ECE 477 Digital Systems Senior Design Project Fall 2005
Homework 13: User Manual
Due: Monday, May 1, at 5:00 PM
Team Code Name: _ Brightriders ______Group No. __ 13 _
User Manual Outline:
§ Brief (marketing-style) product description
§ Product illustration annotated with callouts for each control/display
§ Product setup instructions
§ Product use instructions
§ Product troubleshooting instructions
Evaluation:
Component/Criterion / Score / Multiplier / PointsProduct description
/ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 / X 2Product illustration with callouts / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 / X 2
Product setup instructions / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 / X 2
Product use instructions / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 / X 2
Product troubleshooting instructions / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 / X 2
TOTAL
1.0 Product Description
Stay ahead of the race with the Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System™. This all-in-one telemetry solution ensures that you have all of the data you need to keep your solar car running at peak efficiency.
The Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System™ supports both the blazing-fast CANbus and widely available RS-232 interfaces to communicate with the devices in your car.
The Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System’s™ features include:
· RS-232 support – use up to 4 RS-232 ports to connect your legacy devices, like motor controllers, battery systems, external GPS units, and packet modems.
· CAN support – use the 4 built-in CAN ports to connect up to 2,000 CAN capable devices for communication with all modern and custom devices in your solar car. The blazing-fast speed of the CANbus ensures that your data is always current.
· 3D acceleration readings – with its three built-in accelerometers, you can know your car’s acceleration in every direction. When an external GPS unit is connected, the acceleration data is coordinated with GPS’s time and space measurements, allowing accurate aerodynamic analysis to keep your car ahead of the game.
· Temperature readings – with the built-in temperature sensor, you can monitor the internal temperature of your car to ensure that all devices are operating safely.
· Sturdy enclosure – the sturdy and light-weight ABS plastic enclosure adds little weight to the overall car while preventing damage to the Telemetry System.
With the Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System™, you will have all the data you need at your disposal to leave the competition in the dust.
2.0 Product Illustrations
2.1 Telemetry System Enclosure
Figure 2.1.1 – Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System™
The above figure shows the RS-232 Connectors (1) which allow communication to RS-232 devices, and the CAN Connectors (2), which allow communication to CAN nodes, as well as provide power for the telemetry system.
2.2 CAN Connector
Figure 2.2.1 – CAN Connector Pinout
The above figure shows the pinout of the CAN Connector, which allows CAN communication and provides power to the system.
3.0 Setup Instructions
Setup of the Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System™ is easy. Please ensure that your package came with the following items:
· Telemetry System circuit board, in enclosure (1)
· Male-to-female RS-232 cables (4)
· 6-pin CAN cables (4)
· Thick, double-sided tape for mounting (2)
· Optional mounting bracket (included in the Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System with Mounting Bracket™ package)
If your package is missing any of these items, please return it to the store in exchange for a complete package.
After you have checked the contents of your package, follow these steps to install the Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System™ in your solar car.
1. Find an appropriate location inside your solar car, which minimizes the distance to all of the devices in your car
2. Mount the Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System™ to the inside of your solar car with either the included double-sided tape, or the optional mounting bracket.
3. Connect the RS-232 capable devices using the included RS-232 cables. Ensure that you are connecting the correct device to the correct RS-232 port. Each port is labeled with the intended device.
o The port labeled “MODEM” should connect to your external packet modem, allowing communication to your chase car.
o The port labeled “BPS” should connect to your battery protection system, allowing monitoring of battery levels.
o The port labeled “GPS” should connect to your external GPS unit. Ensure that the external GPS unit is positioned so that it can receive signals from the GPS satellites.
o The port labeled “MC” should connect to your motor controller, allowing monitoring of motor speed and status.
4. Connect your CAN capable devices to any of the 4 CAN ports. The Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System™ receives power through the CAN connectors, so no external power connector is needed.
5. Congratulations! Your telemetry system is now operational!
4.0 Use Instructions
The Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System™ will be in operating mode whenever power is connected. The telemetry system will attempt to communicate with all of the connected devices. If any devices are not connected, or if they do not use compatible communication formats, they will be ignored. The compatible communication formats appear below:
4.1 Packet Modem
The Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System™ outputs all of the current data to the packet modem once every second at 115,200 baud. The data comes in the following format:
Start Character<0x0C
(1 byte) / Designating Character 1 (2 bytes, in hex) / Data 1 (multiple bytes, in decimal) / Comma <0x2C (1 byte) / … / Designating Character n (2 bytes, in hex) / Data n (multiple bytes, in decimal) / End Character <0x3B>
(1 byte)
Figure 4.1.1 – Packet Modem Data Format
The list of designating characters can be found in Appendix A. Please ensure that your system is capable of understanding this format.
