN timing analy- In this situation, more fundamental (and revolutionary)
sis, which can be seen as a virtual variant of the two afore- changes to the network architecture are needed, beyond
mentioned ones: the estimation of future extensibility. It is message layouts and CAN IDs. Among the most popular
clear that with every signal that we add to an existing CAN of such changes are:
configuration, we reduce the probability that any more sig- Complete redesign and optimization of the bus con-
nals can be added in the future. As part of a systemat- figuration (signal-to-frame mapping, CAN IDs),
ic lifecycle management, we should therefore keep track Change mapping of functions in order to reduce the
of the remaining reserves. And we should do so not only communication volume on the bus, then a redesign of
in terms of currently unused bus load. This would provide the network configuration,
us with only little practically relevant information because Switch from CAN to CAN FD for all or some ECUs,
we usually do not add a percentage of load, but rather we Introduction of several CAN segments, linked/bridged
add signals. Therefore, the question is: How many signals together by existing or new ECUs with two or more
of which type and cycle time can we add to the CAN net- CAN connections,
work without breaking the existing requirements? In other Use of parallel buses between ECUs with two CAN
words: How robust (or sensitive) is the current configura- connections,
tion against future changes? Redesign of the entire E/E architecture (and the use
We can answer this question by making certain as- of FlexRay and/or Ethernet for high-bandwidth seg-
sumptions on future change requests (for instance, one ments or backbone network).
50-ms message with a 4-byte payload from each ECU on While all strategies gain some headroom, reduce
the bus) and then (virtually) check if such a CAN network the bus load, and lead to shorter bus message response
would still meet all timing requirements. If it does, we have times, they differ in their collateral consequences such
proven that additional signals can be added as long as as development time, deployment cost, and signal laten-
they are compatible with our assumptions. If not, we know cies, which can also increase when for instance gate-
that the remaining reserves are less than what we have waying is added. The actual choice of the strategy for
asked for. Evaluating different sets of assumptions (that such a major update usually depends on more aspects,
differ in signal size and cycle time, and CAN ID ranges) not only timing but also strategic, manufacturer-specif-
provides us with additional acceptance criteria for newly ic decisions. What all manufacturers have in common,

12 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

however, is that they must ensure sufficient real-time ca-
pabilities of any new network architecture. For this, they
can again use the response time analysis tools they al-
ready know from other use cases. Vehicle manufactur-
ers usually explore more than one architecture strategy
before they make the final decision. And with a
systematic timing analysis process in place, they can
also evaluate each architecture candidate from a timing
perspective. Daimler has presented timing-enriched
E/E architecture exploration from the time they
introduced Flexray [3]. The Symta/S timing analysis for
CAN and Flexray was an integral part of the presented
process.

CAN and Ethernet

And what about Ethernet? Ethernet was first introduced

as a separate overlay architecture for the bandwidth-de-
manding video and object recognition functions of ADAS.
CAN still plays its role as the protocol of choice for cost-
efficient and reliable in-vehicle signal communication for
the classical domains. In the future, we will likely see Eth-
ernet links with some backbone functionality, transfer-
ring signal PDUs between the CAN domains. Interesting-
ly, this will make the CAN timing more complex, at least
for the cross-domain traffic because the CAN-to-Eth-
ernet and Ethernet-to-CAN gateways add delays to the
signals that must be considered. Symta/S, as the lead-
ing network timing analysis tool for automotive, already
supports CAN, Flexray, LIN, Ethernet, and gateway
timing analysis.

Author

Dr. Kai Richter

Symtavision GmbH
www.symtavision.com
[email protected]

Related link
Analyzing the performance of CAN networks

References
[1] D. Gunnarsson, C. Pigorsch, M. Traub: Timing
Evaluation in E/E Architecture Design. ATZ
Elektronik 01|2015.
[2] I. F. Amato, M. Melani: Timing & Distribution
Analysis with Symta/S at Fiat Group Automobiles.
Fiat Timing Conference, Torino, 2011.
[3] M. Traub, V. Lauer, T. Weber, M. Jersak, K.
Richter, J. Becker: Timing Analysis for Verification
of Network Architectures, ATZ Elektronik,
03|2009.
 Electronics first – or housing?
Engineering

Device manufacturers specialize in electronics. Encasing these electronics

in housings is usually a job for the team’s electromechanical experts.
Which point of the process is right for choosing a suitable housing?

Figure 1: ESD deploys a

modular housing concept
for the production of its
electronics devices (Photo:
Phoenix Contact)

W ith its CAN-CBX device range, electronics manufac-

turer ESD settled on the housings first – the I/O sys-
tem was only developed once the enclosure was in place.
modular ME MAX electronics housing formed the starting
point of the development process. This housing system not
only encases the electronics but also provides a special
Before the electronics of a new device are developed, feature that inspired the developers to embrace a new sys-
some consideration should be given to how they will be -
housed. For ESD Electronic System Design, this makes nector is perfect for handling communications between the
sense. The company predominantly develops and manu- modules,” said Krause. “Our aim was for the five-pin bus
factures industrial communication modules based on the
CAN protocol such as CANopen and Devicenet. The com-
pany is a founding member of CiA and a member of ODVA
(Open Devicenet Vendors Association).
“With the CBX series, we have a CAN-based I/O
system in our product range that is continually updated
and expanded,” said ESD Sales Director and CiA Business
Director Harm-Peter Krause. “We have numerous gate-
ways for communicating with other networks including Pro-
fibus, Profinet, Ethernet, and Ethercat. Further modules
are available for integrating devices with serial or wireless
interfaces.”

From the housing to the idea

In the development of the CBX modules, the final exterior

ME MAX series (Photo: Phoenix Contact)

14 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

Figure 3: Thanks to their versatile contours, insertable Figure 4: Thanks to push-in plug connectors, the devices
cover plates are suitable for individual modifications can be wired up without any tools (Photo: Phoenix
(Photo: Phoenix Contact) Contact)

connector to carry the two CANopen signals, i.e., the high “and when it comes to maintenance, the modules can be
level and low level signal, as well as the two pins for the replaced without disrupting the running processes.”
24-V supply voltage and the functional earth ground.” In order to meet the highest safety standards, the
Communication between the modules takes place in- contacts of the cross-connector are gold-plated. Once
side the mounting rail, which is more accurately known as ESD had established its mounting rail-based system con-
the in-rail bus. The T-shaped plug connector snaps onto cept for the device series, the developers turned to design-
the DIN rail. “This makes installation a lot faster for our cus- ing the electronics. The outcome of this approach was a
tomers in terms of wiring costs and effort,” adds Krause, device series where all the modules have identical
 connectors. The CBX series predominantly makes use of
Engineering
push-in plug connectors (Figure 4). The special contact
spring of this design ensures gas-tight contacting and re-
quires high cable withdrawal forces. Rigid or flexible wires
with ferrules are also easy to connect due to the low in-
sertion forces required. The last stage of assembly is in-
stalling the plug-in connectors, and then the modules are
packaged for shipping.

