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CarChip E/X
A tiny data logger that plugs
straight into your car
By JULIAN EDGAR
N
OW HERE’S a brilliant device –
it plugs into your car’s standard
On Board Diagnostics (OBD) port and
then proceeds to log car data up to a
maximum of 300 hours running. You
can log parameters like road speed,
RPM, oxygen sensor output and the
airflow meter signal. Then you unplug
the device from the car and connect it
to your PC where you can easily graph
and analyse the information, including
quickly highlighting high acceleration
and braking rates, maximum speeds
and so on.
It’s ideal for someone who wants to
monitor how their car is being driven
by others (parents of teenage drivers,
anyone?) or to check on the health
of engine management sensors. And
22 Silicon Chip
talking about the latter, the device will
also record fault codes and can then
be used to clear them!
The CarChip E/X
The CarChip E/X is only a bit bigger
than the OBD socket itself. So what’s
an OBD socket then?
Mandated in the US about 10 years
ago, the OBD port is a standardised
diagnostics socket that allows the US
authorities to quickly and easily diagnose engine management maladies
that could cause the car to be no longer
emissions legal. With the legislated
requirement that the socket be fitted
and that a standardised protocol be
used (actually, a number of protocols
are permitted), car manufacturers also
adopted the system for their own diagnostics. However, the manufacturerspecific data is in addition to the OBD
data. In other words, all cars sold in the
US have an OBD socket with certain
standardised information available
from it, while manufacturer-specific
diagnostics tools can access further
information that pertains to just that
model.
The CarChip E/X makes use of the
universal OBD data – vehicle speed,
engine speed, throttle position, coolant temperature, engine load, intake
manifold pressure, airflow rate, intake
air temp, ignition timing advance, fuel
pressure, short-term fuel trim, longterm fuel trim, oxygen sensor voltage,
battery voltage and fuel system status.
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The PC interface cable plugs into this socket (arrowed)
and connects the CarChip to the PC’s USB port. Dedicated
software is used to analyse and display the data.
The CarChip E/X plugs straight into the OBD port now
found on most cars. It continuously logs data that can
include speed, throttle position and engine RPM.
Note that many cars will not support
all of these parameters (for example, a
car with a MAP sensor will not support
airflow rate), so this is the maximum
possible list of parameters able to be
generically read from the OBD port.
At any one time, a maximum of four
parameters is able to be logged by the
CarChip E/X.
Configuring the CarChip E/X
After the software is loaded on the
PC, the CarChip E/X is connected
via a dedicated USB adaptor cable.
A “Walkthrough Setup” procedure
is then initiated that allows the user
to select metric or imperial units, the
name of the vehicle and driver, the
CarChip serial number and whether
the data is automatically cleared from
the CarChip when it is downloaded
to the PC. Under the “Choose Other
Parameters” tab, you can set what
parameters you want logged. These
can be set to be logged at 5, 10, 20, 30
or 60-second intervals.
Thresholds can also be set for what
is defined by the data analysis software
as hard braking, extreme braking, hard
acceleration, extreme acceleration and
various speed bands. The braking and
acceleration levels are presumably
determined by the change of speed
over time.
The software is largely self-explanatory and is quite easy to use.
Installation
Installation of the CarChip E/X in
the car takes only a few seconds.
Step 1 is to locate the OBD socket.
By regulation this must be positioned
near the steering wheel and it’s also
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Fig.1: this screen grab shows the output of one of the oxygen sensors, logged
over the trip shown in Fig.2. This shows that (a) the oxygen sensor is in good
health (the output rapidly varies a great deal) and that (b) the car ran fairly
lean mixtures for much of the time (output voltage mostly below 0.5V). Logging
the short and long-term fuel trims would indicate if these mixtures were leaner
than desirable – if they were (say because of a blocked fuel filter), the fuel
trims would show major change.
required that it be accessible without
tools. Common positions include
under the steering column, under a
trim panel in the centre console or up
under the dash.
Step 2 is to plug the CarChip E/X
into the OBD socket.
Step 3 is to start the car and make
sure the data logger indicator LED on
the device is flashing (if this LED is
distracting, it can be configured off in
the software).
And that’s it for installation! The
unit is now ready for use.
