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Today Pico Technology launches the new
PicoScope 4425A Electric Vehicle (EV) kit.
Designed to cover all vehicle types
and powertrains, it provides workshops
with a future proof system that handles
vehicles incorporating high-voltage
batteries and motor systems.
More.....[PDF Press Release]
Full product details page...
PicoScope 7 Automotive
now supports 30 languages!
This latest version of the PicoScope 7 beta has
many new features, including PicoDiagnostics,
30 languages and Full graph mode. Steve has
written more about all the individual features
and how to use them in this forum post.
READ MORE.....
You can download the latest version here!
CAN Test Box
Continuing with our mission to make vehicle
diagnostics easier and faster…the new CAN Test
Box gives you easy access to the 16 pins of the
diagnostic connector that is fitted to all modern
vehicles. Depending on the configuration of the
vehicle, this may allow you to check power,
ground and CAN Bus signal quality. With the test
leads supplied you can connect your PicoScope lab
scope to the CAN Test Box to monitor signals such
as the CAN High and Low. More.....
Attention all
Automotive Scope Users
Pico Automotive Scope software now
sports a new Waveform Library browser.
Here we can see clearly that the signals are equal and opposite, and that they are of the same amplitude. The edges are clean and
coincident with each other. This shows that the VDB (CANbus) is enabling communication between the nodes and the CAN
controller unit. This test effectively verifies the integrity of the bus at this point in the CAN network, and if a particular ECU (node)
is not responding correctly, the fault is likely to be the ECU itself. The rest of the bus should work correctly.
It may be necessary to check the condition of the signals present at the connector of each of the ECUs on the CAN Network, as a
final check. The data at each node will always be the same on the same bus. Remember that much of the data on the VDB is safety
critical, so DO NOT use insulation piercing probes on VDB (CANbus) lines!
Technical Information - Vehicle Data Bus (CANbus)
CANbus is a serial communication system used on many motor vehicles to connect individual systems and sensors, as an
alternative to conventional multi-wire looms.
It is an acronym for Controller Area Network. It is becoming increasingly common on passenger cars and commercial vehicles.
Advantages include significant weight savings, reliability, ease of manufacture, and increased options for On-Board Diagnostics.
Disadvantages include increased cost, and the need for some specialised knowledge when servicing and repairing the vehicle.
Most motor vehicle CAN networks operate at a bus speed of 250KB/s or 500KB/s, although systems are available operating at up to
1MHz.
The heart of a CANbus is the CAN controller. This is connected to all the components (Nodes) on the network via the CAN-H and
CAN-L wires. The signal is differential, ie each of the CAN lines is referenced to the other line, not vehicle ground. This has
significant advantages from the point of view of noise rejection when used in electrically noisy environments like motor vehicles.
Each network node has a unique identifier. Since the ECU's on the bus are effectively in parallel, all the nodes see all of the data, all
of the time. A node only responds when it detects its own identifier. For example, when the ABS ECU sends the command to
activate the ABS unit, it responds accordingly, but the rest of the network will ignore the command. Individual nodes can be
removed from the network, without affecting the other nodes.
Since many different vehicle components may share the same bus hardware, it is important that available CANbus bandwidth is
allocated to the most safety critical systems first. Nodes are usually assigned to one of a number of priority levels. For example,
engine controls, brakes and airbags are of the utmost importance from a safety viewpoint, and commands to activate these
systems are given highest priority (1) and will be actioned before less critical ones. Audio and navigation devices are often medium
(2) priority, and simple activation of lighting may be lowest priority (3). The latest vehicles use up to 3 separate CAN networks,
usually of different speeds connected together by gateways. For example, engine management functions may be on a high speed
bus at 500KB/s and chassis systems run on a 250KB/s CAN bus. House keeping functions; e.g. lights, ICE, satnav, mirrors, etc are
on a low speed bus which may only have one single line often referred to as LIN bus. The data on one of the 3 networks is available
to the other 2 networks via gateways to enable, for example, the transmission to get data from the engine management system
and viceversa.
A process known as arbitration decides the priority of any messages. In practice, to the user, all actions appear to be immediate.
CANbus is becoming increasingly common on todays vehicles, and will become more common as the technology matures and
reduces in cost.
Interested in Serial Automotive BUS, see this excellent white paper on
CAN, CAN FD, FlexRay, Lin & BroadR-Reach Link here....
Document related to CanBus on Aircraft.... Mobile Ready (Couresy of aerospacetestinginternational.com)
Interested in more CAN BUS product details - See our pages for Kvaser and Warwick Controls
Excellent CAN Protocol Tutorial created by Kvaser