Speakers Information- Controls, Measurement & Calibration Congress

Latest Trends in Data Recording and Analysis

Pranav RajETAS Automotive India Pvt. Ltd.

David Gary HickmanETAS GmbH

ABSTRACT

The automotive industry trends are to reduce the amount of vehicle testing required by measure more data during existing tests, and to analyse the data to calibrate or validate other functions. In some case, the OEMs measure all data from the ECU. This leads to increased measure file sizes, and larger files to analyse. To help collect the data, there is an increased use of in vehicle data loggers like the ES720 drive recorder from ETAS. The drive recorder can be contacted anywhere in the world, in order to download and to upload new recording configurations or recover measure data. With the increasing pressures on OEM there is requisite to reduce the time and cost of new vehicle development, efficient measure data collection and analysis are becoming further important. Data validation is also playing equal role in building the complete test more prolific. Data validation can be achieved either manually or automatically. Manual validation is done with tools like MDA (Measure Data Analyzer), but requires a lot of manual effort which takes time and is susceptible to errors. Many vendors offer tools to automate measure file analysis, for example ETAS offer INCA FLOW and MOOGLE, These increase the speed the data can be analyzed, as well as reducing measurement errors.

This paper describes the entire process involved in data record validation, from hardware and software set ups to data analysis. The paper will also present the challenges that industry is facing and the latest solutions to overcome such challenge. This includes the measure all ECU data solutions, the latest measure modules for measuring analog and digital signals external from the ECU and the new ETAS ES820 drive recorder.

INTRODUCTION

The automotive Industry needs more and more data for calibration and validation. With the increase time and cost pressures and the new emission standards the OEMs are trying to mine as much data as possible from limited test vehicle trails from several locations. Fleet validation is crucial for them to benchmark, improve the functionality and also optimize overall performance. The data that are been collected requires a very reliable and robust system in order to avoid more number of repetition thus saving time and money. Here comes the role of the drive recorder to collect, update and transfer the data. The drive recorder needs to be programmed and should be connected with the other acquisition setup to acquire continuous data from external sensor as well as from the ECU. This operation should be genuinely unmanned and without the use of pc/laptop onboard.

Figure 1 Hardware setup in Vehicle

This paper describes the entire process involved in data record validation, from hardware and software set ups to data analysis. The paper will also present the challenges that industry is facing and the latest solutions to overcome such challenge. This includes the measure all ECU data solutions, the latest measure modules for measuring analog and digital signals external from the ECU plus the new ETAS ES820 drive recorder.

NEED FOR DRIVE RECORDERS

Drive recorders are one of the essential components required for automated data recording, synchronizing connected hardware, display error warnings and to transfer the data for post processing. Engineers needs to program the drive recorder and then complete setup can be carried onto the vehicle for data logging. Drive recorders are also preferred in place of PC/Laptop in order to have unmanned operation, recording buffer length and avoid loose connection. ETAS offers the ES720, a drive recorder for fleet validation purposes. The devices are being used to acquire data in different conditions across the globe. The ES720 is an embedded XP based system with INCA and other sequential driver running on top of it. There are multiple applications and features that will be discussed in the later part of the paper.

ES720 DRIVE RECORDER FEATURES

ETAS ES720 is preferred tool for fleet validation among the OEMs and it has following features.

High performance, huge data storage capabilities, compact size 100% INCA compatibility (use existing experiment from INCA pc) Fast start of recording (CAN monitoring ~100 ms, ECU access 10 sec) Multiple Power Management options for Startup and Shutdown Full suitable for automotive application (5 – 32V, -40 … 70°C) Remote Data transfer (FTP) PC based system

o Standard PC Interfaces (USB, Eth, VGA) and Standard operating System (WinXP)o Basic I/O functionality integratedo Extendable via USB (Storage Extension, UMTS, GSM, GPRS)

Integrated in ETAS Tool Chaino Scalable with ETAS Modules (Open for Third-Party Integrations)

Supports Multiple Recorders Supports external triggers and no mechanical moving parts inside Notification via sms or email Support Sequencing of different Experiments Diagnostic Data Support via ODX

