Pi Workshop - Cosworth

Pi WorkshopUSER GUIDE

Research

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Pi Workshop User Guide

Part Number: 29P-071167-8E

July 2007

Refers to Pi Workshop version 8.4.44

© Pi Research, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

2 Pi Workshop User Guide

Disclaimer

Pi Research makes no representation or warranties of any kind whatsoever with respect to the contents hereof and specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Pi Research shall not be liable for any errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, per-formance or use of the software, associated hardware, or this written material.

Pi Research reserves the right to revise this publication from time to time, and to make changes in the content hereof without obligation to notify any person of such revision or changes.

A copy of the Pi Research Terms and Conditions of Sale is available on request, and in-cludes a declaration of the warranty and limitation of liability which apply to all Pi Research products and services.

WARNING: Pi Workshop contains software that allows the manipulation of data for control, calibration, and analysis and uses mathematical modelling techniques to simulate the action and response of a vehicle given data describing its character-istics. Pi Workshop is designed for use by skilled professionals with experience in working with engines and vehicles. Obtaining data for input and interpreting the results produced by Pi Workshop are skilled functions; making modifications to any vehicle, engine, or driver-related settings is a safety-critical activity and it is the responsibility of the user of Pi Workshop to consider the safety and other implica-tions of any such change.

Pi and the Pi logo are trademarks of Pi Group Limited

Pi Research is part of the Pi Group Limited

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Contents

Introduction .......................................................................... 10

System Requirements .......................................................... 11Minimum PC system specification ................................................. 11

Networking ..................................................................................... 12

Sixnet and Windows XP™ ............................................................. 13

Getting started ..................................................................... 17The Pi Workshop package ............................................................ 17

About operating systems ............................................................... 18

Before you install the software ...................................................... 19

Installing the software .................................................................... 20

Upgrading Pi Workshop ................................................................. 21

Units configuration ......................................................................... 22

Network Interface Card (NIC) ........................................................ 24

Setting DCOM properties ...................................................... 25Setting DCOM properties in Windows XP ..................................... 25

Setting DCOM properties in Windows 2000 .................................. 28

Starting Pi Workshop ............................................................ 31Maximising the Workspace ............................................................ 32

Understanding the Pi Workshop Workspace ....................... 33

Workspace ............................................................................ 35Pi Workshop fundamentals ............................................................ 36

The Archive Manager and Archive Assistant ................................. 38

Sending your first setup to the car ...................................... 41

Channels ............................................................................... 43Channel Properties ........................................................................ 43

The Global Channel Database ...................................................... 45

Viewing the Global Channel Database .......................................... 47

Channel name filter ....................................................................... 47

Looking after your Pi Workshop files ................................... 48Backup copies ............................................................................... 48

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The Setup Organiser ............................................................. 51Show the Setup Organiser ............................................................ 51

Using the Setup Organiser ............................................................ 53

Connecting to another user ........................................................... 55

Selecting a Setup ................................................................. 59To open a Setup Data Manager .................................................... 59

To select a Setup ........................................................................... 60

Setting up Sigma Configuration .......................................... 61Tell Pi Workshop what hardware you have ................................... 61

Setting the FSRs ........................................................................... 65

Selectronics I/O Card Setup ................................................. 67Overview ........................................................................................ 67

Selectronic I/O card configuration constraints ............................... 71

Excitation modes ........................................................................... 72

Configuring Selectronic I/O card .................................................... 73

Inputs – technical description ........................................................ 76

Sensors and looms interface ............................................... 79Getting started ............................................................................... 79

User levels ..................................................................................... 80

What are Connectors? ................................................................... 80

Creating a Connector .................................................................... 81

Port Propagation ............................................................................ 87

Attaching a Sensor ........................................................................ 88

Removing Sensors ........................................................................ 89

Removing Sub-looms .................................................................... 89

Removing Connectors ................................................................... 89

Sensor Drag-and-drop ................................................................... 90

Loom Drag-and-drop ..................................................................... 91

Looms ............................................................................................ 91

The Loom ...................................................................................... 92

Ports, Port Addresses and Quantities ........................................... 93

Connector Operations ................................................................... 94

Locking .......................................................................................... 98

Loom Report .................................................................................. 98

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Loom Views ................................................................................... 99

Sensor and Loom Migration .......................................................... 99

Sensors with Calibrations ............................................................ 101

Linking a Sensor to an Application .............................................. 105

Using a Channel in a Calibration ................................................. 105

Sensors ....................................................................................... 108

Channel usage ............................................................................ 109

Setting up a Sensor ........................................................... 110Overview ...................................................................................... 110

Attaching a pre-defined sensor .................................................... 111

Sensor Colour Coding ................................................................. 115

Adding a new Sensor .................................................................. 117

Zeroing sensors .................................................................. 120Applying Offsets .......................................................................... 120

Setting up a Wheelspeed ................................................... 125Tell the MCU that you want to measure Speed ........................... 125

Setting up the Loom to receive the Sensor ................................. 128

Attaching a Sensor to the Port ..................................................... 132

Setting up a Beacon .......................................................... 135Tell the MCU that you want a Beacon input ................................ 135

Setting up the loom to receive the Beacon .................................. 137

Attaching a Beacon Sensor to the Port ....................................... 140

Setting up a Fuel Input ....................................................... 141Tell the MCU which channel measures Fuel Used ...................... 141

Setting up a Fuel Flow Meter ............................................. 147Tell the MCU that you want to measure Fuel Flow ...................... 147

Setting up the Loom to receive the Fuel Flow Sensor ................. 149

Attaching a Sensor to the Fuel Flow Port .................................... 155

Setting up a Serial Stream ................................................ 160Tell the MCU what Stream you want ........................................... 160

Setting up the Serial Stream input ............................................... 162


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Setting up GearNumber ..................................................... 164Tell the MCU which Channel measures Gear ............................. 164

Calibrating GearNumber from an ECU Channel ......................... 165

Calibrating GearNumber from a direct input via a Sensor ........... 171

Setting up EngineSpeed ..................................................... 172Tell the MCU which channel measures engine RPM .................. 172

Setting up a Tachometer ................................................... 177Tell the MCU that you want a Tacho input .................................. 177

Setting up the Loom to receive the Tacho ................................... 180

Attaching a Sensor ...................................................................... 185

Miscellaneous Application ................................................. 189Outing Information ....................................................................... 189

Cornering ..................................................................................... 191

Logging Triggers .......................................................................... 192

Beacons....................................................................................... 194

Wheel Setup ................................................................................ 196

Track and Fuel ............................................................................. 198

Fuel Capacity ............................................................................... 199

Effective Boost ............................................................................. 200

Qualifying Mode ........................................................................... 202

Modifying the Logging Table .............................................. 204Changing an existing Logging Rate ............................................. 204

Adding a channel to a logger ....................................................... 205

To create a new Logger ............................................................... 207

Logging Inventory ........................................................................ 210

Setting up Telltales ........................................................... 215Open the Telltales Application ..................................................... 215

To edit a Telltale .......................................................................... 220

To delete a Telltale ...................................................................... 220

Events ................................................................................. 221Overview ...................................................................................... 221

Event storage .............................................................................. 223

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Display Alarms .................................................................... 226To set up a new Event and Alarm ............................................... 226

Setting a Dash Alarm ................................................................... 231

Editing existing Alarms ...................................................... 234

Auto clearing Events and Alarms....................................... 239Event Clear .................................................................................. 239

Setting up a Dash ............................................................... 242Pi Compact Dash ......................................................................... 243

Pi Compact Dash and Pi Satellite Modules ................................. 244

Pi Compact Dash set up .............................................................. 245

Pi Compact Dash gear shift lights ............................................... 251

Pi Steering Wheel Dash set up .................................................... 254

Pi Steering Wheel Dash Gear Shift Lights ................................... 260

Pi Steering Wheel Dash Message Centre ................................... 263

Pi Omega Dash set up ................................................................ 272

Pi Omega Dash shift/alarm module ............................................. 280

Pi Omega Dash Message Centre ................................................ 283

Switch Application ............................................................. 297Overview ...................................................................................... 297

Switch to CAN boxes ................................................................... 298

Adding an Output Channel .......................................................... 300

Editing the Mapping ..................................................................... 301

Validity ......................................................................................... 302

Telemetry Application ........................................................ 303Types of telemetry ....................................................................... 304

Setting up telemetry ..................................................................... 305

Tell the MCU which Serial Port to use ......................................... 318

Writing a Math Channel ...................................................... 321Overview ...................................................................................... 321

Adding a Math Channel ............................................................... 322