4.2 Battery Protection System
The Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System™ expects battery input, up to 3 times a second, in the following format, at 115,200 baud:
Start Character <0x0C> (1 byte) / Cell 1 Voltage (3 bytes, in hex) / Tab <0x09>(1 byte) / ... / Cell 15 Voltage (3 bytes, in hex) / Tab
<0x09>
(1 byte) / Cell 1 Temperature
(3 bytes, in hex) / Tab
<0x09>
(1 byte)
… / Cell 15 Temperature
(3 bytes, in hex) / Tab
<0x09>
(1 byte) / Cell 1-15 Balancing (4 bytes, in hex) / Tab
<0x09>
(1 byte) / Battery Current (3 bytes, in hex) / End Character
<0x0D>
(1 byte)
Figure 4.2.1 – Battery Protection System Data Format
Please ensure that your system uses this data format.
4.3 GPS Unit
The Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System™ accepts the standard NMEA GPGGA sentence at 9600 baud. Please ensure your external GPS unit outputs in this format.
4.4 Motor Controller
The Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System™ is designed for use with the New Generations NGM-EV-C200 motor controller. Please ensure your system either uses this motor controller, or uses a motor controller with compatible communications formats.
4.5 CAN Devices
The Brightriders Solar Car Telemetry System™ is designed to poll devices on the CANbus, and to respond to data requests from CAN devices. It polls up to 8 Maximum Power Point Trackers™ with node identifiers 0-7. It polls data from these nodes according to the designating character list in Appendix A. A CAN poll request should occur in the following format:
Request Character <0xFF> (1 byte) / Designating Character Requested(1 byte, in binary format)
Figure 4.5.1 – CAN Request Format
A CAN response will use the following format:
Designating Character of Data (1 byte, in binary format) / Data (up to 7 bytes, in binary format, with least significant byte first)Figure 4.5.2 – CAN Response Format
Please ensure your system is compatible with this communication format.
5.0 Troubleshooting
Problem / Possible Cause / SolutionNo communication through packet modem / No power / Ensure the telemetry system is receiving 12 volts through the CAN connector.
Incorrect baud rate / Ensure your baud rate is correctly configured, according to Section 4.
Invalid, or missing data from external devices / Incorrect data formats / Ensure your external devices use the data formats established in Section 4.
Incorrect baud rate / Ensure your baud rate is correctly configured, according to Section 4.
Bad cables / Try using a different set of RS-232 or CAN cables.
Telemetry system not polling CAN devices / Incorrect node IDs / Ensure your node IDs for CAN devices are configured according to Section 4.
CAN Devices not responding quickly enough / If CAN devices do not respond within half of a second, the telemetry system will not poll those devices again for 1 minute.
Telemetry system is emitting smoke or fire / Short circuit / Quickly disconnect power from device and use a fire extinguisher. Call for a replacement telemetry system.
Acceleration data not correct / Telemetry device is incorrectly positioned / Ensure the telemetry system is oriented according to the X, Y, and Z axis labels on the PCB.
6.0 Appendix A – Designating Character List
Device / Data / Character (dec) / Character (hex) / Character (binary)PPT0 / In Voltage / 0 / 00 / 00000000
PPT0 / Out Voltage / 1 / 01 / 00000001
PPT0 / In Current / 2 / 02 / 00000010
PPT0 / Out Current / 3 / 03 / 00000011
PPT0 / Temperature / 4 / 04 / 00000100
PPT0 / Duty Cycle / 5 / 05 / 00000101
PPT0 / (reserved) / 6 / 06 / 00000110
7 / 07 / 00000111
PPT1 / In Voltage / 8 / 08 / 00001000
PPT1 / Out Voltage / 9 / 09 / 00001001