Figure 2 ES720 remote data transfer setup

APPLICATION USECASE

ES720 captures data coming from the various sources viz., Measurement module, ECU (CAN, LIN, and ETK) and other peripheral components. A general setup for the use case has been discussed in details with schematics as shown in Fig 3. ES720 acts as master and other measurement modules and ECU are connected to it through the interface device called ES592 (2 ETH, 2 CAN/LIN, 1 ETK). ES592 is again from ETAS for interfacing multiple device and collects synchronous time stamped data. As a feature of drive recorder it also support additional GPS mouse to provide location on the global and it is also helpful in offline road profile. The measurement modules are connected in Daisy chain network and single cable will provide the Ethernet and power supply to consecutive device. Additional power supply (using special cable) can be provided whenever there is demand of more power. Sensors are directly connected to the measurement module with the help of a suitable cable. Multiple ECUs can also be connected through the same interface device and signal from them can be individually selected in INCA experiment environment.

Generally the data is stored on the device on the internal compact flash memory, which can be extended using external storage drive. There are LED indicators on the device which represents various states like Device status, Errors, ETH/Wi-Fi and memory. User can further select whether they want to store data on the internal storage or external. INCA experiment is loaded inside the ES720 and data record start and stop condition can be set either Automatic or manually (using trigger box). The data will be continuously stored on the device and can be sent over to FTP if the device is connected to internet and similarly new configuration can be uploaded whenever required. The data transfer rate are totally dependent upon the network signal strength and varies from place to place. Trigger box also plays an important role and makes the complete handling process very easy and convenient.

MEASUREMENT SOLUTION - ES4xx Module

Acquiring signals from the vehicle is equally important as getting signals from the ECU for overall system validation. ES4xx measurement modules from ETAS is well suitable for automotive environments. ES4xx modules are designed for performing measurements in test vehicles. They can be installed in harsh environments near to the sensors, for example in the engine bay. The advantage is only a single Ethernet communication cable needs to be routed around the vehicle, and not the bulky sensor cables. In addition measurements near the signal source minimize errors due to interference and damping. The power supply is provided by the battery of the vehicle and the engineers normally connect and disconnect only the main network cable for using them. ES4xx modules are equipped with an automatic standby function which reduces the power consumption to a minimum level when the modules are not in use.

Figure 3 ES720 Application setup with modules and ECU

This operation mode is indicated by the integrated LED. Individual modules can be identified from stack of many modules using inbuilt INCA function “Find the device”. ES4xx modules are permanently monitoring network traffic as soon as an active network connection is established to an analyzing device - like computer, drive recorder etc. - the modules will automatically wake-up from standby and boot in order to be ready for measurement. The modules are recognizing not only network traffic during measurement, but also the regular pings, which are sent by default by the network adapter of analyzing devices in order to detect present network devices.

There are different measure modules available depending upon the physical parameter to be measured like temperature, pressure, flow, lambda etc... A big advantage of ETAS Ethernet-based ES4xx connection concept is that several devices can be connected together in a so called daisy chain. Ethernet based modules allow more data bandwidth. The device can be used standalone, with network hub or with a data logger. All the modules are IP67 certified which means they are dust and water proof. Modules are very rugged and tested under proper vibration and are capable to work in all situation. ETAS measurement modules have other advance features like small form factor and smart stacking concept, rugged, water, dust, and temperature proofed modules, scalable and easy to configure measuring setups, High data acquisition rate and open protocol (XCP-on-Ethernet).

Figure 4 ES4xx setup in engine compartment

The ES430 and ES432 modules support lambda measurement in combination with the Bosch LSU 4.9 and ADV-G (ES432) lambda oxygen sensor. Based on the sensor signals, ES430/ES432 not only provides the host system with digital measurements of l, but also 1/l, A/F, F/A, Ip and O2 simultaneously. In addition, one signal can be put out as analog voltage. The ES430/ES432 operates the sensor at constant temperature to ensure reliable measurement accuracy. To prevent damage or degradation of the sensor element, the ES430/ES432 provides for heating of the sensor even during standby mode.