Define the outputs ....................................................................... 327

Look Up Table ............................................................................. 330


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Registers ............................................................................. 333Overview ...................................................................................... 333

Example - a simple filter .............................................................. 334

Example - a counter resetting at the Beacon .............................. 335

Example - last Beacon code seen channel ................................. 336

Example - a Beacon counter ....................................................... 337

Potential problems with registers ................................................. 338

Math Channels Operators and Functions .......................... 340Operators ..................................................................................... 340

Functions ..................................................................................... 341

Real Time Data Manager .................................................... 345Introduction .................................................................................. 345

Real Time Data Manager operation ............................................ 346

To set up a Real Time Data Manager ......................................... 347

Real Time Data Manager states .................................................. 353

Introduction to Controls ..................................................... 357Toolbars ....................................................................................... 359

Controls Available ........................................................................ 359

General Controls Toolbar ............................................................ 360

Graphing Controls Toolbar .......................................................... 361

General Controls: Tabular Lap Report Control ............................ 362

General Controls: Events Control ................................................ 365

General Controls: Hot Link Control .............................................. 366

General Controls: Channel Display Control ................................. 369

General Controls: Text Control .................................................... 375

General Controls: Graphic Control .............................................. 376

General Controls: Knob Control .................................................. 377

General Controls: Button Control ................................................ 392

General Controls: Slider and Thermometer Control .................... 396

General Controls: Bit Indicator .................................................... 397

Using the Bit Indicator: An example ............................................ 402

Graphing Controls: 20-Second Char Recorder ........................... 404

Graphing Controls: Autoscaling X-Y Graph ................................. 417

Graphing Controls: 10-Bin Histogram .......................................... 418

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Graphing Controls: Telemetry Map ............................................. 420

Activating controls ....................................................................... 423

Deleting controls .......................................................................... 423

Sizing a control ............................................................................ 424

Positioning a control .................................................................... 424

Pi Server Application .......................................................... 427Starting Pi Server ........................................................................ 428

Selecting and sending a Setup to the car .................................... 430

Setting up Pi Server to receive Telemetry ................................... 433

Real Time Broadcast ................................................................... 435

Telemetry Key Cache .................................................................. 438

Telemetry diagnostics .................................................................. 438

Pi Digital Broadcast Telemetry Setup .......................................... 439

Telemetry logging ........................................................................ 441

Pi Server Logger page ................................................................. 442

Pi Server Details page ................................................................. 444

Pi Server message prefixes ......................................................... 445

Messages generated by Pi Server .............................................. 446

Index ................................................................................... 453

Contact information ........................................................... 464


Introduction

Pi Workshop gives you what you need to set up a Pi Sigma System; from the logging rates to the display, everything you need is included in the package.

A key feature is the ability to use data from many different sources. This is implemented through integration with third-party applications, industry standard software tools, and exist-ing Pi Research software, including:

n Pi Toolbox – data analysis for data from any source.n Pi Setup – database for the storage and organization of tasks associated

with race car preparation.n Pi Sim – powerful and versatile race car performance simulation.n Pi AutoCal – on-line calibration editor for editing and optimizing control sys-

tem data maps.n Pi AutoSim – bench-top system for simulating an engine or power train to

test control systems.

Default templates and Setup database

Pi Workshop has default data viewing templates and a customer specific pre-configured setup database, prepared by Pi Research support engineers.

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System Requirements

Pi Workshop is designed to run on a PC under the Windows 2000® or Windows XP® operat-ing systems. The following list gives information on a minimum specification. As with any computer system, the accepted rule of thumb is to get the best that you can afford providing it meets at least the minimum PC system specification.

Minimum PC system specification

For use on a single PC:

n a PC with an 800MHz (or faster) processor.n 128MB of application RAM. Application RAM is the amount of memory left to

applications after Windows has started.n one gigabyte (1GB) of free hard disk space. The amount of disk space will

depend upon how much data you want to keep on the disk.n one 10/100 Base T Ethernet Network Interface Card (NIC) for connection to

your Pi Sigma system. (Pi Sigma Elite systems communicate at 100Mbps. Other Pi Sigma systems connect at 10Mbps.)

n If you intend to connect your PC to a network, use a separate NIC for your network connection. Pi Research recommends that you do not share a NIC between your Pi Sigma system and other network devices.

n SVGA colour CRT or LCD screen with at least 16 colours or grey scales.

Pi Sigma System

to Pi Sigma System (10/100 Base T)

network

network

NIC

PC

‘Server PC’ printer

NIC


n keyboard and mouse.n Windows 2000® or Windows XP® operating system.

For use on a network of computers:

In addition to the equipment listed above, for a network installation you will need

n a minimum of one other computer. The computer that you designate as the Server PC and communicates with the Pi Sigma should use separate NICs for network connections and connection to your Pi Sigma System.

n suitable network adapters and cables.n Windows 2000® or Windows XP® operating system.

Networking

Pi Workshop communicates with your Pi Sigma system using a high-speed Ethernet 10/100 Base T network connection—an established type of computer network. Pi Sigma Elite systems communicates at 100Mbps and other Pi Sigma systems communicate at 10Mbps.

Network Interface Cards (NICs) and the Server PC

The PC that communicates with Pi Sigma System is usually designated as the Server PC. If you intend to use Pi Workshop on a network of PCs, with several ‘work stations’ sharing information with the server PC, it is important that the server PC is fitted with two Network Interface Cards; one providing point-to-point connection to Pi Sigma and the second provid-ing general network connectivity.

Choosing a Network Interface Card

Network Interface Cards are notoriously difficult devices with which to achieve a satisfac-tory performance. As with most peripherals, they operate by interrupting the PC system and demand use of the processor. They are therefore in competition with other devices for use of the processor. In most cases this behaviour is not noticed by ‘slow’ network devices such as printers. However, the situation is unsuitable for fast devices such as Pi Sigma systems.

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Recommendations for choosing Network Interface Cards (NIC)n Choose a popular NIC and not a low-volume custom model.n Choose a NIC with a driver that is supplied with Windows and not a custom

model that will require frequent upgrades.n Allocate one NIC for communication only with Pi Sigma systems (point-to-

point connection). Use a separate NIC for more general network connec-tions.

n Use a different make of NIC for Pi Sigma communication to that used for gen-eral network communication.

Sixnet and Windows XP™

Sixnet is a transport protocol that Pi Workshop uses to communicate with a Pi Sigma System for downloading data. The standard Sixnet driver installed with Pi Workshop is not compatible with Windows XP™. An updated Sixnet driver is available which is compat-ible.

If you are using Windows XP™, contact Pi Research for information on how to obtain a copy of this updated driver file. information with the server PC, it is important that the server PC is fitted with two Network Interface Cards; one providing point-to-point connection to Pi Sigma and the second providing general network connectivity.

Choosing a Network Interface Card

Network Interface Cards are notoriously difficult devices with which to achieve a satisfac-tory performance. As with most peripherals, they operate by interrupting the PC system and demand use of the processor. They are therefore in competition with other devices for use of the processor. In most cases this behaviour is not noticed by ‘slow’ network devices such as printers. However, the situation is unsuitable for fast devices such as Pi Sigma systems.


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Getting started

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Getting started

This section explains how to get started with Pi Workshop. It applies to versions of Pi Work-shop that have been supplied with a default template which was created by Pi Research to meet your minimum requirements. This will be installed into the correct directory when you install the software onto your PC. It contains all the information required to enable you to send a setup to your car. You may need to make some minor changes to the setup such as entering a driver name or zeroing your sensors.

It covers the following:

n Installing the softwaren Starting Pi Workshop for the first timen Sending the first setup to your Pi Sigma system using Pi Servern How to view channelsn Change setup parameters (calibrations, driver name etc.)

The Pi Workshop package

The Pi Workshop package contains the following items:

n a Pi Workshop CD-ROM that contains the Pi Workshop software and associ-ated applications (the software has an auto-running installer for Windows 2000™ and Windows XP™).

n a customer specific default setup database that describes the operation and electrical connections of your Pi Sigma system

n a default viewing template of pre-configured controls and displaysn an uninstallern a printed Pi Workshop User Guide (this document). (A PDF version is also

on the Pi Workshop CD-ROM.)


About operating systems

The preferred operating systems for Pi Workshop are Windows 2000™ and Windows XP™. Although Pi Workshop will run under Windows 98 and Windows NT Pi Research no longer supports these operating systems for running Pi Workshop.