Customer-specific solutions

ESD also develops and manufactures individual customer

solutions for sectors such as automotive production, me-
chanical engineering, medical technology, aviation and
aerospace, as well as offshore deployment. The require-
ments placed on the housings are worked out in close con-
sultation with the customer. Once the requirements pro-
file of the finished solution is in place, the functions of the
housing are specified – such as installation space, hous-
ing materials, connector types, and environmental condi-
tions. Before the PCB can be planned, a suitable electron-
ics housing needs to be determined.
Initial prototypes usually take four to six months to
produce, again in close dialog with the customer. Seri-
al production typically commences after another three
months. An example of a customer-specific solution for the
aviation industry is an aircraft cabin simulator. “What hap-
pens when all of the passengers press the overhead light
button at the same time?” asks Krause. “While this most
likely will never occur in practice, it still needs to be simu-
lated. After all, the cabin lights should be fully functional at
all times.”

deep sea hydraulic breaker is mounted directly on

the pile hammer; only a single cable for power and
communication is needed (Photo: ESD)

housings – modules with digital or analog inputs and out-

puts, modules for temperature sensing, and real-time
controllers. Because the series can be expanded with ad-
ditional devices at any time, more and more gateways have
been added, facilitating communication via Profibus, Profi-
net, Ethernet, and Ethercat.
-
ing takes place at its Hannover plant. After the external-
ly-sourced, pre-fitted PCBs are tested and the firmware is
installed, they are mounted in their respective housings.
First, the functional earth ground is placed in the left half
of the housing and the PCB is positioned (Figure 2). The
FE contact is established later on when the housing is
snapped onto the DIN rail. “This has greatly simplified the
handling of the modules for our customers,” said Krause.
Next, the right half of the housing is assembled and
locked in with the mounting lugs, and the cover plate is
inserted (Figure 3). The cover plates vary depending on
their labeling and on the openings they provide for the dif- Figure 6: The MUX box is the centerpiece of the control
computer – it is based on a Power PC architecture with
housings are identical, the cover plates can be matched a Compact PCI system and CAN communications; the
- I/O modules of the CBX series can be seen in the middle
ings for different connector types, such as signal or data (Photo: ESD)

16 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

 Deployment in underground
hydraulic breakers

solutions is the hydraulic breaker of Menck. The break- One card,

er is deployed at depths of 1800 m to 3000 m in the
construction of deep sea foundations or for oil drilling. many possibilities
The CAN-CBX I/O series is used on these breakers to

functional range. A pressure-tight container is used

to protect the control and monitoring components.
The container is installed directly on the pile hammer With
(Figure 5).
Communication between the hammer drill and the
supp
on-board PC-based operating computer is handled via ort
the DSL wires of the used single cable. The I/O mod-
ules inside the MUX box are deployed together with
sensors for tasks such as measuring depth pressure or
acceleration (Figure 6). A number of additional Pt100
inputs record various temperatures. These measure-
ment readings, which are displayed by the operating
computer, provide information about water penetration,
water pressure, oil temperature, and much more.

ESD has found the right type of enclosure for its I/O sys-
tem. Its crucial advantage is its mounting rail bus con-
nector, which carries both data and power signals. This
eliminates unnecessary cabling and human error during
wiring, and simply snapping the modules onto the DIN rail IXXAT CAN-IB-Series
saves a lot of time. Because only a single housing type is
being used, this keeps the part variance low, while all the Modular PCIe cards with up to four
individual functions are accommodated via variable cover CAN (HS/LS), CAN FD, LIN and K-Line Interfaces
plates.
As standard, low-profile, mini PCIe and
PCIe104 version
Easily expandable with customer specific
piggyback modules
Drivers (32/64 bit) for Windows
XP, Windows7/8, Linux, QNX,
INtime, VxWorks and RTX

New
CAN-IB300/PCI
CAN-IB400/PCI
Author
CAN-IB-Series extended by cost-effective PCI cards
Marta Ciesielski Available as passive or active (32 bit µC) version enabling
Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG intelligent handling and active filtering of messages
www.phoenixcontact.com
Up to four CAN interfaces (optional low-speed CAN and LIN)
[email protected]

Related link
Not only partner of the medical industry
HMS Industrial Networks GmbH
Emmy-Noether-Str. 17 · 76131 Karlsruhe
+49 721 989777-000 · [email protected]
www.anybus.com · www.ixxat.com · www.netbiter.com
 Optimized run time behavior
Engineering

Profiling in software technology means that information is processed, which

helps analyze the specific execution time of application POUs. For this
purpose, the Codesys Profiler is provided as an add-on component.

A fter being installed in the Codesys Development Sys-

tem, the Codesys Profiler automatically measures sin-
gle tasks of IEC 61131-3 automation projects. The mea-
application code. This machine code is transferred to the
target system along with the application code and then ex-
ecuted. In contrast to a manual procedure, a measurement
suring results allow users to optimize the runtime behavior of all POUs is automatically ensured, thus minimizing the
and thus the quality of their control applications. The Cod- time needed for runtime measurement. Looking at the data
esys Profiler is part of the Codesys Professional Develop- gathered, application developers can easily identify which
er Edition since May 2015. POUs are most relevant to the total running time of the ap-
These days, manufacturers in the automation indus- plication and consequently make modifications to optimize
try supply hardware of different performance levels. Users time behavior.
of these hardware devices work with tools like the Code- During code runtime, the measurement results can be
sys Development System to develop the necessary control demanded, loaded, and displayed directly in the develop-
programs in the languages of IEC 61131-3. The process-
ing power of the hardware has become more and more the picture, different views allow the user to choose differ-
exhausted in this process. If users realize that their appli- ent perspectives to analyze the situation. POUs passing
cation code is reaching the performance limits of their con- the pre-defined threshold value, limiting their share of the
troller, they can optimize the application code before taking total running time of the application, are marked in a differ-
the software into operation. Thanks to methodical support, ent color. Thus, users can identify POUs with a particularly
the data necessary for the optimization process can be de- long running time. Most helpful information is provided by
termined without additional hardware or application soft- the display of the call frequency of POUs, as these data
ware. For example, the runtime of the CANopen Safety allow for the user to determine the relevance of a certain
Stack can be measured and taken into consideration. POU for the total running time.
The task configuration of the Codesys Development After finishing the runtime analysis, the Codesys Pro-
System already provides information on the (maximum) filer can be deactivated with a mouse click. The optimized
cycle time of the used tasks. The Codesys Profiler is an application code is then loaded onto the target system.
optional add-on tool and supplies application developers Whereas manual measurement leaves some residue in the
with detailed runtime data of the control program on POU final code, this is not the case when using the Codesys Pro-
level. In order to identify these data, the activated add-on filer. When comparing historical with current values, all re-
generates additional machine code wherever there is a sults should be stored in the runtime analysis. By regularly
function input or output when compiling the IEC 61131-3 evaluating these results, the efficiency behavior of the ap-
plication is displayed over
the whole development
period. In this way, prob-
lems are revealed at an
early stage, thus putting
the user in a position to es-
timate whether the project-
ed task execution times
can be accomplished.
Using tools which
provide methodical devel-
opment support improves
the quality of IEC 61131-3
applications in automa-
tion technology and at the
same time reduces the
necessary effort. The Cod-
esys Profiler for runtime
analysis helps users iden-
Figure 1: Integrated profiling results with helpful information (Photo: Codesys) tify and prevent potential

18 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

problems caused by controller overload. It can be purchased
in the Codesys Store and can be directly installed in the Cod-
esys Development System. With the available trial version,
users can test the product before use.
canAnalyser
New Version 3
Author