DATA TRANSFER SOLUTIONS

In present situation customer uses ES720 to record the data and sends the data to the base station via ftp transfer and validate the data. In order to validate the data frequently time trigger can be used wherein a part of the recorded data are transferred to the base station and data can be validated. This helps to avoid the erroneous signals to be recorded over a long duration and the user is made aware of the error. There are also mechanisms built-in to avoid the loss of data in case of unsuccessful transfer, which is, the device will keep on searching till it establishes the connection again while maintaining the data record work in the background. Drive recorders also have facility to inform the user of the successful transfer of the data via email or text message. The data transfer facility helps to get the data on a daily basis and the same data can be used immediately without waiting for the vehicle to return to the base station. On a single drive recorder OBD data acquisition, EMS/BCU/TCU data, Lambda sensor and external sensors mounted on several points in the test vehicle can be measured. .

DATA TRANSFER OPTION

WIRELESS DATA TRANSFERES720 provides a build in W-LAN module for wireless data transfer.− ES720 can integrate an UMTS stick for wireless data transfer via mobile phone network.− ES720 connects to a company access point or to a public hotspots and uploads the collected data to a server.− At the same time ES720 checks for a new configuration on the server and applies it for the next test run.− Extendible for internal security standards− Configurable via the Configuration Tool

USB DATA TRANSFEROptions for automatic data exchange with USB device− As soon as a USB drive is attached exchange of experiments, measure data files, etc. starts− Configurable via the Configuration Tool

MANUAL DATA TRANSFER− Manual Data Transfer possible via the Configuration Tool (wired and wireless)

EXTENDED SOLUTION

We have discussed about the use case where we collect data from ES720 and use those data for pots-processing. As INCA is already installed on ES720 so we can take advantage of it and we can open INCA inside the drive recorder from any remote location on the globe and do calibration task as well. The solution that we are presenting here is an extended solution to the existing one and it requires a separate add on (needs to be installed on ES720 Device) for this operation. Setup requires commercial TeamViewer license on both the system i.e., on drive recorder and on the PC. User can access the drive recorder from anywhere in the globe and open INCA through Team Viewer and do measurement, calibration and diagnostics from remote location. All the safety related issues had been considered and addressed in order to avoid the accidental damage of any kind.

Figure 5 ES720 remote calibration

FUTURE MEASUREMENT TRENDS

To reduce the test effort, and number of vehicles used for testing, OEMs and Tier1s want to get more out of the testing they are currently doing. This means measuring more data during existing tests, and analyzing the data to enable many functions to be calibrated and/or validated with one recording. To enable this, the requirements to measure more data out of the ECU leading to the Measure all solution. The amount of data that needs to be recorded depends on the ECU code and processor type, but with current powertrain ECUs in the region of 20Mbytes/s.

Figure 6 Measure all solution overview

The main premise is to read all the measure data out of the ECU. The amount of data that needs to be recorded depends on the ECU code and processor type, but with current powertrain ECUs in the region of 20Mbytes/s. This leads to a number of issues which will be discussed here.

ECU INTERFACE -´

An interface to the ECU processor is required to allow all the data to be measured. JTAG or Nexus do not have the required bandwidth to allow the necessary data to be transferred out, so an off chip trace is used. A new range of ETKs, the FETK (Fast ETK) have been developed, and the first implementation, the FETK-T (Trace), uses the AURORA interface on the Infineon processor range. It is intended that this FETK range will replace the existing ETKs over the next years.

Figure 7 FETK-T Microcontroller interface

Using the Aurora trace interface, the data can be transferred out of the microcontroller at over 300 Mbytes/s. The Measure RAM data is sent to the ETK and mirrored. The ETK then reads the individual measure data at the desired raster, then sends this to the ES891 interface device via Giga Byte Ethernet. The can send the measure data out at over 20Mbytes/s. The advantage of this arrangement is data at high measure rates can be read out of the ECU with very low impact on the microprocessor runtime. In addition, the devices themselves are small enough to be easily mounted in the ECU housing. Also measure data can be recorded immediately on ignition on, supporting the so called “cold start” use case.

INTERFACE TO PC

To connect the FETK to the PC, a new generation of interface modules have been developed, the ES8xx series. The ES8xx series is a stackable system that provides flexibility but with high measure performance. Initially the EX8xx series comprise of the ES891 and ES892 ECU interface, and the ES820 Drive Recorder solution will be released in 2016. Future modules will be added in the next few years.