Pi Workshop uses Microsoft core technology that is not provided with a normal Windows installation. The installer automatically analyses your PC and installs the core files that are required. Pi Workshop uses

n Data Access Objects (DAO)n Common Controlsn Distributed Communications (DCOM)

Data Access Objects (DAO)

Data Access Objects (DAO) allows applications, and in this case Pi Workshop, to read and write Microsoft Access database files (.MDB).

Common Controls

Pi Workshop uses Common Controls enhanced dialog support provided by Windows to ensure consistent operation.

Distributed Communications (DCOM)

DCOM is an application interface that allows computer applications to communicate and share information whether they are installed on single computers or over a network.

Windows 2000™

If you are running Windows 2000™, the installer installs everything you need to run Pi Workshop.

Windows XP™

If you are running Windows XP™, the installer installs everything you need to run Pi Work-shop except for the Sixnet driver. Sixnet is a transport protocol that Pi Workshop uses to communicate with a Pi Sigma System. The standard Sixnet driver installed with Pi Work-shop is not compatible with Windows XP. An updated Sixnet driver is available which is compatible. If you are using Windows XP™, contact Pi Research for information on how to obtain a copy of this updated driver file.

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Before you install the software

This section gives information about your Pi Workshop CD-ROM and describes how to install Pi Workshop on your PC hard disk and start the application.

Before you install Pi workshop for the first time you should:

n ensure that your PC meets the minimum PC system specification.n make backup copies of important files.n for the PC you designate as the server PC, ensure that you have two Ether-

net Network Interface Cards correctly installed.

The Pi Workshop installation application can detect Network Interface Cards and makes the setup of these cards easy.

Networking and Remote Access

Pi Workshop is designed to work across a network, giving you the flexibility to use the software in a way which suits your working methods.

If you intend to use Pi Workshop on a network1 Install Pi Workshop on the PC that you designate as the Server PC.

The Server PC is usually the PC that is used to communicate with your Pi Sigma sys-tems.

2 On all other PCs install Pi Workshop.


Installing the software

Before installing the software log in to the local PC either as an administrator or using your personal login so long as you have administrator rights to your local PC. The installation process requires administrator rights to install some files.

To install the software:1 Close any applications that are running including the MS Office Toolbar, screen

saver, and any antivirus software.2 Insert the Pi Workshop CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.

The Pi Workshop CD-ROM has a self-starting installer.

3 Click Pi Workshop Install to install Pi Workshop.4 Follow the on-screen instructions.

When you have installed Pi Workshop, the Start • Programs • Pi Research menu shows

n Pi Toolsn Pi Server – looks after all communication between Pi Workshop and

Pi Sigma systems.n Pi Workshop – Configuration tools for Pi Sigma systems.

The Pi Tools menu shows:

n File converter - This utility can be used to convert legacy format files (*.dat, *.pid and *.pwds) into the Pi Data Set *.pds file format for use in Pi Toolbox.

n Pi Archive – The Archive Manager looks after the setup database and auto-matically starts when you start Pi Workshop.

n Pi Auto Update Server – notifies Pi Analysis when new data is presentn Pi Box Code Loader – a utility for loading application code into Pi Sigma

systems.n Tebnet Setup – a debug utility for advanced users and Pi Research support

engineers.

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Upgrading Pi Workshop

Before installing the software, log in to the local PC either as an administrator or using your personal login so long as you have administrator rights to your local PC. The installation process requires administrator rights to install some files.

Before installing an up-grade of Pi Workshop, you must uninstall the current version. The installer software on the Pi Workshop CD-ROM scans the hard disk searching for existing versions of Pi Workshop. If it finds a version of Pi Workshop, the Uninstall button appears in the Pi Research Software Installation dialog box.

To install an upgrade:1 Close any applications that are running including the MS Office Toolbar, screen

saver, and any antivirus software.2 Insert the Pi Workshop CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.

The Pi Workshop CD-ROM has a self-starting installer.

3 Click Pi Workshop Uninstall to uninstall Pi Workshop.4 Select the Automatic option. This performs the uninstall of Pi Workshop.

After the uninstall has completed the Pi Research Software Installation dialog box re-appears.

5 Click Pi Workshop Install to install Pi Workshop.6 Follow the on-screen instructions.


Units configuration

If a new CUSTOM.CAB (new default settings for your team) has not been included in the upgrade, the Setup libraries in Pi World are not changed. However, the Units Configuration (units for Wheel setup etc.) will default to Imperial units. If required, you can reset the Units to your own default requirements.

To set the Units:

1 Choose Tools • Units Configuration. The Units Configuration dialog ox ap-pears.

Units Configuration dialog box

2 Select an option from the Current unit class list. 3 Click OK.

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You can edit units parameters listed in the text area of the dialog box.

To edit units parameters:1 Click on the parameter you want to edit. The Edit Entry dialog box appears.

Edit Entry dialog box

2 Make the changes. Click OK.


Network Interface Card (NIC)

Note: You need only to follow this section if you are installing Pi Workshop on the PC that will communicate with your Pi Sigma system (usually referred to as the Server PC).

To communicate with a Pi Sigma system you must have an Ethernet Network Interface Card available that is not being used for any other network communication.

The installer scans the PC hardware configuration, and shows the Network Interface Cards fitted in the PC, and suggests the Network Interface Card to which you can connect your Pi Sigma system.

To install a Network Interface Card1 Select a Network Interface Card that is shown as being free.2 Click Install to setup the Network Interface Card for use with Pi Workshop and

Pi Sigma or click Cancel to skip this process and continue with the installa-tion.

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Setting DCOM properties

Distributed Communications (DCOM) allows applications to communicate and share infor-mation locally and across a network. DCOM is used by Pi Workshop.

Setting DCOM properties in Windows XP

1 On the Taskbar click Start • Run • and type dcomcnfg. The DCOM configura-tion application starts. The Component Services window appears.

Component Services window

2 Double click Component Services. The Computers folder appears.


3 Double click the Computers folder. The My Computer icon appears.

4 Right click on the My Computer icon.5 Choose Properties from the pop-up menu. The My Computer Properties dia-

log appears.

My Computer properties dialog

6 Click the Default Properties tab.7 Enable Distributed COM on this Computer should be selected. If it is not

checked (✓), click in the check-box.8 In the Default Authentication Level text box choose None from the list9 Click OK. The dialog box closes.

Now ensure that the Default Authentication Level all the Pi applications are set to Default.

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1 Double click My Computer. A list of Folders appears.

2 Double click DCOM Config folder. A list of applications appears.

3 Right click on a Pi application. A properties dialog box for that application ap-pears.

4 Set the Authentication Level on the General page of the dialog box to De-fault.

5 Click OK. The dialog box closes.6 Repeat steps 3, 4 and 5 for all of the Pi applications in the list.7 Close the window.


Setting DCOM properties in Windows 2000

1 On the Taskbar click Start • Run • and type dcomcnfg. The Distributed COM Configuration Properties dialog appears.

Distributed COM Configuration Properties dialog Applications page

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Now ensure that the Default Authentication Level all the Pi applications are set to De-fault.

2 Click on a Pi Application in the list. e.g. PiArchiveServer Class3 Click Properties. The Properties page for that Pi Application Appears.

Properties page for PiArchiveServer Class

4 In the Authentication Level text box choose Default from the list.5 Click OK. The page closes and the Distributed COM Configuration Properties

dialog Applications page re-appears.6 Repeat steps 2, 3, 4, and 5 for the remaining Pi Applications.


Now set the Default Property for the Applications.

7 Click the default Properties tab.

Default Properties page

8 Enable Distributed COM on this Computer should be selected. If it is not checked (✓), click in the check-box.

9 In the Default Authentication Level text box choose None from the list.10 Click OK. The dialog box closes.

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Starting Pi Workshop

1 Choose Start • Programs • Pi Research • Pi Workshop. The Pi Workshop Book default window appears.

Pi Workshop-Book default window

The window has no information as this is the first time you have run the software. You must now select the default template which has the minimum requirements for your Pi Sigma System.

2 Click Create a New Template or Workbook on the Getting Started - Pi Work-shop window. The New dialog box appears.

The New window will display your default template which was created by Pi Research.

3 Click on the .pwt file. Your default template is loaded into the Pi Workshop window, and Pi Server software is automatically started.


Maximising the Workspace

Status Bar

The status bar gives information about Pi Workshop commands. As you move the pointer over command buttons and through menus, you’ll see a description of the command in the status bar at the bottom of the screen.

You may find it useful to hide the status bar to increase the amount of available screen Workspace.

To turn off the status bar:1 Choose View • Status Bar… to hide or show the status bar.

Windows Taskbar

Windows has a taskbar usually at the bottom of the screen. The Taskbar is where you’ll find the Start menu. The taskbar further consumes screen Workspace, and you may find it useful to hide the taskbar.

