EPN Automotive Electronics Blog

In the aftermarket

Modern cars are practically heaps of electronic components, and various interfaces allow for diagnostic access of the subsystems. One of the consequences is that it has become increasingly difficult to conduct even small repairs yourself, another is a booming service tools market. A market everyone wants a share of.

Prototyping Lambda Probe

As cars become increasingly environmentally friendly, engine and exhaust control electronics get more and more complex. One consequence is that today it’s more or less impossible even to change a spark plug on one’s own, another is the pure intricacy of the design and development process.

Measuring LIN

While LIN is the PHY- and protocol-wise the simplest of the currently used bus systems in cars, more often than not analysing systems know more about CAN , Flexray or even MOST than about the uncomplicated two-wire connection.

Joint diagnostics

Independent garages or car repair shops have been complaining about the multitude of electronic devices in modern vehicles since the first microcontroller entered a crucial car system. It took a bit longer for FPGAs, communication buses and similar technology to gain a foothold in commercial vehicles, but now electronics is there as well. Whoever thought car diagnostics has become difficult has never looked inside a modern truck repair station.

embedded world 2010: That’s how the future will look like

Despite the crisis, the the industry’s international get-together continues its growth: The trade show embedded world 2010 is setting trends and records. Especially within the automotive area there is a lot of movement going on: The amount of electronics, software and control devices installed in motor vehicles is growing dramatically, and the move towards electric cars will only strengthen this trend.

Test myCAR

Is there a reason for the enormous variety of software test solutions for automotive bus communication? There might be a connection to the similarly enormous variety of combinations of test system functions that the particular component supplier provides. Therefore, the required test sequencers are not only rather unique but also quite expensive – a win-win situation for both sides, but someone has to pay the bill. If there is a sinister scheme behind this, it might just come to an end soon. Goepel Electronic has developed an interactive ECU communication for Test and Diagnosis, called myCAR.

The remains of the bus

These days, remaining CAN bus simulation is nothing too special anymore; however it is usually a step separated from the “standard” design flows. In order to allow for a higher grade of automation, Schleißheimer integrated a special scheduler in version 3.4 of their tool CanEasy which they will be presenting at the embedded world show in Nuremberg on booth 120, Hall 10. Furthermore, it now supports the LIN bus as well as CAN.
The scheduler works table-based, it sends LIN messages and triggers events as well as program and function calls. The tool’s functionality can be extended by the user with plug-ins and VBA programs.

Spy on your car

These days, car diagnostics requires more than a wrench and a steel brush for the spark plugs. Unfortunately, no mechanic can escape software tools. However, the less tools the better, so some kind of swiss army knife could be useful.