Figure 8 ES8xx Family

The modules will be stackable, which means new functionality can be added by inserting new modules into the stack. Planned in the near future are a drive recorder and a real time emulation device for rapid prototyping use cases. The initial offering will be the ES891 and ES892 systems. The ES891 will offer FETK, a Gigabit Ethernet, CAN or CAN-FD; FlexRay and Lin interfaces. The ES892 the same but with an additional FETK interface.

One advantage of the ES89x ECU interface modules is that the connection to the PC is through a standardized XCP on Ethernet communication. This means the modules can be used with MC software tools other than INCA.

Figure 9 Measurement comparison in various protocols

MC SOFTWARE TOOL INCA

Measure all provides a number of challenges for the measurement and calibration system. These fall in to the areas of performance, usability and memory management. The first challenge was to read in a process 20 Mbytes/s of data. This must be done wring all data to a measure file, while ensuring no data is lost. The second part of performance ti general tool response to user inputs. The measure environment must handle and store significantly more measure variables than previously. Using open interfaces, INCA can be automated and integrated with the test bench, the hardware-in-the-loop test system or other tool environments

A lot of optimization work was required to speed up the time to open the experiment environment and select variables, and prevent long wait times for the user. This concentrated on speeding up the check that measure variables fit into the HW configuration, the so called raster check. In addition building UIs (user interface) objects were run with the visible objects with high priority, with data model build in the background. INCA supports ECU descriptions for measurement and calibration systems, test bench interfaces, measurement data exchange and protocols for communication compliant with the ASAM standards ASAM MCD-2 MC, ASAP3, ASAM MCD-3 MC, ASAM MDF, CCP, and XCP.

To see the effect of these changes we build a demos system in order to compare the tool performance in various INCA versions, which highlights the problem, plus the effect of the performance improvement measures.

Use Case Reference INCA V7.1.0 INCA7.1.10 INCA7.2

Open EE from Database (HW_OFF) 30000 ~ 60 min 49 s 20 s

Close EE (without save changes) 50000 > 5 min 10 s 10 s

Open VSD 30000 > 34 s 34 s 5 s

Select all Measurements as Record Only 69000 > 30 min 101 s 37 s

Close VSD 69000 > 30 min 176 s 15 s

Figure 10 INCA performance comparison

The overall system offers a level of performance not seen with MC tools before. The guaranteed measure rate from the ES89y interface device to the INCA PC is 20Mbytes/s. This means higher rates are possible, but the 20Mbytes/s can be measured stably for long term measurement. An internal test system successfully recorded the following:

Number of 2Byte Variables Average Measure rate Overall Measure Rate (Mbytes/s)

ECU 85000 10ms 17

FlexRay 5000 5ms 1,8

CAN 200 20ms 0,2

CAN-FD 400 10 0,8

Total 90200 19,8

Figure 11 Measure performance of a Measure all test system

ES820 – NEXT GENERATION DRIVE RECORDER

The next stackable device in the ES8xx series to be released is the ES820 Drive Recorder. Although the basic concept is the same, the ES820 differs from the ES720 by having and embedded Windows 7 OS, more RAM and disk space, and being connected to the MC interface HW using PCI Express. The basic aim of the ES820 is to handle the increase data rates and subsequent large measure files resulting from the measure all solution. The device uses an Intel Dual Core i5-5350U processor, and a 64 GB SSD drive for improved measure performance and speed of writing data. Also a Gigabit Ethernet connection to the host results in faster data transfer time. The device will offer the same remote connection capabilities as the current ES720 device.

DATA ANALYSIS

TRADITIONAL DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES

The most common method for calibrators to analyse data is manually using graphical visualization tools like MDA. The latest version of MDA, MDA 8 allows very large measure files to be opened and drawn very quickly. A comparison of with rival tools has shown MDA 8 to be over 10 times faster opening measure files than the previous state of the art tools. High performance is crucial to reduce waiting times and allow the tool to be used efficiently. Other developments include to make the new MDA tool flexible and configurable. Calculation signals can be created using C++ programming, and the tool will interface with other analysis tools like MATLAB. This allows the users to customize the tool to their own needs. In addition the user interface is developed to the latest Windows standards.