To hide the Windows Taskbar:1 Right-click on an empty piece of the Taskbar, but not on a button, and choose

Properties from the pop-up menu.2 Check the Auto hide option and click Apply.

The Taskbar disappears from its position on the screen. You can now use this extra screen Workspace for Pi Workshop by expanding the workbook to full screen. The Taskbar will automatically pop up if you move the pointer to the edge of the screen where the Taskbar last appeared.

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Understanding the Pi Workshop Workspace

Pi Workshop has two working modes

n Unlockedn Locked

Unlocked mode

In Unlocked mode, Pi Workshop lets you open and create cards and assemble controls to perform specific function. In Unlocked mode, a collection of one or more cards is called a template. A collection of one or more cards in unlocked mode is called a Workbook Template.

Locked mode

Workbooks are collections of cards with various controls that let you view data from differ-ent sources. The Controls on a card are associated with Data managers and Channels. Only when a control has an associated Data Manager and channels is the control capable of displaying or manipulating data.

A collection of one or more cards in Locked mode is called a Workbook. Workbooks are created from unlocked templates.

Saving Templates and Workbooks

When you have Workbook that you want to use repeatedly, or Workbook Templates that you want to save and share with other Pi Workshop users, you need to set where Work-books and Templates are saved.

By default, the storage path for Workbook Templates is in the Templates folder in the Data Directory C:\Pi World\Data Directory\Templates. The default storage path for Workbooks is C:\Pi World\Data Directory\Workbooks.

If you want to create a new folder for your Workbook Templates or Workbooks, you’ll need to go to Explorer and create a folder before you can use the Tools • File Locations… to change the storage path.


Workspace

Each Data Manager looks

after data from a

particular source. Active

data managers appear at

the top of the pane.

Cards and controls

associated with a Data

Manager show when the

Data Manager is active. In

this Workbook there is a

Watch Data Manager, a

Telemetry Data Manager,

a Setup Data Manager,

and a Real Time Data

Manager.

Gives information about

your current Pi Workshop

operation

Data Manager Pane

Status Bar

A list of all the channels

that have ever been ‘seen’

by the system. The

Channel Database can be

repositioned to make

more efficient use of

available screen

workspace. Dragging the

pane into the work space

makes it float; dragging to

the edges of the screen

fixes the pane in position.

Channel Database

Toolbars provide menu

commands at the click of

a button. The four toolbars

are:� Standard

Managers

Layout�

Controls� Server

Toolbars can be



available screen

workspace. Dragging a

toolbar into the work

space makes it float.

Toolbars

This area shows

important information

about each channel

selected in the�Channel

Channel Parameters

The Archive Manager is

where Setups are stored.

Archive Manager

Pi Server looks after the

communication between

Pi Workshop and Pi

Sigma systems.

Pi Server

The Menu Bar gives

access to Pi Workshop

commands.

Menu Bar

The Setup Data Manager

provides the tools to

configure a Pi Sigma

system. The Setup Data

Manager comprises

Applications that

configure specific parts of

the hardware system;

Maths Channels for

combining channel values

and Loom connections

that ‘map’ the electrical

connections of the

Setup Data Manager

Cards are Pi Workshop’s

workspace. Cards are

where controls can be

arranged to show or

interact with data

associated with particular

Data Managers. In this

Workbook there are four

cards with appropriate

controls and ‘links’ to�Data

Managers.

Cards

floatdock

Drag to float.�Data

Manager Pane will

only dock at

left-hand edge of

the workspace

Drag to

float.�Channel

Database will only

dock at right-hand

and bottom edges

of the workspace

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Workspace

Each Data Manager looks

after data from a

particular source. Active

data managers appear at

the top of the pane.

Cards and controls

associated with a Data

Manager show when the

Data Manager is active. In

this Workbook there is a

Watch Data Manager, a

Telemetry Data Manager,

a Setup Data Manager,

and a Real Time Data

Manager.

Gives information about

your current Pi Workshop

operation

Data Manager Pane

Status Bar

A list of all the channels

that have ever been ‘seen’

by the system. The

Channel Database can be



available screen

workspace. Dragging the

pane into the work space

makes it float; dragging to

the edges of the screen

fixes the pane in position.

Channel Database

Toolbars provide menu

commands at the click of

a button. The four toolbars

are:� Standard

Managers

Layout�

Controls� Server

Toolbars can be



available screen

workspace. Dragging a

toolbar into the work

space makes it float.

Toolbars

This area shows

important information

about each channel

selected in the�Channel

Channel Parameters

The Archive Manager is

where Setups are stored.

Archive Manager

Pi Server looks after the

communication between

Pi Workshop and Pi

Sigma systems.

Pi Server

The Menu Bar gives

access to Pi Workshop

commands.

Menu Bar

The Setup Data Manager

provides the tools to

configure a Pi Sigma

system. The Setup Data

Manager comprises

Applications that

configure specific parts of

the hardware system;

Maths Channels for

combining channel values

and Loom connections

that ‘map’ the electrical

connections of the

Setup Data Manager

Cards are Pi Workshop’s

workspace. Cards are

where controls can be

arranged to show or

interact with data

associated with particular

Data Managers. In this

Workbook there are four

cards with appropriate

controls and ‘links’ to�Data

Managers.

Cards

floatdock

Drag to float.�Data

Manager Pane will

only dock at

left-hand edge of

the workspace

Drag to

float.�Channel

Database will only

dock at right-hand

and bottom edges

of the workspace


To save a Workbook Template:1 Make sure that you are in Unlocked mode.2 Choose File • Save or File • Save As….

To save a Workbook:1 Make sure that you are in Locked mode .2 Choose File • Save or File • Save As….

File extensions■ Pi Workshop Workbook files have a .pww file extension■ Pi Workshop Template files have a .pwt file extension.

Pi Workshop fundamentals

Pi Workshop is built around four fundamental concepts:

■ Cards■ Channels■ Data Managers■ Controls

Cards

A card is a Workspace on which you assemble Controls to perform different functions. Cards define how information is displayed on-screen. Collections of cards in unlocked mode are workbook templates. Collections of cards in locked mode are workbooks.

Channels

Channels are simply the handles for data from a particular source. For example the data describing the speed of an engine is the RPM channel.

Data Managers

Data Managers are software modules that present data from a particular source in a format suitable for use with Pi Workshop. For each data source there must be an appropriate Data Manager, for example, to use data from a telemetry system you need the Telemetry Data Manager.

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Controls

Controls are pre-defined functions that you use to display and manipulate channels. Controls are assembled onto cards in Unlocked mode and ‘locked’ into position in Locked more.


The Archive Manager and Archive Assistant

Archive Manager

Archive� 001

Archive� 002

Archive� 003

The Archive Manager

The Archive Manager is a separate application that is installed when you install Pi Work-shop. The Archive Manager stores Archive files that you create using Pi Workshop Data Managers.

Archives

An Archive is a database file that comprises

n the setup databasen Pi AutoCal databasen PC Private database

Archive 001

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Setup database

The setup database comprises calibrations, channels, logging tables, telemetry setups, dash configuration—everything from the Setup Data Manager and Setup Applications.

AutoCal Database

If you have installed Pi AutoCal then AutoCal data sets are stored in the AutoCal Data-base.

PC Private Database

The PC Private Database is a compressed copy of the Setup and AutoCal database. PC Private can be used by regulatory authorities to check for illegal control devices and code. PC Private information is also included with datasets letting you analyse both logged data and the setup information from which it was created.

The Archive Assistant

The Archive assistant is an application that works in parallel with the Archive Manager. When a change is made to a Setup or AutoCal database, the Archive Manager analyses the proposed changes, and calculates the impact of the new database on the Pi Sigma system.

Pi Sigma systems are very flexible systems. You can easily change many of the parameters that determine how the system will operate. Each time you make a change to a particular part of the archive, the Archive Assistant analyses the proposed settings and compares the result with the information it has about the capabilities of your Pi Sigma system. This method has several benefits:

n because the Archive Assistant operates interactively you can immediately see the results of the changes you make.

n the configuration is calculated by the PC, so it is virtually impossible to send an inappropriate setup to a Pi Sigma system.


Distributing the Archive Manager

The Archive Manager is a separate application that can be installed on any network ‘client PC’. The network can be LAN (Local Area Network) or even a transatlantic ISDN.

To edit an Archive you use Pi Workshop to interact with an Archive Manager on a network PC and access a Setup database. The changes that you make on the local machine are processed by the Archive Assistant and stored by the Archive Manager on the client PC in preparation for sending to a Pi Sigma system by a Server PC.

