Custom instrument panel shows off CAN ability

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Sep 18, 2000

Instrument panels don't have to be analogue pointers; bar graphs may be a more intuitive way to display parameters - or what can be clearer than an alphanumeric display giving specific directions?

For decades the words 'instrument panel' brought one picture to mind: a set of analogue pointers and electromechanical digits rolling by, counting off the hours of the vehicle's life.

Today, we can expand that image.

For some applications, bar graphs maybe a more intuitive way to display engine parameters - and to take the concept a step further, what can be clearer than an alphanumeric display giving specific directions to the equipment operator? As the latest microprocessor technology becomes increasingly affordable, the key to winning a contract is design flexibility and engineering creativity.

This is what our engineers at Curtis Massi in Germany discovered when a manufacturer of asphalt rolling machines recently requested a custom panel.

The customer had specific ideas of what he wanted to include on the panel of a newly developed vibratory roller.

It involved a mixture of new technologies, from a stepper motor driven pointer, to a solid state LCD hour meter, to LCD numeric displays for monitoring speed.

He also wanted other vehicle functions to be served by multi-coloured LED bar graph displays.

The customer specified that the Curtis panel have a connection to the vehicle CAN bus, making the installation easier than traditional analogue instrumentation.

A CAN bus provides numerous advantages over existing technologies - one of the most obvious is wiring.

In today's option-laden automobiles, wire harnesses add significant complexity to a vehicle.

With central bus architectures like CAN, only a single-wire pair is required for communication of digital information.

Each device on the bus has a specific address, allowing it to communicate with other devices on the bus.

Since the devices are 'daisy chained' together, this eliminates the majority of the wires on the vehicle.

There are many advantages to this design approach.

In addition to a time and material cost savings, it increases system integrity and reliability and, in the end, makes it is easier to troubleshoot and maintain the vehicle.

Today, a number of choices are available to companies interested in designing their own panel.

Recent technology allows designers to give a vehicle operator explicit directions - as in an instrument that displays diagnostic information.

Basically, an alphanumeric LCD changes an instrument panel into a 'manual on wheels.' These panels can be designed to give an equipment operator important safety information (e.g., vehicle is heavily loaded, maximum speed has been exceeded), as well as inform the maintenance technician of time saving troubleshooting clues, such as an indication to check continuity of wiring to an oil temperature sensor.

So, if your latest project would benefit from a custom panel, consider Curtis.

We have design teams in Europe and the U.S working on instrumentation solutions for everything from construction vehicles to stationary equipment.