The MDA provides many useful functions such as zooming or scrolling through the measurement data, synchronizing various displays, or searching for events using freely definable conditions. In addition, MDA supports the definition, calculation, visualization, and analysis of signals, events, and bits. For documentation and visualization, displays created using the MDA can be printed out according to user-defined templates. Measurement data files or parts thereof can be exported to MDF and ASCII formats.

Figure 12 MDA 8.0

Also often employed to analyses measure data are automation tools like Matlab or INCA-FLOW: from ETAS. The advantage of INCA-FLOW over other scripting tools is it allows the scripts to be built graphically as flow charts This reduces the effort required for the calibrator to learn the programming language.

Figure 13 An INCA-Flow script used to analyse measure data

Using automation to analyse measure data brings many advantages, including faster analysis, and less chance to miss important features. However the traditional methods must be manually programmed, and they are also relatively slow at analyzing large amounts of data. For this reason, new analysis automation techniques are being developed.

BIG DATA ANALYSIS

It is one thing to be able to collect and store large amounts of data, but a completely different one to be able to analyze this. The idea of big data is not new; it has been around since the days of internet search engines. However what is new is customizing the solutions for specific industries and tasks within each industry. The challenges for the automobile industry are to do with the form the data is collected in, and the ways this needs to be analyzed, while at the same time to reduce the costs. As well as traditional powertrain data analysis, new data analysis routines are required for ADAS systems due to the large amounts of data, and the varying and complex nature of the analysis required.

Figure 14 Big Data the bid picture

ETAS are working closely with Bosch in the area of big data with a tool call EADM. Where possible off the shelf tools are used, but because the standard measure data format in the automotive industry is MDF, some customization is required. Important steps are to defined the search jobs (what to analyse) and how I want to display the data The important feature of the big data approach is the data can be stored and re-analyzed later to discover for example when certain trends or events first appeared. The big picture is shown in figure 14, with the big data part highlighted.

CONCLUSIONS

Drive recorders have become an essential part of the development of the vehicles today. With a combination of access to internal ECU data, external information from sensors, large storage capacity and remote data transfer capabilities, the ES720 provides an excellent drive recorder tool. The industry trend is to measure more information from each vehicle, and to support this, ETAS have a new range of hardware, the FETK and ES8xx series that allows over 50000 ECU labels to be measured at high measure rates. The INCA MC tool was also improved to ensure the performance with the new measure hardware. To analyse the increased amounts of data, a new MDA tool has been developed that has class leading measure read performance. Also big data analysis methods are being developed by ETAS to automate the analysis of the large amounts of data generated.

REFERENCES

1. http://www.etas.com/en/products/es720.php

2. http://www.etas.com/data/products_Compact_ES500_ECU_Bus_Interfaces/

GR3D_Compact_Hardware_ES592_rdax_200x196_95.png

3. https://inside-docupedia.bosch.com/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=250873118

ASAM MCD-1 XCP- https://wiki.asam.net/display/STANDARDS/ASAM+MCD-1+XCP

4. https://inside-docupedia.bosch.com/confluence/display/etasmarketintel/ES4xx

5. Dr. Ulrich Lauff, Dr. Kai Pinnow, and Dipl.-Ing. Florian Schmid, New Tools and Methods for Validation and Calibration,

Hansar Automotive, 10/2015

6. http://www.etas.com/en/products/mda.php

7. http://www.etas.com/en/products/inca-details.php

, CONTACT

Pranav Raj, Sr. Engineer – Measurement Calibration and Diagnostics, Pranav.Raj@etas.com

DEFINITIONS, ACRONYMS, ABBREVIATIONS

ECU – Electronics Control UnitBCU – Body Control unitTCU – Transmission Control UnitOBD – On Board DiagnosticsODX – Open Diagnostics exchangeMC - Measurement and Calibration ADAS - Advanced Driver Assist SystemsMDF – Measure Data FormatFETK – Fast ETKINCA – Integrated Calibration and Acquisition SystemSSD – Solid State DriveMDA – Measure Data AnalyzerPCI - Peripheral Component InterconnectASAM – Association for Standardization of Automation and Measuring SystemsOEM – Original Equipment ManufacturerUSB – Universal Serial Bus CAN – Controller Area NetworkLIN – Local Interconnect NetworkGPS – Global Positioning System