PPT1 / In Current / 10 / 0A / 00001010
PPT1 / Out Current / 11 / 0B / 00001011
PPT1 / Temperature / 12 / 0C / 00001100
PPT1 / Duty Cycle / 13 / 0D / 00001101
PPT1 / (reserved) / 14 / 0E / 00001110
15 / 0F / 00001111
PPT2 / In Voltage / 16 / 10 / 00010000
PPT2 / Out Voltage / 17 / 11 / 00010001
PPT2 / In Current / 18 / 12 / 00010010
PPT2 / Out Current / 19 / 13 / 00010011
PPT2 / Temperature / 20 / 14 / 00010100
PPT2 / Duty Cycle / 21 / 15 / 00010101
PPT2 / (reserved) / 22 / 16 / 00010110
23 / 17 / 00010111
PPT3 / In Voltage / 24 / 18 / 00011000
PPT3 / Out Voltage / 25 / 19 / 00011001
PPT3 / In Current / 26 / 1A / 00011010
PPT3 / Out Current / 27 / 1B / 00011011
PPT3 / Temperature / 28 / 1C / 00011100
PPT3 / Duty Cycle / 29 / 1D / 00011101
PPT3 / (reserved) / 30 / 1E / 00011110
31 / 1F / 00011111
PPT4 / In Voltage / 32 / 20 / 00100000
PPT4 / Out Voltage / 33 / 21 / 00100001
PPT4 / In Current / 34 / 22 / 00100010
PPT4 / Out Current / 35 / 23 / 00100011
PPT4 / Temperature / 36 / 24 / 00100100
PPT4 / Duty Cycle / 37 / 25 / 00100101
PPT4 / (reserved) / 38 / 26 / 00100110
39 / 27 / 00100111
PPT5 / In Voltage / 40 / 28 / 00101000
PPT5 / Out Voltage / 41 / 29 / 00101001
PPT5 / In Current / 42 / 2A / 00101010
PPT5 / Out Current / 43 / 2B / 00101011
PPT5 / Temperature / 44 / 2C / 00101100
PPT5 / Duty Cycle / 45 / 2D / 00101101
PPT5 / (reserved) / 46 / 2E / 00101110
47 / 2F / 00101111
PPT6 / In Voltage / 48 / 30 / 00110000
PPT6 / Out Voltage / 49 / 31 / 00110001
PPT6 / In Current / 50 / 32 / 00110010
PPT6 / Out Current / 51 / 33 / 00110011
PPT6 / Temperature / 52 / 34 / 00110100
PPT6 / Duty Cycle / 53 / 35 / 00110101
PPT6 / (reserved) / 54 / 36 / 00110110
55 / 37 / 00110111
PPT7 / In Voltage / 56 / 38 / 00111000
PPT7 / Out Voltage / 57 / 39 / 00111001
PPT7 / In Current / 58 / 3A / 00111010
PPT7 / Out Current / 59 / 3B / 00111011
PPT7 / Temperature / 60 / 3C / 00111100
PPT7 / Duty Cycle / 61 / 3D / 00111101
PPT7 / (reserved) / 62 / 3E / 00111110
63 / 3F / 00111111
PPT8 / In Voltage / 64 / 40 / 01000000
PPT8 / Out Voltage / 65 / 41 / 01000001
PPT8 / In Current / 66 / 42 / 01000010
PPT8 / Out Current / 67 / 43 / 01000011
PPT8 / Temperature / 68 / 44 / 01000100
PPT8 / Duty Cycle / 69 / 45 / 01000101
PPT8 / (reserved) / 70 / 46 / 01000110
71 / 47 / 01000111
PPT9 / In Voltage / 72 / 48 / 01001000
PPT9 / Out Voltage / 73 / 49 / 01001001
PPT9 / In Current / 74 / 4A / 01001010
PPT9 / Out Current / 75 / 4B / 01001011
PPT9 / Temperature / 76 / 4C / 01001100
PPT9 / Duty Cycle / 77 / 4D / 01001101
PPT9 / (reserved) / 78 / 4E / 01001110
79 / 4F / 01001111
PPT10 / In Voltage / 80 / 50 / 01010000
PPT10 / Out Voltage / 81 / 51 / 01010001
PPT10 / In Current / 82 / 52 / 01010010
PPT10 / Out Current / 83 / 53 / 01010011
PPT10 / Temperature / 84 / 54 / 01010100
PPT10 / Duty Cycle / 85 / 55 / 01010101
PPT10 / (reserved) / 86 / 56 / 01010110
87 / 57 / 01010111
PPT11 / In Voltage / 88 / 58 / 01011000
PPT11 / Out Voltage / 89 / 59 / 01011001
PPT11 / In Current / 90 / 5A / 01011010
PPT11 / Out Current / 91 / 5B / 01011011
PPT11 / Temperature / 92 / 5C / 01011100
PPT11 / Duty Cycle / 93 / 5D / 01011101
PPT11 / (reserved) / 94 / 5E / 01011110
95 / 5F / 01011111
PPT12 / In Voltage / 96 / 60 / 01100000
PPT12 / Out Voltage / 97 / 61 / 01100001
PPT12 / In Current / 98 / 62 / 01100010
PPT12 / Out Current / 99 / 63 / 01100011
PPT12 / Temperature / 100 / 64 / 01100100
PPT12 / Duty Cycle / 101 / 65 / 01100101
PPT12 / (reserved) / 102 / 66 / 01100110
103 / 67 / 01100111
PPT13 / In Voltage / 104 / 68 / 01101000
PPT13 / Out Voltage / 105 / 69 / 01101001
PPT13 / In Current / 106 / 6A / 01101010
PPT13 / Out Current / 107 / 6B / 01101011
PPT13 / Temperature / 108 / 6C / 01101100