"Semi Stand Alone" data logging via serial out?

[Some Guy]

Hello everyone,

I am a student with the University of Connecticut FSAE team and this year we are using an Adaptronic e420c, a very nice upgrade from what we used last year. One of the things we are looking to do is some very comprehensive data logging of engine parameters during the in car testing phase. According to the user manual we can log data to a PC, however it is  bit impractical to have a computer in the car whenever we want to log data.

Our car is going to have at least one micro controller on it to capture data not given by the ECU such as g-force, GPS, oil pressure and maybe a few other goodies. The micro controller will either then write all of that to an SD card or transmit it wirelessly through some other gadgetry we are in the process of cooking up. We would also like to log as many of the engine parameters as we can, especially EGT. The best way for use to do that would be to directly connect the micro controller to the e420c serial port that is usually connected to a PC for tuning. However we need to know things like voltages, pin outs and data protocols in order to do that without frying a bunch of micro controllers (or ECU's) in the process.

If this is information you are willing to provide (publicly or via PM) I would certainly be willing to keep the forum updated on what we are doing the the e420c, and the car as whole in exchange.

Thanks,

UCONN FSAE Dyno testing lead

http://www.uconnracing.com/

[rob_k]

Hi,

The e420c uses the Modbus Protocol, and you can send Modbus commands to tell the ECU what variable you want to get the value for. There are a bunch of registers where the different variables are located. Have a look here for more info, including a spreadsheet of the registers:

http://www.adaptronic.com.au/forum/index.php?topic=477.msg4512#msg4512

Cheers
Rob

[Some Guy]

Wow, dont know how I missed that. Thanks! I'll post any further question in that thread, but it looks like it has what we need.

Thanks!

[Some Guy]

Hey,

So our ECU still hast gotten it yet, our student government is taking it's dear sweet time, I'm chomping at the bit waiting for it to get in. I have spent some time with the software. I just want to complement you on how intuitive it is to use. I poked around the FSAE forums and from what I can tell I think were the only team in the USA using your computer.

I thought I would post up a very rough model of our car. The body is still undergoing tweaking, and some parts still need to be added to this model but the frame is done and building will commence within the week.