Analysing the Data
The CarChip E/X stores data for up
to 300 hours of driving and then starts
over-writing the oldest data. However,
at any point, you can remove the device from the car and download the
data to your PC which then displays
it in the form of separate trips.
For each trip, you can display the
October 2006 23
The CarChip E/X package consists of a PC interface cable,
the CarChip plug-in module and a software CD.
logged parameters in graphical or tabular forms. In addition to the logged parameter, each graph also shows where
acceleration and braking thresholds
have been exceeded. A report can then
be brought up that shows various data,
including the start and stop times of
the trip, amount of time spent in each
speed band, distance, average and
maximum speeds, and hard braking
and acceleration events.
Even a glance at this information
will show how the vehicle has been
driven.
Sensor graphs
The graphs of the sensor outputs
can be used to assess the “health” of
This report shows a logged trouble code. In addition to the trouble code
number being cited (P1447), the report also shows the engine parameters at
the time the code was logged. This information makes tracing intermittent
faults much easier.
24 Silicon Chip
the sensors used in the vehicle. For
example, the oxygen sensors used in
most cars should show a swing from
about 0-1V. A dead oxygen sensor will
not only have a low voltage output but
quick changes will also be absent.
However, for diagnostics, the first
step should be to view the Vehicle
Trouble Log. This displays any logged
fault codes and significantly, also
shows a snapshot of engine parameters
at the time the fault code was logged.
These parameters include intake manifold pressure, coolant temperature,
calculated load value, engine speed,
vehicle speed, short and long-term
fuel trims, and whether the engine
management system is working in
open or closed-loop operation.
Note that these snapshot parameters
are not dependent on the parameters
you have chosen to log long-term.
It’s important to realise that the
logged trouble codes may be manufacturer-specific. The software gives
a guide as to what each trouble code
may mean but these are not always
correct. Instead, it’s best to use Google
to determine the meaning of a trouble
code (eg, “Honda Insight P1447”)
rather than relying on the suggestion.
The software can also be configured to
delete the trouble code but again, this
may not be successful if the trouble
code is manufacturer-specific.
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Fig.2: this screen grab shows the speed log of one trip. The timings on the
horizontal axis show that the trip started at 1:55pm on July 29 and finished at
2:13pm. The vertical red trace (arrowed) indicates a hard braking event. The
threshold for this (as well as extreme braking, hard acceleration and extreme
acceleration) can be user-set. At right is the report for the same trip. At a glance, it can be seen that there was one hard
braking event, no hard acceleration, most of the time was spent at less than 72km/h (in fact, the average speed was 61km/h)
and the maximum speed was 97km/h. These reports are invaluable when driver behaviour needs to be monitored.
The software also includes the ability to replay the vehicle speed for the
18 seconds prior to a sudden stop. The
software calls this an “Accident Log”
and it may be useful where the vehicle
is involved in an accident. However,
for various reasons, we think such
information would easily be able to be
challenged in a court of law.
Conclusion
The CarChip E/X costs $286 plus
$7.70 postage. A cheaper version
(the CarChip), with a shorter 75-hour
logging capability, is available for
$217.80.
For your money you get an effective and small data logger that can
remain plugged into the car semipermanently. It will clearly show how
the car is being driven on each trip. It
also reads fault codes and is able to
Will It Fit My Car?
The first step in determining whether the CarChip will work with your car
is to see if it has an OBD port. However, that is not the end of the matter.
Many cars sold in Australia were produced with an OBD port but the internal
ECU software to output OBD data was not enabled. For example, Toyota and
Lexus models of around 1988-1990 have an OBD port but OBD readers will
not work with them.
Cars produced after about 1991 that have an OBD port and which were
also sold in the US are highly likely to have OBD capability. Australian-built
cars with an OBD port may or may not have OBD capability. Again, the more
recent the car, the more likely an OBD reader will work.
The CarChip works with the following OBD protocols: J1850-41.6, J185010.4, ISO9141, KWP2000 and CAN.
clear some of them. Furthermore, if
you need to monitor sensor outputs
(useful if the car is being modified),
then the CarChip will do that as well.
For further information, contact
Ecowatch on (03) 97617040 or browse
to their website at www.davisinstruSC
ments.com.au
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October 2006 25
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