CAN data logger with scripting functionality

Kvaser AB has introduced a new high-speed Controller Area Network (CAN) to USB data logger that boasts the ability to run user-developed scripts to suit a wide variety of CAN applications. Kvaser Eagle, a flexible enhanced evolution of the Memorator Professional, has been designed with engineers in mind who need customized features such as CAN protocol converters, CAN gateways, advanced CAN logging functionality, CAN node simulation, and standalone ECU programming. The company is aiming this device at a broad range of industries, including automotive development, industrial diagnostics, and oil and gas monitoring.

Its script functionality allows users to develop customized applications written in the Kvaser t programming language. The programming language, which is event driven and C-like, is compiled into efficient byte code for execution on Eagle with the developer’s PC. Kvaser also has a network of technical associates with different domain expertise who will become a source of application-specific Kvaser t software for Eagle.

Lars-Berno Fredriksson, president of Kvaser, said, “With the Eagle platform, we responded to customer requests for a CAN interface that meets the requirements of many different application domains, as well as being applicable to the whole CAN based systems lifecycle; development, integration, verification, aftermarket, and maintenance. The result is our most flexible interface yet, which with a little programming expertise or help from our network of specialist software partners, can be perfectly tailored to the user’s application in a way that most other CAN interfaces on the market cannot.”

Kvaser marketing director Michael Odälv added, “An important provision for Eagle was the ability to encrypt scripts so that domain developers and users can protect their intellectual property. In addition, our design team made ease of program development central to their efforts, giving software developers the ability to develop Kvaser t script using an editor that they are already familiar with and Kvaser’s CANlib software development kit.”

Eagle has two CAN interfaces on one side and a USB connection on the other. Real-time performance from the CAN buses has been secured by using three microprocessors (MCUs) in the device, one MCU to handle each busload and another to run the script. It is based on an Arm 9 core that runs at 200 MHz with minimal current consumption. This enables the battery to operate for a week while waiting for a CAN message. The Kvaser t language supports floating point calculations, structures, recursion, and file access.

www.kvaser.com/eagle

Kvaser AB

Edited by Peter Welander, pwelander@cfemedia.com

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