How many Archive Managers?

You can have as many Archive Managers in your system as you like.

More than one person making changes to an archive

Clearly on a network system more than one person can make changes to the setup data-base and ultimately the Archive. The Archive Manager works on a ‘first-come-first-served’ basis. One or more PCs may open the database and make changes. Changes to the Archive are calculated by the Archive Assistant when the Save button is pressed. The last press of the Save button will create the most up-to-date Setup database and Archive.

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Sending your first setup to the car

Before you can send the default setup to the car you must ensure that the Pi Sigma Sys-tem on the car is powered up and that the PC is connected to the download connector on the car. Refer to the Pi Sigma System Hardware Reference supplied with your Pi Sigma System for more information.

The Send button on the server toolbar window will be unavailable if your connection is not correct and will be in colour if your connection is good. The Logger button traffic light will go to green. Refer to the section Pi Server in this user guide for more information.

You have to select the default setup that Pi Research has created for you.

To send the default setup:1 Click on the System tab in the Pi Server window.2 Click on your default setup in the Available Systems window.3 Click Apply…. The Active System name in the System Selection section

changes to the name of the setup you selected in step 2.4 Click the Logger tab in the Pi Sever window.5 Click Send on the Pi Server toolbar.

The default setup is sent to the car. The message section of Pi Server window will display a number of messages while the setup is being sent. A message saying that the setup has been loaded successfully will be displayed. A message will then say that Pi Server is connected to your setup.

You can test the setup without driving the car. Make sure that the PC is connected to the car.

To test the setup:1 Click the Logger tab in the Pi Server window.2 Click Start Logging. The text on the button changes to Stop Logging and the

Manual Override status changes to (ON).3 After approximately 10 seconds click Stop Logging. The text on the but-

ton changes to Start Logging and the Manual Override status changes to (OFF).


The Pi Sigma system now has a dataset which you can offload onto your PC and which can be analysed using the Pi Analysis PC software.

To offload the dataset:1 Click the Logger tab on the Pi Server window.2 Click Offload or click the Logger (Traffic light) button on the Pi Server tool-

bar.

The scroll bar in the Progress section of the window will indicate the progress of the offload. The message window will display a number of messages during offload and will indicate when offload has completed.

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Channels

In Pi Workshop, channels are either real or logical. A real channel is a channel that originates from a real sensor. A logical channel originates from an application such as a closed-loop control system or from the result of a mathematical operation.

Channel Properties

A channel is a piece of data with a label and a set of properties. Channel properties define a channel and it’s behaviour when used with other applications and controls.

n User name – a text label that can be changed.n Tag Name – a unique name that cannot be changed, and enables applica-

tions that require the channel to find it in the channel database.n Quantity – what the channel measures.n Units – the units for the measured quantity; for example V, A, K, Pascals.n DPs – the number of decimal places to which the channel is displayed.n Autoscale – a parameter that forces graph scales to automatically adjust to

the maximum and minimum channel values.n Colour – the colour of the channel when used in a display control.n Maximum – the maximum channel value that will display.n Minimum – the minimum channel value that will display.n Alarm Max – the maximum value that the channel is likely to reach under

alarm conditions.n Alarm Min – the minimum value that the channel is likely to reach under

alarm conditions.n Tel Max – this channel property is no longer used.n Tel Min – this channel property is no longer used.n Origin – the zero value for the channel value between Maximum and Mini-

mum.n Target – a value that a channel is forced to during calibration and zeroing.n Hidden – hides the channel from the channel database.


Output Units

By default, Pi Workshop applies SI units to output quantities, e.g. downloaded data.

Quantity SI units

length metresvolume m3 velocity m/stemperature Kelvintime secondsangle radiansangular velocity radians/secondpressure Pascalsacceleration m–2

voltage Volts current Ampsmass Kgforce Newtontorque Newton metre

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The Global Channel Database

GCDB Channel list GCDB Channel groups

The Global Channel Database

The Global Channel Database (GCDB) is a database of all the channels that Pi Workshop has ever ‘seen’. Channels are added to the channel database when you:

n calibrate and attach sensorsn create math channelsn calibrate and attach actuatorsn communicate with ECUs or other peripheral devices using data streamsn create a telltale, latch, or switch

About the channel database

The channel database comprises two panes. The upper pane is the Channel List and can show individual channels or groups of channels. The lower pane is the Channel Properties, and shows the properties of the channels selected in the Channel List.


How channels appear in the Global Channel Database

The Global Channel Database shows channels differently according to their ‘context’. The context of a channel indicates where it exists, and how it can be used. The context of a channel is shown by different type styles in the Channel List.

Type style Example Context

normal Water Temp The channel is in the channel database and is available in the current Data Manager.

greyed Water Temp The channel is in channel database but not avail-able in the current Data Manager.

normal italic Water Temp The channel is in the channel database and avail-able in current Data Manager but has Hidden property checked. The channel can be seen if Show All Channels is selected.

greyed italic Water Temp The channel is in the channel database and has Hidden property checked but is not available in the current Data Manager. The channel can be seen if Show All Channels is selected.

How does a channel become unavailable?

A channel becomes unavailable when its context changes. The Global Channel Database shows every channel that it has ever seen but the channel may not be in the current Data Manager. For example, if you are receiving Telemetry data and drag-and-drop Water Temp onto a graph showing the Water Temp channel, but Water Temp is not in the received Telemetry data stream, then the channel is unavailable in the current context.

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Viewing the Global Channel Database

To view the Global Channel Database:1 Click the Toggle Channel Database button on the Managers toolbar or

choose View • Channel Database.

The Channel Database window appears docked to the right hand edge of the Work-space.

You can re-position the Channel Database window by clicking on the name at the top of the Channel Database window and dragging it to a new position in the Workspace.

Channel name filter

You can rapidly find a channel in the Channel Database window.

To find a channel using channel name filter:1 Click in the list of channel names to make it active.2 Type the first letter of the channel name.

This reduces the channel list to channels beginning with that letter.

3 Type the second letter of the channel name.

This reduces the channel list to channels beginning with the first and second letter.

4 Continue typing one letter at a time until the channel you want is displayed.5 To go back one level press (Delete) or (Backspace).6 To go back all the way press (Delete) or (Backspace) until Filter :<none> appears

on the information bar at the top of the channels list.


Looking after your Pi Workshop files

When you installed Pi Workshop on your PC, two main folders were created. One folder contains all the application files and the other folder contains all your library files.

The application files were installed in C:\Program Files\PiWorld\PiWorkshop, where C: is the root of your PC. You should not touch any files in this folder.

The library files are installed in C:\PiWorld and its sub folders. When you make any changes to your setup, the files are stored in one of these sub folders.

Backup copies

It is important that you make backup copies of C:\PiWorld directory so that if you delete files in error or your computer develops a fault, you can recover your files.

C:\PiWorld should only be backed up or copied when local Archive Manager is not run-ning.

When the Archive Manager is running an icon is shown in the System Tray section of the desktop Taskbar.

To shutdown the Archive Manager:1 Click on the Archive Manager icon on the Taskbar. The Archive Manager

dialog box appears.2 Click Shut Down. The Archive Manager will close.

Set

up

Setup

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The Setup Organiser

The Setup Organiser is closely related to the Setup Data Manager and enables you to manipulate and store Setup databases and sensor calibrations.

The setup manager enables you to:

n save individual setup applicationsn save entire setupsn edit Math channelsn save entire loom configurationsn edit sensor calibrations

Show the Setup Organiser

To show the Setup Organiser:1 Click the Setup Organiser toggle button on the Managers Toolbar. (The

button is a toggle that shows or hides the Setup Organiser.) Or choose View • Setup Organiser.

sig +ve

sig –ve

(0V) 3V

0V (Batt –ve)

The Setup Organiser window appear.

Setup Organiser window in Library mode

The Setup Organiser above is showing the localhost libraries that were created from the Custom.Cab when you installed Pi Workshop. These are read only folders contain-


ing a standard set of Pi Sensors (complete with part numbers and calibrations) as well as each component of the default setup.

There are a number of components that can be dragged into the Setup Organiser Applica-tions (APPs) such as Telemetry and then archived.

Maths channels can be dragged into the Setup Organiser as well as Sensors. These will contain the calibration, but will not contain the input or output name.

Looms, or sub looms can also be dragged into the Setup Organiser. The loom will retain the input and output name as well as the calibration.

The Setup Organiser has two working modes that determine the information it shows: Library mode and Setup mode.