Michael Schwarz
3S-Smart Software Solutions GmbH
www.codesys.com

Access to CANopen via

IEC 61131-3 devices
The CiA SIG (special interest group) Application Lay-
er is currently finalizing the CiA 314 specification. Us-
age of this document allows standardized access to
CANopen services from devices programmable in IEC
61131-3 languages. Such devices may be PLCs (pro-
grammable logic controllers), PC-based controllers,
HMIs (human machine interfaces), etc.
The document specifies function blocks to pro-
duce or consume CANopen communication services
and to provide local CANopen functions. These in-
clude, among others, SDO (service data object) read/
write access, NMT (network management) control,
emergency message handling, as well as the creation
of object dictionary entries. The available CANopen
functions are based on CiA 301 v. 4.2, which has no
Powerful analyzing, stimulation, recording
relation to CAN FD (CAN with flexible data rate).
CiA 314 derives from the withdrawn CiA 405 doc-
and data interpretation functionality
ument, which provided a different addressing scheme. For CAN, CANopen, DeviceNet and SAE J1939
The new addressing is as follows: All CANopen com- based systems
munication stacks in a system have a unique number
(kernel-ID). A kernel operates on one CANopen inter- New: Multi-board feature supports multiple
face port (interface-ID). Specific CANopen devices in CAN interfaces simultaneous
the network are still addressed via their node-ID. In the
system, a mapping table exists, which assigns kernels New: Improved database concept and graphic
to interfaces. Thus, the kernel-ID implicitly specifies display of signals and statistic data
on which physical CANopen interface port the com-
New: Data transmission and
munication is running and the interface-ID is not used
for addressing. The benefit of this addressing is that a
reception based on
kernel may later be moved to a different interface port signal level
without changing the available application code. The
kernel-ID stays the same. This makes the hardware
addressing transparent to the user.
To simplify the specification use in different sys- Also in combination
tems, some platform-dependent parameters, e.g. time with the new
stamp and pointers to data, are left for the user to de-
fine. The timeout function (maximum allowed execu- USB-to-CAN V2
tion time) is also included into the function blocks.
The CiA 314 specification substitutes a part of
For mobile analysis and configuration of CAN systems as
well as for sophisticated simulation and control applications
the CiA 405 document, whose content was also partly
moved to CiA 302-4 (network variables and process Up to two CAN interfaces (optional low-speed CAN and LIN)
image) and CiA 306-3 (network variable handling and
USB 2.0 Hi-Speed: Minimal latency and high data throughput
tool integration). The application note CiA 809, which is
currently under development, provides an implementa-
tion and a user guideline for IEC 61131-3 devices.
Olga Fischer (CAN in Automation)
HMS Industrial Networks GmbH
Emmy-Noether-Str. 17 · 76131 Karlsruhe
+49 721 989777-000 · [email protected]
www.anybus.com · www.ixxat.com · www.netbiter.com
 Filtration process for improved drinks
Applications

TMCI Padovan, an Italian food and beverage processing equipment manufacturer,

uses distributed drives from Nord Drivesystems in its Dynamos rotating
dynamic cross-flow filter systems.

Figure 1: TMCI

systems employ a gentle

filtration method for
musts: geared motors
with integrated inverters
from Nord Drivesystems
perform various drive
tasks (Photo: TMCI
Padovan)

Proven rotary cross-flow filter

T he Dynamos rotating dynamic cross-flow filter sys-
tems feature a calibrated back-pulse system and a new
filtration method for the wine and juice industries that al- T
lows a low-energy, low-labor, and continuous system for cross-flow filter with a calibrated back-pulse system for
turning press wine or fruit juices into clear liquids with evacuating the filtrate. This design has been hailed as
optimal results. The method does not require the use of the most valid technology for the filtration of must and
filtration aids. wine grounds – and other liquids that have a high level
of suspended solids – without filter aids or modifying
of vermouth fortified wines, required a solution to replace a agents.
traditional vacuum filter which typically has a low cycle clean-
ing requirement that hindered the processes they wanted to consists of a sealed chamber fed by a peristaltic pump
perfect. Due to the large volumes processed, a reliable and and a series of spinning porous ceramic disks. Spinning
low-energy machine was required to operate every day of the membranes are responsible for the filtration, not a
year for eight to ten hours on average. The Dynamos filter forced liquid flow as is usual for conventional cross-
was identified as a possible solution to the problem, and the flow filtration systems. This low energy consumption
customer asked TMCI Padovan to perform a test in its pro- process prevents lock-ups and allows easy cleaning. It
duction plant. enables long filtration cycles of up to 72 hours without
Equipped with mechatronic drive units from Nord, interruptions with high flow rates between 25 l/m²h to
Dynamos offers advantages that were decisive for the final 50 l/m²h with lees. The available models are compact,
choice. Firstly, the software flexibility allowed the custom- easy to operate, and are supplied with filtration
er to consistently match the operating parameters to create membranes with a total surface area between 1 m² and
its final product quality. Secondly, the compactness and the 80 m² and multiples.
cleanliness in operation: the cross-flow filtration allows hygienic The filtered product can be bottled directly as is the
operation in a closed system that reduces the overall plant size. norm with traditional cross-flow filters but the absence
The operation without filtration aids and modifiers ben- of red color reduction and the low oxygen absorption
efits product quality and the environment, with the additional make the process especially interesting to the industry
advantage of reduced waste. Moreover, during filtration the – so much so that Dynamos received the prestigious
energy consumption is decreased compared to convention- Innovation Award when the system was shown at the
al models, the temperature rise is negligible, and the closed SIMEI 2011 fair in Milan, Italy, and the “Palmarès de
system means that product oxidation is close to zero – all
important factors for making great tasting wines and juices. France.

20 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

 CAN FOR EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS
CANopen Coupler D-Sub /XTR, 750-338/040-000

750-8204 750-337, -837 750-337/040-000

750-837/040-000

750-338 750-347 750-348 750-338/040-000

767-1501 767-658 (CAN)

The WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM 750 XTR – TAKING IT TO THE EXTREME

- eXTReme temperature … from -40°C to +70°C
- eXTReme vibration … up to 5g acceleration
- eXTReme isolation … up to 5 kV impulse voltage
- eXTReme dimensions … as compact as 750 Series standard
www.wago.com
Applications

Figure 2: The TMCI Padovan Group

is the reference technological partner
for the wine industry and, more
generally, for the food and beverage
industry (Photo: TMCI Padovan)

