The CustomerWith annual sales revenues of over 26 billion US dollars and more than 55,000 employees, John Deere is one of the world’s largest producers of agricultural equipment and a key producer of equipment for lawn-mowing, property and golf course maintenance. At its business site in Kaiserslautern, Germany, John Deere works out intelligent technologies for agricultural machines and develops them to production read-iness together with the company’s manufacturing plants. One focus is on precision agriculture, which can be applied more universally with the help of the ISOBUS standard.

The ChallengeTo efficiently test task controllers for seamless support of the entire range of possible implement configurations A key task for John Deere developers is to test the functionality

and compatibility of their task controllers. In light of the wide

variety of agricultural equipment and external companies in-

volved, this is a time-intensive and complex matter. Theoreti-

cally, it would be necessary to test every ISOBUS machine with

every task controller version. For testing purposes the manu-

facturers exchange special hardware boxes that simulate the

electronic functionalities of the implements. Although they

contain the ECU hardware and software, the boxes seldom con-

tain all of the components needed to conduct comprehensive

functional testing of the machine logic. Furthermore, the con-

struction and handling of the test boxes are not standardized.

The SolutionSimulations that replace inflexible and time-intensive testsIn CANoe.ISO11783, John Deere test engineers found a devel-

opment, test and simulation tool that was precisely tailored

to their requirements. CANoe.ISO11783 covers work activities

from the start of development to the testing phase and can

be used to maintain ISOBUS compliance. The complex ISOBUS

communication structures can be analyzed, visualized and pre-

pared in many different ways. Functions such as the “Virtual

Terminal” or the “Interactive Task Controller” make it easier for

developers to work with ISO 11783.

The AdvantagesGreater test coverage in a shorter timeWith CANoe.ISO11783, John Deere achieves better test cover-

age with fewer resources in terms of time and personnel:

CANoe.ISO11783 simulates the implements in their vari-

ous configurations and with different functional content.

This gives John Deere more independence from external

companies in its testing.

CANoe.ISO11783 is not only ideal for simulating machines

from external companies; it is also ideal for its own ECU

development. Either the real tractor hardware or the

simulation can be used for tests.

Simulation configurations can be exchanged between

different departments quickly and conveniently via the

company’s intranet or by e-mail, e.g. to send them to

colleagues in the USA.

The integrated “Test Feature Set” offers valuable

assistance in defining automatic and recurring tests.

The system can either assume the role of Test Master or

it can be added to existing test environments.

Case StudyOptimizing testing of ISOBUS

task controllers with simulations

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Your contact at Vector:Hans-Werner Schaalhans-werner.schaal@vector.comwww.vector.com