Test bed connection in automotive production – EtherCAT to CAN FD: Efficient gateway communication

Tier1 manufacturer opts for Automotive Gateway Mobilizer for end-of-line tests

One of the world’s largest manufacturers of electric motors, electric axles, and transmissions is using the powerful gateway solutions from HMS Networks in its production lines. The end-of-line tests integrated into the test lines must map numerous test applications for DUTs. These tests are conducted on behalf of leading OEMs. The manufacturer has specified EtherCAT as the automation protocol to provide the best-possible control of all solutions. To retain maximum independence with different DUTs, the respective test scenarios must be adapted dynamically in the gateway. Hardware and controller connection remain constant, while the adaptation to new DUTs and applications is loaded via an intuitive software configuration. A look behind the scenes shows how the Mobilizer series met the demanding requirements and fully convinced the customer.

The challenge: Maximum performance with maximum flexibility

The main task of end-of-line test procedures in the automotive industry is to efficiently ensure the quality and functionality of a host of automotive components such as motors, electric axles, or transmissions. This includes complex and varied tasks such as ECU firmware updates and functional tests that must run highly precisely, rapidly and, above all, fully automatically. The challenge consists of flexibly solving these processes on a single production line for various vehicle models and components from different manufacturers (OEMs) – without long setup and changeover times and, in the best case, centrally via a single hardware and software solution. Each model has specific requirements regarding the test procedures and parameters, which must be adapted quickly and reliably without impairing production efficiency. While for a transmission, for example, gear changes and load distributions must be recorded, only a short time later on the same line, rpm, acceleration values, and power consumption of an electric axle need to be checked. Furthermore, it is crucially important that the tests must be conducted in just a few minutes and, where necessary, run in parallel. And this must be done for all products manufactured in the line. To support various OEMs, multiple configurations can be saved in the Mobilizer, which are called up externally via the automation level and switched quickly. This allows for production runs even with a batch size of one.

As the customer previously relied on DPDU (Diagnostic Protocol Data Unit) for flashing control units, many small CAN data packets had to be sent continuously to the gateway. This process was complicated and time-consuming. While looking for a suitable solution with extensive performance values, the customer came across the automotive gateways in the Mobilizer series, which offers an alternative with superior performance thanks to an integrated DoIP interface.

The solution: The all-in-one platform for all in-vehicle networks 

The Mobilizer offers a connection to the control layer using EtherCAT, whereby different test scenarios can be mapped dynamically onto the gateway. This ensures that the control connection is unchanged, while the adaptations for various tests are made directly in the gateway configuration. The necessary flexibility is supported by the ACT engineering software, which allows for a simple, custom adaptation of the gateway configuration for each DUT type – simply using drag-and-drop with no programming knowledge. 

The Mobilizer also supports DoIP functionality (Diagnostics over IP). Thanks to its use in conjunction with an integrated transport provider, larger data packets can now be transferred efficiently to the gateway. In combination with the powerful quad-core processor and the modern Linux system, this conversion leads to substantial time savings and optimum utilization of the available computing resources.

Adaptability of alive counter and CRC ensures flexibility with different OEMs 

Parameters and calculation rules used for security are different for each OEM and subject to strict confidentiality. They must therefore be secured using corresponding mechanisms. To this end, the Mobilizer offers the alive counter and CRC functionality (Cyclic Redundancy Check) as part of the residual bus simulation. Communication is therefore also possible with secured ECUs. The encryption standard of the alive counter and CRC values comes from the development department of the OEMs. The user in the ACT configuration tool then selects the corresponding plug-in and assigns it to the configuration. The manufacturers’ communication data that will be secured in the plug-in is automatically detected and the security applied. For each encryption generation, ACT plug-ins are developed to this end, which implement project-specific security in accordance with the respective SecOC standard. Within the Mobilizer, each outgoing SecOC-secured protocol data unit (PDU) is provided with the necessary security data, which guarantees the integrity and security of communication during the tests.

The Mobilizer: The professional solution for all end-of-line tests

Fitted with all common in-vehicle networks such as CAN FD, Automotive Ethernet (100/1000-Base-T1), LIN, FlexRay, or EtherCAT, the Mobilizer series solves a host of applications such as data logging, gateway functionalities, residual bus simulation, ECU firmware flashing, or end-of-line tests. It was developed specifically for testbeds in the automotive sector as well as for end-of-line test applications. With up to eight CAN/FD channels, two LIN channels, FlexRay and EtherCAT interfaces along with digital and analog I/Os, the Mobilizer is synonymous with maximum flexibility. The powerful i.MX 8M Plus, 1.8 GHz quad-core Cortex A53 processor offers the necessary computing power in combination with a Linux operating system.