Various drive tasks Furthermore, the possibility to communicate with the

PLC through the fieldbus specified by the customer, using
Thanks to certain technologies, this system can be com- a single node for multiple users, resulted in cost savings
petitively developed and produced. These technologies in- by allowing the interfacing of the drives with the CANopen-
clude the Nord Drivesystems technologies that are used in based fieldbus that is a standard feature of Nord invert-
Dynamos filter systems. Depending on the size, each mod- ers. A smaller-sized main control cabinet and simplified
el contains several parallel shaft-geared motors. As these machine commissioning resulting from the use of decen-
rotate the filtration disks, their number varies as a func- tralized geared motors and separate motors, saved further
tion of the number of disk-holding shafts – one machine costs.
can hold one to 16 shafts. Additionally, the machines have Other features include the configuration options that
one or two tanks for the produce, and each tank has four are available through the SK 200E series. The customer
drives. Each drive includes a motor-mounted decentral- was able to make use of simple solutions for addressing
ized SK 200E frequency inverter. The sensor-less invert- the distributed nodes and benefitted from the status LEDs
ers ensure tight speed control and maintain the high-quali- and the diagnostics that can be read via EIA-232 both on
ty process without the need for sensor feedback. The drive inverters and on distributed nodes through the Nord CON
PC software for controlling, parameterization, and diag-
communications. Finally, a separate distributed Nord mo- nostics of all Nord frequency inverters.
tor drives the circulation pump. Nord supported the customer in the selection and
SK 200E distributed inverters are available as mod- commissioning phases of the machines. “We selected
els either for installation close to the motor or integrated Nord because of the quality and the robustness as well
in the motor. They feature the equivalent function range of as the build construction that we consider to be suitable
the SK 500E centralized inverter series for cabinet installa- for prolonged industrial use”, said Narciso Gatti, Purchase
tion. In addition to offering an overload capacity of 200 %, and Operations Manager of TMCI Padovan. “Our company
the distributed inverters can be placed close to the appli- already used Nord drive technology, especially for vacuum
cation for compact and efficient operation with less wiring filters, vegetable oil processing machines, and tunnel pas-
than conventional panel-mount solutions. Relative or ab- teurizers. Nord Drivesystems has been supplying TMCI
solute positional values can be controlled by binary values Padovan for a long time, ever since we first made contact
from the PLC entered through SK 200E inputs and stored more than ten years ago.” Nord mechatronic drive units
in the drive. As an alternative, they can be set through a replaced belt driven transmissions that the company had
choice of fieldbus systems. Position feedback can be pro- used in previous filters. “The new technology allowed us
vided through incremental encoders with the standard lev- to obtain several advantages, like a greater energy sav-
el of supply including an on-board reference function for ing, a greater reliability, a more simplified machine design
this purpose, or it is possible to directly set positional val- and much increased safety for operators,” added Gatti.
ues with an absolute encoder via CANopen. For all these
alternative control options, configuration requires only few
parameters for commissioning and optimization.
Various features of Nord products contributed to the
successful implementation of the filtration machines. The
rotation accuracy directly influences the quality of the over-
all performance of the system. The energy-saving function
adjusts consumption to a fraction of the rated power during
partial-load operation. Their compactness makes mount- Author
ing the distributed drives particularly easy. The local stor-
age of all the programming data on removable EEPROM Jörg Niermann
facilitates commissioning. And lastly, the optional match- Nord Drivesystems
ing of safety standards such as EN 61508: SIL3 was fun- www.nord.com
damental to the application. [email protected]

22 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

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for the technology of elevators
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 Connecting automotive standards
Engineering

Pressure of time and cost and faster development processes require flexible
automotive measurement systems. They must be able to be adjusted to
different measurement applications in a short period of time.

T he Ipetronik system bus X-Link provides a measure-

ment system, which connects automobile standards
such as Ethernet, CAN, IEEE 1588, or XCP. With this com-
bination of technologies, a decentralized and automotive
measurement system is available for the user. The system
grows continuously with new technologies available on the
market, without neglecting already existing measurement
modules.
The X-Link technology stands for the synchronous
connection of Ethernet measurement technology with CAN
network measurement technology via only one bus to the

solution covers all areas of decentralized measurement

technology in combination with Ipemotion as a complete
solution software. It also covers the connection to existing Figure 1: Application example of X-Link technology with
engine application systems, for example Inca or A2L. For Ipemotion (Photo: Ipetronik)
parameterization of the system, configuration via Ipemotion
is supported, as well as via add-ons (currently Ipeaddon measurement technology can be used in the system time
Inca 5 for Etas Inca). The user is able to analyze measure- synchronously.
ment data of different applications either with Ipemotion or
with the analysis packages and software tools Vector CAN- Flexibility as a basic condition
ape, NI Labview, AVL, ATI Vision, and Etas Inca. Besides
the CAN network measurement technology for physical val- For usage in already existing systems or as a basis for
ues such as pressure, temperature, voltage, and flow rate new systems, at least some of the following requirements
(up to 1 kHz), there is also an increased need for additional should be ensured:
faster measurement channels up to 40 kHz/channel: for ex- Software Ipemotion: One software for the entire mea-
ample, to optimize injection behavior or to perform parallel surement chain – starting with the configuration of the
to standard signals, or vibration, oscillation, and acoustic systems (plugins), the acquisition of measuring data and
measurements – always with the objective of reducing fur- monitoring, to a comfortable analysis; or starting with data
ther test phases. export to external applications, Ipemotion is also suitable
The time synchronization of all signals, as well as a for application specific usages, such as climate data analy-
familiar software interface, avoids additional offline editing sis with log p/H. diagrams or component and durability
of signals and time-consuming setup and adjustment phas- analysis.
Software Inca – Ipeaddon Inca 5.0: Existing and
so that fast and flexible work is possible. Existing bus sys- proved software tools, which partly include extensive analy-
tems have limitations, for example limited channel sampling sis routines and processes, are continuously supported.
rates, fewer configuration opportunities for individual devic- The user can continue to focus on common and proved
es or limited signal bandwidth since the system is always tools, which allow the time synchronous operation and ad-
running at the highest signal sampling rate. Customers justment of control units. Furthermore, the time synchro-
would often like to use existing approved measurement de- nous access via Etas ES593 on ETK as well as direct
vices together with new Ethernet devices in the same new tunneling are possible. Besides, due to the tunneling of
system. With the X-Link technology, a measurement sys- CAN modules, an ES593 CAN interface remains available
tem is available for users, which connects standards and for the data acquisition from a CAN network.
thus ensures a symbiosis of two bus systems and therefore Control unit application software: Due to the support of
an optimal workflow. the standard XCP-on-Ethernet protocol, the X-Link system
With this link of standards, a hardware platform is provides the opportunity to measure data directly by using
provided which is able to currently run at a sampling rate a standard A2L file. With this application, the same work-
up to 40 kHz due to the used software application. At the flow as well as the same tools which are used for program-
same time, the already existing Ipetronik CAN network ming control units can be used. The measurement system

24 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

 behaves like any other control unit on familiar software plat-
forms with the option of A2L measurement.
Investment security: There is a high investment secu-
rity. This is not only due to the CAN network basis of the
measurement system, or the easy connection to new hard-
ware as well as usage of the X Plugin, add-ons, or their us-
age via A2L. The system is also continuously maintained
and developed by the supplier.
Standards are the basis for X-Link – not a proprietary
system, but the intelligent connection of longtime proved
standards in the automotive industry, on which the X-Link
system solution consequently has been set up.
CAN: The serial network has not only asserted itself
because of its high interference resistance, low costs, and
Figure 2: Configuration with Ipemotion (Photo: Ipetronik) real-time capability. All components are connected to the
bus system via short stub cables on a mutual data cable,
whereby harness and wiring efforts are reduced. The se-
rial bus system, which has been established as a standard
in the automotive sector for decades and thus is available
in many places, does not need any special drivers. While
a standardized description via CANdb is possible, a direct
connection of CAN network modules to all familiar mea-
surement software packages or to a test bench is possi-
ble, too.
Ethernet: The vendor-independent network technol-
ogy enjoys a high acceptance on the market and is also
used in the automotive sector. Ethernet has approximately
a 50-times higher performance than CAN. Additionally, pro-
Figure 3: Configuration with Inca (Photo: Ipetronik) tocols such as TCP/IP, FTP, HTTP, DHCP, WLAN, as well
 Software connection
Engineering

Due to the multi-platform driver developed by Ipetronik,

for the configuration and analysis of measuring data the
Ipeaddon Inca 5 is available besides Ipemotion and the
X Plugin. Through the universal concept of the driver, more
third party software applications are possible, which can
be equipped with the same functionality and performance.
With the multi-platform driver, the limits of standard XCP
protocols (max. 10 kHz/channel) can be avoided (see
Table 1).