Library mode

In Library mode the Setup Organiser shows components of setups. These can be sensors, math channels and setup applications. Components that are greyed are read only items and serve as templates for your own design.

Setup mode

In Setup mode the Setup Organiser shows complete setup database files that can be used with a Setup Data Manager.

To change from Library mode to Setup mode:1 Right-click on Libraries in the Setup Organiser and select Show Setups

from the pop-up menu.

To change from Setup mode to Library mode:1 Right-click on Setups in the Setup Organiser and select Show Libraries

from the pop-up menu.

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Using the Setup Organiser

If Setup Organiser is as shown above, you will only be able to take information from the Setup Organiser as the folders seen are Read Only. To write to a folder you must create a new folder.

To create a new folder:1 Right click on the connection localhost and select New Folder from the

pop-up menu. A New Folder is added to the Setup Organiser Window.

The New Folder must be named and information entered as required.

To name the new folder:1 Right click on New Folder. Select Rename Folder from the pop-up menu.

The new folder pop-up menu options are relatively self-explanatory.

Import Sensor… will import a sensor from a *.ini file. This is the most useful way to transfer calibrations on floppy discs etc. The *.ini file is limited to a size of 64K which equates to 100 inputs and 100 outputs on one sensor.

A sensor can be dragged from a setup in Pi Workshop and saved in a read/write folder for later use.


Note: If you want to copy a sensor into the library you must hold down the (Ctrl) key while dragging, otherwise the sensor will be removed from the loom.

If a sensor is placed in this folder and right clicked, a list of options is displayed. If that sen-sor is in a read only folder, it will grey out any re-writing options and display the following window.

Setup Organiser window with a read only Sensors folder selected

This is a read only sensor and it is not possible to delete, rename or cut the sensor. As the folder is read only, it is not possible to paste into the folder. The standard library that supports Pi Workshop has a read only folder named Sensors. This contains a list of all sensors in the Pi Range. These are required by Pi Workshop to prompt the user with a list of sensors when adding a connector to the loom. The Sensors folder also has a sub-directory structure containing the same list of sensors arranged in categories defining the type of sensor, such as temperature, displacement, pressure etc.

Double clicking on a sensor will display the sensor information. In the case of the read only Pi sensors all the fields will be greyed out, however a custom made sensor can be edited in the library. This is especially useful for changing and checking calibrations.

The Export sensor… option shown in the pop-up menu in the above window will export the selected sensor into a *.ini format file.

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Connecting to another user

The Setup Organiser is the main tool that is used for sharing information.

To connect to another user:1 Right click on Libraries in the Setup Organiser window and select

New Connection…. The Archive Manager Machine dialog box appears.2 Enter the name of the computer that holds the Archive Manager that you want

to connect to. The name can be either the PC name or the IP Address.

This Setup Organiser will display exactly the same setup as that below (localhost), but it will be the information from another user.


Setup Organiser displaying ‘localhost’ library and ‘Another User’ library

The Another User library includes their read only library and their personal libraries.

WARNING: It is possible to delete their information, and for them to delete yours.

If Another User has a sensor or setup (e.g. logger setup) that you wish to use, the item can be dragged straight onto your setup, or it can be dragged into your library.

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To show Setups on another user:1 In the Setup Organiser right click on Libraries and select Show Setups. This

will list your setups (localhost) and the Another User setups.

To create a setup identical to another but with a different name: 1 Right click on the setup you want to duplicate.2 Select Create Duplicate… from the pop-up menu. 3 Enter a name for the duplicate setup.


To create a new setup:1 Right click on ‘localhost’ and select New Setup… from the pop-up menu. The

Create a New Setup dialog box appears.

2 Enter a name for the new Setup, and then select the Setup you wish to base the new Setup on.

If none is selected, <Clean Setup> will be automatically chosen.

<Clean Setup> has no looms, sensors and no configuration. It is a basic setup.

Default Setup is your default setup that was created by Pi Research.

The other options in the pop-up menu allow you to remove this connection, or change the archive manager that this connection is pointing to.

Further functionality of the Setup Organiser can be found by right and left clicking on com-ponents and folders.

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Selecting a Setup

This section describes how to choose an existing setup or create a new setup.

To open a Setup Data Manager

1 Click the Sigma Setup Data Manager button on the Managers Toolbar or choose Insert Sigma Setup Data Manager.

An empty Setup Data Manager is displayed in the Data Manager pane.

The Setup Data Manager will try to connect to either the localhost (i.e. your computer) or a remote machine (which ever Pi Workshop was last connected to.)


To select a Setup

1 Select <No Setup> and right click (or press (Shift) + (F10)). A pop-up menu ap-pears.

2 Choose Select Setup…. If this is greyed out select Archive Manager… and then select localhost. The Setup Manager appears.

3 Use the arrow keys or the mouse to select a Setup. 4 If none of these is required, click the New… button. The Create New Setup

dialog box appears.

5 Enter a name for the new Setup, and then select the Setup you wish to base the new Setup on.

If none is selected, <Clean Setup> will be automatically chosen.

<Clean Setup> has no looms, sensors and no configuration. It is a basic setup.

Default Setup is your default setup that was created by Pi Research.

6 The Setup is ready to be edited.

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Setting up Sigma Configuration

This section gives information on how to set the Sigma Configuration so that it matches the Pi Sigma hardware setup. As Pi Sigma is such a flexible system, operating around a network, Pi Workshop needs to know what Pi Sigma hardware it is setting up.

Tell Pi Workshop what hardware you have

1 Click on the Toggle Data Manager button on the Managers Toolbar or choose View • Data Manger Pane. The Data Manager Pane will appear.

2 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Sigma Configura-tion. The Sigma Configuration window appears.

Sigma Configuration window

This is the basic setup that is the bare minimum required to send a setup to the MCU.


If you are setting up a Pi Sigma system with an SCU:1 Right click on Setup and select ADD SCU from the pop-up menu. The Slave

Control Unit Properties dialog box appears.2 Complete the dialog box.

During editing of the configuration, you must add the I/O cards that are in your Pi Sigma MCU (or SCU).

To add I/O cards:1 Right click on Logger and select Add IO card. The Add IO Card dialog box

appears.

Add IO Card dialog box

2 Name the card.

The first card should be the digital card which every Pi Sigma MCU has on the core card, and should always be given the name Digital.

3 Select the type of card from the pulldown Type list.

The Digital card is listed as App Embedded 1 and is located in slot 0.

4 Enter a card slot number from the Card Slot Number list.5 Click OK and a digital card will appear below the logger.

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If this is expanded (click on the +), the groups of channels provided with this card are displayed.

The rest of the I/O cards fitted in your system must be added.

4 Right click on Logger and select Add IO Card.

An MCU3 normally has three Selectronic cards fitted, so the process should be repeated the required number of times as detailed in the table below.

I/O card name I/O Card type MCU card slot number

Selectronic 1 Selectronic 1Selectronic 2 Selectronic 2Selectronic 3 Selectronic 3


This will make the tree look as displayed below.

If other I/O card types are added, such as LVDT cards, they should be named accord-ingly.

Note: If you have an MCU5 system you will have to repeat the process for the required number of times to fill each card slot.

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Setting the FSRs

Pi Sigma has a number of FSRs (Fixed Synchronous Requirements). These are channels that are included in the Logger card and perform certain pre-defined functions. An example of this is EngineSpeed. This is the channel that when associated with Start and Stop Log-ging criteria, will allow the MCU to Log. Also, EngineSpeed is the channel that the MCU uses to operate the shift lights.

Another example is Wheelspeed. This is needed to generate distance that is used in V6 Analysis distance plots.

The FSRs are stored in the Logger Boxcode. Therefore, the setup must know what Box-code will be used so that it can produce the suitable FSRs for that setup.

To select the Boxcode:1 In the Sigma Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Sigma Con-

figuration. The Sigma Configuration window appears. 2 Right click on Logger and select Set Code Build.

If your PC has been connected to an MCU, a list of boxcodes will appear in the Application Buildstamp dialog box.

Application Buildstamp dialog box

3 Select the boxcode that is in the MCU that the setup was been created for.

If your PC has never connected to an MCU it will not have uploaded the Buildstamp and the associated list of FSRs.


You can import a Boxcode.

To import Boxcode:1 In the Sigma Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Sigma Con-

figuration. The Sigma Configuration window appears.2 Right click on Setup and select Codebuild Manager. The Codebuild Manager

dialog box appears.

Codebuild Manager dialog box

3 Click Import. The Open window appears.4 Use the Open window to locate the *.fsr file you require. Click the Open

button.