Table 1: Current possible sampling rates per channel in

Figure 4: Configuration with Vector CANape (A2L files) different software applications
(Photo: Ipetronik) Sampling CANape Diadem Test bench/ SW
Ipemotion Inca
rate/channel (DAIO) (DAC XCP driver) (with SG-interface)
as an Internet connection are available for the technology X Plugin 40 kHz
by default, so that a fast data exchange between locally Ipeaddon Inca 5 40 kHz
connected devices is possible. For Ethernet, no additional A2L 10 kHz 10 kHz 10 kHz 10 kHz 10 kHz
hardware for the PC or notebook is necessary. Daisy chain- CANdb 2 kHz 2 kHz 2 kHz 2 kHz 2 kHz
ing is possible without limits as well.
Ipetronik multi-platform driver XCP standard (XCP-on-Ethernet)
IEEE 1588: Using the precision time protocol (PTP) de-
fined in IEEE 1588, it is possible to synchronize distributed Table 2: Overview of CAN and X modules
system clocks to a precision of approximately 1 µs via the X-Bus
CAN Modules
decentralized system. This is enormously important, espe- Modules
cially in decentralized distributed systems. The multi-plat-

High Voltage Iso DAQ

form driver (PTP driver) developed by Ipetronik provides a

M-Thermo2 HV

CANpressure
universal basis for different software platforms.

M-THERMO
µ-THERMO

MultiDAQ

Mx-SENS
SIM-STG
M-SENS
XCP: Since its standardization through Asam in 2003,

Sx-STG
M-CNT
M-RTD
the XCP protocol has been widely distributed during the last
ten years for the communication of control units in the auto- Application Driver
motive industry. As a universal measurement and calibra- IPE multi-platform
IPEmotion
tion protocol, it is completely separated from the physical driver (PTP)

transport layer. Therefore, it is possible to use CAN, Ether- INCA 7.1 IPE Addon INCA 5

net, or Flexray buses as a transport layer according to re- Description file A2L

quired data rates. The XCP protocol provides opportunities CANape Vector DAIO driver

for the control of unit applications (measuring, adjusting, DIAdem NI-Ethernet driver

flashing). By using the protocol in measurement systems, INCA < 7.1

the system behaves like a control unit: The measuring data Description file CANdb

is collected as standardized data packages with A2L files CANape X X

via DAQ lists (data acquisition lists), which are automati- DIAdem X X

cally created in the Ipemotion software according to the INCA < 7.1 X X

measurement system configuration. A simple and universal In future: X = X devices in CAN mode
connection to all packages of the control unit and applica-
tion software is therefore ensured. Application with ES593 interface module

The widely used ES593 interface module from Etas,

which is usually used for control unit applications, serves
the standard ETK interface of the control unit. Parallel
to that, different physically measured values are ac-
quired time synchronously. Inca is used as an application
software. With the assistance of Ipeaddon Inca 5, such
a system can be realized fast and efficiently. The en-
tire Ipetronik measuring chain can be configured in Inca
and appears in the work area of Inca as additional mea-
surement systems. Due to the CAN tunneling of CAN
modules via Ethernet, another CAN input on ES593
for vehicle CAN data is available to the user. Thanks to
the system concept, high voltage modules by Ipetron-
Figure 5: Application example of X-Link technology with ik are able to cover characteristics of hybrid and e-drive
control unit ES593 (Photo: Ipetronik) technology.

26 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

Figure 6: Mx-SENS2 higher sampling rates possible. The
with eight analog self-developed multi-platform driv-
measurement inputs er provides the software driver
(Photo: Ipetronik) basis to use high sampling rates
in all software packages (for which
The system offers a combination of possibilities, which a driver is available). Thanks to
no other system on the market provides. These are, amongst the standardized Ethernet inter-
others: face, the system is usable with a
A fully suitable automotive system solution, PC, notebook, or test bench and Figure 7: Measure-
A consistent toolchain for X and CAN measurement tech- in future also with Ipetronik log- ment module Sx-STG
nology from configuration to analysis or reporting, ger platforms. The combination with sampling rates of
Integration of modules in existing software applications of a proved and existing mea- up to 40 kHz/channel
(Inca working area, Diadem circuit diagrams, etc.), suring technology with the new- (Photo: Ipetronik)
Different migration paths according to applications: est technologies is future oriented
the X module can be used to expand an existing CAN and a directional development for user requirements.
system or to cover higher sampling rates in future, Users can decide to buy new measurement tech-
without buying another system, nology or integrate it in the existing system: either way,
CAN monitoring: X devices dispose of the need for moni- the X-Link technology creates a basis for flexible and efficient
toring, for example for test bench applications. Additional measurement.
setup times become unnecessary because measuring
data can be visualized parallel with a
standard CAN interface on the test bench,
The software connection via the Ipetronik multi-platform
driver or via standard description files A2L and CANdb is Author
also flexible.
Currently, the Mx-Sens2 as well as Sx-STG with Harry Störzer
sampling rates of up to 40 kHz/channel are available in Ipetronik GmbH & Co. KG
the Ipetronik X device family. Due to the future-oriented www.ipetronik.com
concept, next development steps will make considerably [email protected]
 Developments in China increase
Engineering

The leading German automotive suppliers prepare to move developments

to China. This opens up opportunities for CAN interface and tool vendors
in the Far East.

German Tier 1 supply produce and develop

ECUs in China (Photo: Continental)

S ince 2009, China has been the largest producer of pas-

senger cars. Most of the vehicles are assembled by
joint ventures and foreign carmakers (e.g. Volkswagen,
This opens the doors for suppliers of the automotive
Tier 1s. Especially CAN interface boards including devel-
opment environments are needed. Of course, CAN chip-
General Motors, Hyundai, Nissan, Honda, and Toyota). But makers will also benefit from this trend as well as CAN
China has also local brands: Beijing Automotive Group, toolmakers. The increasing demand for CAN products
Brilliance Automotive, BYD, Dongfeng Motor, FAW Group, and tools also fosters local sub-suppliers. CiA member
SAIC Motor, Chana, Geely, Chery, Jianghuai, Great Wall, ZLG has developed its own CANscope bus analyzing tool
and Guangzhou Automobile. Most of them are unknown in and provides its own oscilloscope with CAN message in-
Europe and North America. In 2014, about 20 million pas-
senger cars were produced in China plus about 4 million the company headquartered in Guangzhou presented the
commercial vehicles. first CAN FD interpreter for its oscilloscope. In addition, the
Of course, most of the cars produced in China use company offers a broad range of USB dongles and other
CAN-based in-vehicle networks connecting ECUs that CAN interface modules.
were mainly developed abroad. But this will change. Mar-
ket-leading suppliers have already started to develop Increasing sales in China
ECUs with CAN connectivity in China. In particular, Bosch,
Continental, and ZF Friedrichshafen have announced ad- Bosch reported a consolidated sales of ¤6,4 billion in
ditional investments for the next years in production facili-
ties, but also in development projects at the Auto Shanghai Pacific business, said: “We want to actively shape the
2015 exhibition. development of the Chinese market, and take advantage

28 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

of the wealth of opportunities arising all from connectivi-
Chinese car brands
ty, automation, and electrification, as well as energy effi-
ciency.” To further expand local manufacturing operations The Chinese automotive industry is more than half
and build up research and development in China, the Ger- a century old: the first plants were founded as early
man company has invested 920 million euros over the past as the 1950s, assisted by the USSR. They had small
three years. In 2014 alone, the investment amounted to al- manufacturing capabilites, geared to produce not more
most ¤330 million. than 100 000 to 200 000 cars per year. However, since
Bosch Software Innovations launched a pilot proj- the 1990s, China has invested a lot of money into the
ect for promoting electric vehicle application in Shanghai development of the national automotive industry, which
in 2013. Automated driving is an example of the potential paid off quickly: by 1992 the number of cars produced
and advantages of connectivity technologies. With con- in China exceeded one million units.
nectivity-capable devices such as sensors, cameras, and While in 2003 China was the fourth largest
electronic control units, Bosch can offer driving assistance world automobile producer behind Japan, USA, and
functions that will lead to automated driving in the future.
Of course, CAN and CAN FD connectivity plays an impor- country in terms of vehicles production and sales. In
tant role in this application. 2014, China manufactured 19,91 million cars, with
Continental, another German automotive supplier, a significant percentage being local brands. The
opened a research and development center for tires in He- better part of the cars produced by the Chinese car
fei at the end of March. The center is equipped with state- companies remains in the country. Chinese business
of-the-art test systems. At the Auto Shanghai event, the class automobiles appear to be the most popular
company presented various customized solutions and items of automotive exports: most of them are sold to
products for the Chinese automobile market. Dr. Ralf Cra- emerging economies.
mer, CEO of Continental China, said: “Our drive in China
is to invent, develop, produce, and market indispensable, technology as well as commercial vehicle or constructions
customized technological solutions that shape the five machinery transmissions,” said Stefan Sommer, CEO of
mega trends of mobility in China.” This includes buses and ZF, according to China Daily.
metros, but also commuter and high-speed trains. The ZF China supplies foreign carmakers as well as
company develops dedicated CAN-based products for the local brands such as BAIC, FAW, Great Wall, and SAIC.
Chinese market, especially for e-mobility. The business with Chinese automakers already makes
Market researchers expect a big future for e-mobility
in China. The success of battery-powered two-wheelers government requests lower energy consumption and re-
with annual sales figures of about 20 million units is one of duction of pollution, ZF China is developing electric-pow-
the background reasons for this optimism. However, the e- ered cars in close cooperation with its local partners. In the
car business is still very small, not just because of the poor past 20 years, the company has established 20 production
infrastructure of charging stations. Foreign cars with com- locations in China.
bustion engines are still the most popular. If affordable, Many of the supplied products provide CAN connec-
Chinese people like to buy medium vehicles or even luxury tivity. This includes the AS Tronic automatic transmission
cars, which have the highest growth rate. for commercial vehicles. One million of those units have
Nevertheless, Continental China develops and pro- been produced since 1997. In 2010, the product recieved a
duces a broader and more efficient range of diversified Chinese innovation award. And the next generation of au-
solutions. Passive Start and Entry Systems (PASE) for a tomatic transmissions has already been developed: The
comfortable and convenient hands-free access have been Traxon modular system will gradually replace the AS Tron-
in high demand for many years. Continental has also devel- ic over the next few years. It is suitable for torque require-
oped electronic brake systems for scooters and motorcy- ments of up to 3500 Nm and can be linked to five modules
cles of all classes based on its tried-and-tested passenger such as the GPS Prevision. This gives truck makers the
car ABS technology. The daughter company ContiTech opportunity to link the transmission with GPS data and dig-
has developed a drive system, which uses belt technology ital map material. In this way, unnecessary gearshifts can
instead of conventional chains on pedelecs and e-bikes. be avoided – for example when a conventional transmis-
According to the company, this offers a lighter, cleaner, sion control unit would shift up a gear at an uphill gradient
and more powerful pedaling experience. or a narrow bend, just to shift down to a lower gear shortly
Engineering

The third German Tier 1, ZF Friedrichshafen, active in after.

China, has recently acquired TRW Automotive, which dou- The increasing development and production of auto-
bles the sales in China. ZF China reported a 15-% sales motive electronics by German suppliers requires dedicat-
increase for 2014, not considering the acquisition. The ed CAN interface boards for evaluation and test purposes.
company has operated in China for more than 30 years. Those products and the related software tools today use
About 700 engineers are focused on development in its the Classical CAN data link layer and will use CAN FD
Chinese headquarters. The company invests more than tomorrow. Etas, a Bosch daughter, already promoted
5 % of its sales in research and development each year. CAN FD connectivity during the last CiA seminar tour in
For this year, additional investments in the R&D laborato- several Chinese cities. Kvaser, which is headquartered in
ries and test benches in Shanghai are planned. “We will Sweden, has done the same.
then be able to test products of car driveline and chassis Holger Zeltwanger

CAN Newsletter 2/2015 29

 Rise of the service robots
Applications

The market for service robotics is growing. Service robots have been employed in
industrial settings for many years, with a steep increase in recent years. Service
robots for domestic use are still under development, but they are catching up.

A ccording to figures provided by the International Federa-

tion of Robotics (IFR) around 21 000 service robots were
sold for professional applications in 2013, generating sales
of $3,6 billion. Since 1998, a total of about 150 000 service
robots for professional use have been counted. Because of
the diversity of these products resulting in varying utilization
times it is not possible to estimate how many of these robots
are still in operation. Some robots (e.g. underwater robots)
might be in operation for more than 10 years, compared to
an average of 12 years in industrial robotics. Others, like de-
fense robots, may only serve for a short time.
It is interesting to note that up to 2008 about 63 500
service robots for professional use were sold during a period
of more than 12 years. However, during the past five years, friendly and likeable mannerisms, but lets it also be easily
some 100 000 service robots for professional use were sold. controlled (Photo: Fraunhofer IPA)
This demonstrates the accelerating rate of increase in sales.
Still, few main application areas make up most of the volume: So far, service robots for personal and domestic use
Service robots in defense applications accounted for almost are employed mainly in the areas of domestic robots, which
45 % of the total number of service robots for professional include vacuum and floor cleaning, lawn-mowing robots, and
use sold in 2013. entertainment and leisure robots, including toy robots, hobby
Almost 5100 milking robots were sold in 2013 com- systems, education, and research. Handicap assistance ro-
pared to 4750 units in 2012, representing a 6 % increase. bots have taken off to the anticipated degree in the past few
760 units of other robots for livestock farming such as mo- years. In 2013, a total of about 700 robots were sold, up from
bile barn cleaners or robotic fencers for automated grazing 160 in 2012 – an increase of 345 %. It is projected that sales
control were sold in 2013, resulting in an increase of 46 %. of all types of robots for domestic tasks could reach almost
The total number of field robots sold in 2013 was about 5900 23,9 million units in the period 2014 to 2017, with an estimat-
units, accounting for a share of 28 % of the total unit supply ed value of $6,5 billion. Sales of robots for elderly and handi-
of professional service robots. cap assistance will be about 12 400 units in the same period.
Sales of medical robots decreased by 2 % compared This market is expected to increase substantially within the
to 2012 to almost 1300 units in 2013, accounting for a share next 20 years.
of 6 % of the total unit sales of professional service robots.
The most important applications are robot assisted surgery Different requirements for industrial and
and therapy with more than 1000 units sold in 2013. Medical service robots
robots are the most valuable service robots with an average
unit price of about $1,5 million, including accessories and Industrial and service robots differ significantly in terms of
services. Therefore, suppliers of medical robots also provide specifications. This can be seen when the required position-
leasing contracts for their robots. ing accuracy is considered, or how the robots are integrat-
About 1900 logistic systems were installed in 2013, ed into the overall system. While traditional industrial robots
37 % more than in 2012, accounting for 9 % of the total sales perform their tasks in clearly structured environments with
of professional service robots. Medical robots as well as external safeguards, service robots usually work in unstruc-
logistic systems are well established service robots with a tured environments and collaborate directly with humans.
considerable growth potential. While industrial robots are made safe by being deactivated
In 2013, about 4 million service robots for personal and when somebody comes close, service robots have to inter-
domestic use were sold, 28 % more than in 2012. The value act with people. As a result, they require more complex safe-
of sales increased to $1,7 billion. Service robots for personal ty concepts in order to ensure safe operation, perhaps even
and domestic use are recorded separately, as their unit val- going as far as proximity sensors and tactile skin. Professor
ue is generally only a fraction of that of many types of ser- Gordon Cheng at the Technical University Munich has been
vice robots for professional use. They are also produced for constructing a sensitive skin for robots that will enable close
a mass market with different pricing and marketing channels. contact between robots and humans. It can also be used in