To Export a Boxcode:1 In the Sigma Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Sigma Con-

figuration. The Sigma Configuration window appears.2 Right click on Setup and select Codebuild Manager. The Codebuild Manager

dialog box appears.3 Select the boxcode from the BuildStamp list.4 Click the Export button. The Save As window appears.5 Use the Save As window to find a location to save the boxcode file.

The boxcode is stored as a *.fsr file and is relatively small so could be transported on Floppy disks etc.

Once the FSRs are set up, and the Setup knows what MCUs and cards are included in the hardware, you are ready to start creating a loom and adding sensors.

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Selectronics I/O Card Setup

This section describes how to configure the Selectronics I/O card in Pi Workshop. The Selectronics I/O card is one of several signal conditioning cards available for Pi Sigma Systems.

Overview

The Selectronics I/O card has:

n six differential inputs and two single-ended inputs arranged in four pairs or Groups

n four excitations which can be configured in the softwaren eight excitation feedback ports, four measuring the actual excitation voltage

and four measuring the excitation current

Two of the Groups have grounds for high power use and the other two Groups have grounds for low power use.

In addition to measuring just voltage, some of the channels can be configured to directly interface with RTDs and current output sensors. The following tables summarise the input functions of each channel in the groups.


Selectronic I/O card input functions

Group 1 - Inputs 1A and1B

tupnI eticxE snoitpoeticxE epyT edoM niaG ferCDA laicepS

A1 1CXE TTABdetalugernuA5.0RO

detalugerV01–0.5

laitnereffiD roralopiBralopinU

ralopiB046–0ralopinU8–0

etulosbA enoN

B1 1CXE TTABdetalugernUA5.0RO

detalugerV01–0.5

dedneelgniS ralopinU ralopinU8–0 enoN

Group 2 - Inputs 2A an 2B


A2 2CXE detalugerV01–0.5 laitnereffiD roralopiBralopinU


/etulosbAcirtemoitaR

DTR

B2 2CXE detalugerV01–0.5 dedneelgniS ralopinUylno

ralopinU8–0 DTR

Group 3 – Inputs 3A and 3B





enoN

B3 3CXE detalugerV01–0.5 laitnereffiD roralopiBralopinU


tnerruC)Am02–0(

Group 4 - Inputs 4A and 4B





enoN

B4 4CXE detalugerV01–0.5 laitnereffiD roralopiBralopinU


tnerruC)Am02–0(

Explanation of the headings in the Selectronic I/O card input functions tables are given below.

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Input

The name of the channel. In Pi Workshop it will appear in the following format:

Input1A.02.03.16

where:

n Input1A refers to the channeln .02 refers to the Node (02 is an MCU, 05 is an SCU)n .03 refers to the Card number (0-5 where 0 is always the digital I/O card)n .16 is a unique number assigned by Pi Workshop PC Software

Excite

The Excite output associated with that Group. This is loom dependant but normally EXC1 is for Group 1, EXC2 is for Group 2 and so on.

The programmable voltages work from 5V to 10V.

Usually when the engine is running this will be okay (because the alternator voltage will be around 14 V,) however care must be taken when the car is on the pad when calibrating.

The EXC outputs are rated for a 120 ohms load. i.e. 100mA at 12V or 40mA at 5V.

Note: EXC1 has a 500mA unregulated option.

Type

Differential means that there is a signal –ve and a signal +ve. Single ended means that the signal –ve is grounded on the card.

Generally, only low current sensors should be used with single ended inputs. These types of input are suited to temperature or pressure sensor where absolute accuracy is not imperative.

They are also useful for heavy current sensors. With heavy current sensors the signal –ve is connected to the sensor GND at the sensor – this compensates for any ground difference.


Mode

Unipolar means that the input can only measure positive signals.

Bipolar means that the input can measure both positive and negative signals.

Gain

Unipolar channels can be programmed by the user to have a gain from 0 to 8.

Bipolar channels can be programmed by the user to have a gain from 0 to 640.

ADC ref

There are two types of sensor available, absolute and ratiometric.

Absolute sensors are usually active sensors, such as accelerometers, which have an inter-nal voltage reference or regulator and are unaffected by drift in the excitation voltage.

Ratiometric sensors, such as potentiometers or strain gauges, are affected by the excitation voltage. If you double the excitation voltage, you double the signal voltage.

In ratiometric mode the Selectronics I/O card monitors the excitation voltage and compen-sates for any drift. This is useful for strain gauges where the gains are high, and where the excitation voltage can be increased (e.g. from 5V to 7V) to give more output.

In ratiometric mode the calibration is unchanged even when the excitation is increased. This means that you can decrease the gain and improve the signal to noise ratio.

Special

Some inputs can accommodate special sensors e.g. RTDs and Current output type of sensor. Selecting Current operation limits the possible configurations of a Group. If inputs 3B or 4B are set to current input, then inputs 3A or 4A must be bipolar. Ratiometric mode is not available.

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Selectronic I/O card configuration constraints

Although the Selectronic I/O card is highly configurable there are several limitations imposed by setting up a particular channel in a certain way.

Constraint 1

Because each group (1, 2, 3, or 4) shares an excitation, sensors attached to input A and input B of the same group must require the same excitation.

Constraint 2

You can mix and match gains with two exceptions:

n If one of the channels in a group has unity gain (i.e. 0 to 5 V, or +/- 2.5V) then the other channel in the group must also be set with unity gain.

n For the single ended inputs, 1A and 2A they must both be either unipolar or bipolar. Changing one automatically changes the other.

Constraint 3

Selecting Current operation limits the configurations possible in each group.

n If 3B or 4B are set to current input then 3A or 4A must be bipolar and Ratio-metric mode is unavailable.


Excitation modes

The excitations can be set to be on or off depending on certain conditions.

Selectronics IO Card dialog box with Group 2 tab selected

The figure above also shows the different excitation modes (always on, battery good, and so on.)

These are OR’ed together. This means that in the example above the excitation will be on when the engine is running OR the car is moving OR the box is logging OR the PC com-puter is plugged in OR any combination of these four.

Excitation Feedback

In addition to the input channels themselves there are 4 excite voltage and 4 excite current ports. You do not have to configure them to work.

These ports can be used to indicate if a sensor is broken. They are named in Pi Workshop in a similar way to the input channels themselves i.e. :

Voltage ADC 0 – 1.02.03.25Current ADC 0 – 1.02.03.29

ADC 0 refers to EXC 1, .02 is the node, .03 is the card, and .29 is a unique identifying number that Pi Workshop allocates.

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Configuring Selectronic I/O card

You select the settings on the Selectronic Cards by opening the Sigma Configuration. Refer to the Selectronic I/O card input functions tables for information on the options available.

To configure a Selectronic I/O card:1 Double click on Sigma Configuration in the Setup Data Manager. The Sigma

Configuration dialog box appears.

Sigma Configuration dialog box

2 Right click on the card and select Properties…. The Selectronic IO Card properties box appears.


Selectronics IO Card properties box with I/O card tab selected

The Name text box displays the name of the card as it appears in the Sigma Configuration. The Card Slot Number displays the card slot number in the MCU that the card occupies.

3 Click the tab for the Group you wish to configure.

Selectronics IO Card properties box with Group 1 tab selected

4 Select the power supply Type and Volts for the type of sensor you are us-ing.

5 Set the Input range of the sensor.

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The range should be set as closely as possible to the output range of the sensor.

Amplifier gain is set to achieve the input range specified. The ports are automatically nor-malised, or scaled so that the raw data from the card will always be in Volts.

Selectronic Cards have special modes for particular sensors, e.g. RTD, Current Input.

Selectronic IO Card properties box with Group 2 tab selected

Ratiometric sensors (i.e. non active), e.g. a potentiometer, can be run in Ratiometric mode. In this mode the excitation drift is corrected and very accurate readings can be taken.


Inputs – technical description

All the inputs of the Selectronics I/O cards are all differential inputs internally. A differential input measures the difference in voltage between two pins, sig +ve and sig –ve.

Differential inputs

If sig +ve is a higher voltage than sig –ve then the output is a positive measurement. For example:

sig +ve

sig –ve

2V 5V

0V (Batt –ve)

Representation of a differential input

The output would read 3 volts, because the difference in voltage is 5 – 2 = 3.

Unipolar inputs

Unipolar means that the measurement range (say 5V) is only positive, so if sig +ve was a lower voltage than sig –ve the output would be 0V. But in bipolar mode the measurement range (say 5V) is split between positive and negative, giving a range of –2.5V to +2.5V, so:

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sig +ve

sig –ve

2V 1V

0V (Batt –ve)

Representation of a bipolar input

The output would read –1 volt, because the difference in voltage is 1 – 2 = –1.