30 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

 exoskeletons, where the artificial skin gives feedback to robots, all actua-
the person in the exoskeleton. Amazingly, the researchers tors of the Care-O-
found that the brain can adapt to this kind of feedback and bot 4 are controlled
help people walk. via CANopen. Sc-
Industrial safety standards can be applied to service hunk Powerball ERB
robotics wherever it makes sense to do so. However, at modules are used
the same time they must not be overdone and end up run- as arm joints. They
ning up exorbitant costs. Some smaller aspects, such as control the move-
gripping technology and kinematics, can be applied to ser- ments of two axes in
vice robotics applications relatively easily. The manufac- a single module with
turer needs to consider the far more varied requirements minimum space re-
of service robotics. The line between industrial and service quirements. The mod- Figure 2: A built-in camera
robots has already become blurred in areas such as the ules also supply high transforms the one-finger hand
automotive industry, for example. torques and commu- of the Care-O-bot 4 into a
Industrial robots that can built a car or assist a worker nicate via CANopen. seeing gripper
in building a car, can also help in everyday situations. Sc- The Care-O-bot 4 is (Photo: Fraunhofer IPA)
hunk is one of the pioneers in the field of mobile gripping a mobile robot assis-
tant that is supposed to actively support humans in their
arms have been pivotal in the field of service robotics. Dr. daily life. It can be used for a variety of household tasks, for
Markus Klaiber, Technical Director at Schunk said, “We example to deliver food and drinks, to assist with cooking,
are also working intensively on seeing grippers. This prin- or for cleaning. The robot can also be applied to a variety
ciple has already been put into practice with the one-fin- of services outside the home: to support patients and per-
ger hand of the Care-O-bot 4, which was developed by sonnel in health care institutions, to deliver orders in res-
the Fraunhofer IPA Institute in Stuttgart in partnership with taurants, to provide reception and room service in hotels
Schunk.” It can be fitted with a built-in hand camera that or for entertainment. Unstructured environments are still
allows users to view dimly lit areas on high shelves, for a problem for the robot, which is why it cannot be used in
example. households yet. This is mainly a software problem though,
This modular, multi-functional robot assistant is one according to the company, the hardware is ready.
example for a domestic service robot. Like other service Annegret Emerich

THE VERSATILE CAN KEYPAD

E!
TRY M
cbm8.electrumab.se

CAN-OPEN SLAVE
AMBIENT LIGHT SENSOR
CUSTOMIZABLE SYMBOL PANEL
HANDHELD OR PANEL MOUNTED
OPTIONAL ANALOG I/O CONNECTOR
USER FRIENDLY ONLINE CONFIGURATOR
MORE THAN 16 MILLION COLORS AVAILABLE
INTERNAL BUZZER FOR ENHANCED FEEDBACK
Release in Q3 2015 (protoypes available)

www.electrumab.se | [email protected] | +46(0)90-18 45 50

 Round the world with a green
Applications

motorbike racer

Since French novelist Jules Verne first envisioned going round the world in 80
days in 1873, it has been done many times, but rarely in an environmentally
friendly way. That’s what Storm Eindhoven intends to do in the 80 Day Race.

O nly renewable energy can be used in the 80 Day Race.

Teams will race between eight locations around the
world without using a single drop of fossil fuel. The compet-
tric motorcycle. For example, we designed the chassis in-
house to make room for our innovative modular battery pack.

ing teams will choose their own routes and means of trans- customized to our requirements and other parts – including
port between eight stopovers. For the first edition, all land- the transmission and body – have been custom-designed for
based vehicles are allowed as long as they run on renewable us by different partners,” explained Bob de Vries, Software
resources and have no combustion engine. Engineer for Storm Eindhoven.
A particularly important feature of the electric cruiser
-
tion make it possible to achieve this challenge. At that time
– in 1873 – horses were about to be replaced by steam-pow- to encompass everything from rainforest to barren desert,”
noted de Vries. With some 40 000 km to cover in
the first mass market electric vehicles being available. 80 days, every part of the motorcycle will be tested to breaking
The teams will start in Europe and will head east in the
direction of China. Each team is free to choose its own route, USBcan Professional to ensure robustness, at least in the
to make the adventure even greater. From Asia, the teams CAN network,” he said.
will cross the North Pacific Ocean to arrive at the west coast
of North America where the half way mark will be celebrated. CAN, including critical messages such as battery tempera-
Teams race through a variety of landscapes towards the east ture, battery state and regenerative breaking. The software
coast of South America, before heading back to Europe. The team will use the Kvaser USBcan Professional to ensure
race will commence on April 3, 2016.
USBcan Professional is a two channel CAN interface with a
Building a green motorcycle standard USB 1.1 connection. It enables several interfaces
to be connected to a PC. “We want to check if the messages
Storm Eindhoven is in the process of building an electric mo- on the CAN network correspond with the messages we send
torcycle to take part in the race. Features of the ground-up and check how saturated the network is, in order to prevent
design include optimized aerodynamics to minimize ener-
gy loss, smart refueling, automatic suspension adjustment, spot strange behavior”, said de Vries.
Explaining why Storm Eindhoven chose the Kvaser
bound by current perceptions. By designing it completely USBcan Professional, de Vries remarked: “The USBcan Pro-
from scratch we have been able to design a more ideal elec- fessional is a plug and play solution. A big plus for us is that

32 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

 Figure 1: The USBcan
Professional has two
high-speed channels with
ISO 11898-2 compliant
CAN transceivers,
10 kbit/s up to 1 Mbit/s
(Photo: Kvaser)

it timestamps and synchronizes messages with a precision

of 2 ms, enabling us to see precisely whether messages are
sent in the right order. This allows us to find problems and
identify the boundaries of time-critical functions.”

much information as possible so that during the race, this

information can be used to monitor the system-level health
of the motorcycle. Wireless telemetry enables all the motor-

This will be used to predict part failures so that a service

vehicle can be sent with correct replacement parts in ad-
vance. System-level health monitoring will also play a part in
maximizing battery use. For example, the team will be able
to monitor individual battery health and ascertain when they
need to be swapped for newly charged cartridges, or indeed,
replaced when they have lost too much capacity.

just another prototype. Ultimately, the Dutch team intends to

build a series of four consumer-ready motorcycles, making

innovation is put to the test under the harshest of conditions.

Figure 2: Storm Eindhoven consists of 29 students who

are still looking for sponsors (Photo: Storm)

Storm Eindhoven consists of 29 students who volun-

tarily dedicate two years of their work to Storm in order to
achieve their shared goal of winning the 80 Day Race. Near-
ly every discipline the Eindhoven University of Technology
offers is represented in the team.

Author

Vanessa Knivett
Kvaser
www.kvaser.com
Storm Eindhoven
www.storm-eindhoven.com

Related link
60 000 CAN nodes in one network
 E-quad: driving e-mobility forward
Applications

In Germany, electric motorbikes are still a niche market, even though they bring
out the full benefits of electric motors. Their weaknesses, such as their lengthy
refueling time and short range, are of only minor significance in comparison.

G igatronik, an ECU development specialist in the auto-

motive sector, is committed to a long-term in-house
project, which is intended to electrify this vehicle segment.
dent wheel drive vehicle. It was designed for a speed of 50
km/h with continuous mechanical power of approximate-
ly 20 kW. Four Gigatronik motor controllers (Power Stage)
An interdisciplinary team of staff and students has devel- handle control of the drive motors, based on the princi-
oped an electro-mobile all-terrain vehicle (an “e-quad”), ple of field-orientated control. For drive optimization, addi-
which also serves as a platform and training medium. The tional field weakening has been integrated, which enables
quad was a deliberate choice: as an all-terrain, sport, and the engine to provide torque even at higher speeds. The
recreational vehicle, it was selected in order to bring out rotation angles of the individual brushless DC motors are
the strengths of the electric drive, not least in terms of driv- measured by Hall sensors, with these values being read
ing experience; and also to create further incentives for into the motor controllers.
electrification. Other future-orientated functions, such as The independence of all four wheel drives enables
torque vectoring, driving slip control, and sound genera- longitudinal and lateral dynamics to be controlled much
tion, should also enhance and drive forward development more flexibly than with conventional vehicles. In this
and interest in electric mobility. way, torque vectoring, ESC (Electronic Stability Control),
A conventional combustion-engine quad is used as and autonomous steering can be implemented
a basis for the development of the e-quad. The drive train exclusively through corresponding actuation of the
was replaced by electric drives with power electronics, a individual motors.
power supply, a cable set, display, and control units; mainly
- 48-V electrical system
nents. Additional data can be displayed, using a Bluetooth-
Four lithium-ion batteries with integrated battery manage-
signs. -
ty of 126 Ah ensures a range of about 40 km. The batteries
Four independent wheel drives are connected in parallel across a management system and
thus form a 48-V low-voltage power network for the four elec-
The e-quad is propelled by four brush-less DC motors – tric motors. As a safe and reliable alternative to high-voltage
one for each of its wheels, linked to the respective drive systems, this 48-V electrical system is increasingly attracting
shaft by a transmission. Hence, the e-quad is an indepen- attention in the vehicle sector.

34 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

 E-quad app for
Applications
PC/Programmer
PC/Programmer CAN
CANDiagnosis
Diagnosis
Android
Programming
Programmingand
andCAN
CANInterface
Interface Communications Architecture
Communications Architecture
Tablets and smart-
phones are planned as
CAN
CANBus
Bus22(Propulsion)
(Propulsion)
an additional interface
CAN
CANBus
Bus11(Other)
(Other)
providing the user with
a range of control and
display options. For this
Steering Angle
Steering AngleSensor
Sensor GT
GTInertia
Inertia
VECU
VECU
Display
Display
(mkt-view)
EEMotor
Motor EE Motor
Motor EE Motor
Motor E Motor
E Motor
purpose, the commu-
(mkt-view) Transmitter
Transmitter Transmitter
Transmitter Transmitter
Transmitter Transmitter
Transmitter
EPS
EPSTorque
TorqueSensor
Sensor EPS
EPSUnit
Unit (GIGABOX
(GIGABOX
gate
nications architecture
gateXL)
XL)
Roll
RollSensor
Sensor
Power
Power Stage
Stage Power
Power Stage
Stage Power
Power Stage
Stage Power Stage
Power Stage has been expanded by
Front
FrontLeft
Left Front
Front Right
Right Rear
Rear Left
Left Rear Right
Rear Right
Throttle
Throttlelever
lever/ switch
/ switch PDU
PDUlow
low a Bluetooth/CAN gate-
General
General
way (Bluetooth Low En-
Switches
Switches/ buttons 1-3
/ buttons 1-3

PDU
PDUhigh
high
ergy 4.0). Gigatronik
Ignition
Ignition BMS
BMS BMS
BMS BMS
BMS BMS
BMS
Battery
Battery 11 Battery
Battery 22 Battery
Battery 3
3 Battery 44
Battery
has also developed an
Kill
Kill (48
(48V)
V) (48
(48 V)
V) (48
(48 V)
V) (48 V)
(48 V)
Switch
Switch
Android app, which can
Battery
Battery55 DC/DC
DC/DC
Brake
BrakeSwitch
Switch1 1 (12
(12V)
V) (12
(12V)
V)
be used as a control
Brake
BrakeSwitch
Switch2 2 Internal
Internal Component
Component Digital
Digital Signal
Signal LIN bus
LIN bus center for vehicle func-
Analogue Signal
Analogue Signal
External
External Component
Component
General Signal
General Signal
CAN bus
CAN bus 11
tions and monitoring of
Optional
Optional Component
Component USB
USB CAN bus
CAN bus 22

(see Figure 2). This app

is linked via Bluetooth
Figure 1: Communications architecture of the system components of the e-quad to the VECU Gigabox
(Photo: Gigatronik) Gate XL.
As an instrument cluster and infotainment system
Communications architecture linked to the e-quad, the app currently offers the following
functions:
The traction control devices and components of the Display of vehicle data, such as speed, battery power,
e-quad are connected via high-speed CAN networks and and battery status,
LIN bus. Figure 1 shows the communications architecture of Drive control,
all system components, including a USB link conveying pro- Google Maps function,
gramming and other communication signals. Vital signs monitoring, eCall function.
A Vehicle Control Unit (VECU) serves as the cen- The app has been implemented for demonstration
tral, high-level master control unit. For this, the Gigabox purposes for tablets and can be transferred to
Gate XL control unit was used, which is the most smartphones.

A separate CAN network for propulsion (CAN 2) View to the future

networks the VECU with the four Power Stage motor
controllers. The components used are subject to continuous develop-
ment. Thus, a power electronics unit with double the power
the current battery level, a diagnostic overview, as well as the is currently under development; and this holds out the prom-
date, time, speed, total mileage, temporary mileage, and day/ ise of even greater driving pleasure in the future. Thanks to
night driving mode. Optionally, a telematics control unit can be the flexible drive concept, the e-quad is also an ideal basis
integrated into CAN 1. In the inertia controller used here, for developing automated driving functions: automatic park-
which features GPS capability and a 6D sensor module, in- ing, adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping are all essen-
ertial data is collected and preprocessed for the purpose of tial features for a fully autonomous vehicle, and they are next
controlling lateral dynamics. in line for implementation.

Author

Dr. Gunter Wiedemann

Figure 2: Display on tablet or smartphone Gigatronik Stuttgart
(Photo: Gigatronik) www.gigatronik.com

36 CAN Newsletter 2/2015

 Solutions for Open Networks
from one Source
Open CAN-based protocols are the basis of networking in com-
mercial vehicles, avionics and industrial control technology.
Vector supports you in all development phases of these systems:

> Systematic network design with CANoe, ProCANopen

and CANeds
> Successful implementation with source code for J1939
and more
> Efficient configuration, test and extensive analysis
with ProCANopen, CANoe and CANalyzer
Multifaceted trainings and individual consulting complete our
extensive offerings.

Thanks to the close interlocking of the Vector tools and the

competent support, you will increase the efficiency of your
entire development process from design to testing.

Further information, application notes and demos:

www.vector.com/opennetworks

Vector Informatik GmbH

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