Single ended inputs

In Pi Sigma the single ended channels are just differential channels with the sig –ve con-nected to 0V inside the MCU.

sig +ve

sig –ve

(0V) 3V

0V (Batt –ve)

Representation of a single ended input

So in this case output would simply be 3V.

If you have any questions about these diagrams please contact Pi Research.

Note: Max range is confined by the power supply rails, which are +12V. So no signals outside around +10 Volts (relative to the box supply –ve) can be measured.


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Sensors and looms interface

Getting started

Pi Workshop window

In the above figure below the Apps folder lie two looms, one for math channels and one for sensors and actuators.


n A Math Channel takes one or more channels as inputs, applies a formula and outputs a channel.

n A Sensor takes one or more ports as inputs, applies a calibration and out-puts a channel.

n An Actuator takes a channel as its input and outputs a port.

User levels

So that most of the complexity of looms is hidden from the average user, operations are organised into three levels of difficulty. Day-to-day operations such as calibrating sensors are classed Standard, so that any user may perform them. Operations which may break the system, such as reorganising the loom and altering its configuration are classed Expert, and are disabled from most users. An intermediate level, Advanced, caters for operations of medium difficulty.

The user level, which is the highest level of operation available at a particular moment, is set using the Pi User Level Selector tray application on the main Windows task Bar.

Pi Workshop Settings

Right-click on the icon to show a menu with the user levels. The current level is checked (✓).

What are Connectors?

The loom is organised hierarchically as a tree of connectors. A connector is a branch point of the loom. A connector may contain either a collection of connectors or a sensor. The umbrella term sensor is used to refer to sensors, actuators and math channels. They are all objects which have inputs, outputs and a calibration.

An example of creating connectors for the Front and Rear loom branches follows.

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Creating a Connector

1 Right-click on the Pi Workshop Settings icon on the Windows task bar. The Pi Workshop Settings pop-up menu appears.

2 Click the User Access Levels tab and select Expert.

Connector creation can break the loom, so it is forbidden for the Standard and Advanced levels.

The Loom branch is labelled “Loom : <NC>” which means that no sub-looms or sensors are connected to that point.

3 Right-click on Loom and select Attach Connector… from the pop-up menu. The Attach Connector wizard appears.

Connector Wizard first page


4 Click Next>. The Summary dialog box appears.

Connector Wizard Summary page

5 In the Connector Name box name the new connector as Front .6 Enter a description of its purpose in the Comment field.7 Click Next>. The Edit dialog page appears.

Connector Wizard Edit page

This page is used to set the port configuration of the connector. For the time being, leave the connector empty.

8 Click Finish and the new connector appears on the loom. 9 Repeat the process to add a Rear connector.

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Data Manager pane

The connectors are shown with red crosses to indicate that they are broken. If you hover the mouse over one of them some diagnostic text is shown:

The port list is blank for the time being, so ignore the message. The connectors are also labelled <NC> as seen before at the loom top.

In this example a sensor to measure the front left wheel speed will be attached. This will connect to a connector which branches off the Front loom, and is called FL Wheel 1.

10 Right-click on the Front loom. The Attach Connector Wizard appears. 11 Click Sensor… to create a connector for a particular sensor. The Select A Template dialog box appears.


12 Select the FL Wheelspeed Sensor and click OK.

A connector is a means to connect a sensor to the loom. A sensor requires a number of input ports of certain quantities, and ports meeting the sensor’s requirements must be present on a connector for it to be compatible with that sensor. Select the relevant sensor as a template. The connector wizard then examines the sensor and displays the list of port types which it expects.

The name of the template sensor is shown on the Attach Connector Wizard. Make sure that the correct one has been selected – once the Next> button has been clicked it will not be possible to go back and select a different sensor.

13 Click Next>. Enter the connector name FL Wheel 1. 14 Click Next> again.

The wizard has determined that you need to select a port of quantity delta-time (∆t) and a port of user type (u) to satisfy the sensor.

15 Double-click the first quantity in the list to select a port.

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In this example FL Wheel 1 connector on the loom is wired up to port Digital 2.02.00.24.

16 Select port Digital 2.02.00.24. Click OK.17 Select a port of user type to complete the list.


18 Click Finish to create the connector.

The connector is valid, so it is not shown with a cross. A dark green connector is shown because the system is set up to show connectors with one time input and one user type input in that colour.

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Port Propagation

A physical loom connects sensors to the Pi Sigma system’s ports using a branching net-work of wires. If the loom is cut at any point and a connector spliced in, the port to sensor wiring appears on both sides of the break.

In the software version of the loom, the wires are represented by a trail of ports from a sensor to the top of the loom. For instance, the connector which you have just created uses port Digital 2.02.00.24. When this port was added to the connector, references to it were copied up the loom to its root. In this way, the loom can be broken at any point and reconnected correctly.

To see this port propagation:1 Right-click on the Front connector and select Connector Properties….

In Expert mode, an Edit page is available.

This is the port configuration for the Front connector. Note that it is identical to the con-figuration for FL Wheel 1. Also note that the port configuration is the correct one for a dark green connector icon, hence Front has the same icon as FL Wheel 1.


Attaching a Sensor

This is a Standard User level operation.1 Right-click on the FL Wheel 1 connector and select Attach Sensor…. The

Attach Sensor dialog box appears.

Sensors compatible with the connector are listed. Note that two different icons are shown in the list. Those with dark green splashes are sensors explicitly compatible with the con-nector. Those with grey splashes are generic and will take any list of ports. If one of those is selected its port requirement becomes fixed at whatever the connector supplies.

2 Select FL Wheelspeed Sensor. The sensor properties dialog box appears3 Enter a sensor name and comments. Click OK.

The connector icon changes to show that a sensor is present, and the label is now of the

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form Connector Name : Sensor Name. Clicking the + icon by the connector will display the sensor’s output channels.

Removing Sensors

Dragging a sensor from the loom to the library will remove it from the loom unless the (Ctrl) key is held down, in which case the sensor is removed from the loom and a copy of the sensor is placed in the library.

Selecting the sensor and pressing (Delete) or right-clicking and selecting Remove Sensor will destroy the sensor without saving a copy.

Removing Sub-looms

Dragging a sub-loom to the library removes it from the loom and saves it in the library. A connector is left in the loom marked <NC>. Selecting a connector with a sub-loom con-nected and pressing (Delete) destroys the sub-loom.

Removing Connectors

In Expert mode, selecting an empty connector and pressing (Delete) or right-clicking and selecting Remove Connector destroys that connector. Note that the ports used by the connector, which have been propagated up the loom, remain on the connector’s parent.


Sensor Drag-and-drop

Sensors can be moved around, onto and off the loom by dragging and dropping, or by cut and paste. The possible operations are listed here.

n Dragging a sensor from the library to an empty, compatible connector at-taches a duplicate to that connector. On dropping, the sensor’s property sheet is displayed.

n Dragging a sensor from the loom to the library removes it from the loom. Hold the (Ctrl) key to place a copy in the library.

n Dragging a sensor from a connector to another compatible connector moves it. Hold the (Ctrl) key to attach a copy. Note that the copy must have different output channel names for the setup to be valid.

n Dragging a sensor from the library to an occupied, compatible connector with the left button is not allowed. If the right mouse button is used in the opera-tion, a context menu appears on dropping with three options; the dropped sensor can be used to re-calibrate the sensor in situ, it can completely replace the original, or the operation can be cancelled.

Compatible sensors

A sensor is compatible with a connector if the connector’s and the sensor’s port lists are compatible. The port lists are compatible if the quantities and ordering match. So, if a sensor requires an input port of voltage quantity and an input port of user type, it will only match a connector which has two input ports, one of voltage quantity and one of user type, in that order.

If a sensor and a connector are compatible, their icons will be a matching pair.

Some sensors such as the Full Generic Sensor have no fixed port requirement until they have been attached to a connector. The icons for such sensors cannot indicate a compat-ible connector type. However, they will be available in the Attach Sensor dialog box.

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Loom Drag-and-drop

Sub-looms can be moved off and onto the loom by dragging and dropping, or by cut and paste.

Dragging a sub-loom off a connector and onto the library removes it. Hold the (Ctrl) key to place a copy in the library.

A sub-loom can be dragged from the library onto an empty, compatible connector. It can be right-dragged onto an occupied, compatible connector with the result that a context menu is displayed. The options are to replace the current loom with the dropped one, or to cancel the operation.

Compatible sub-looms

A sub-loom is compatible with a connector if its port list is a subset of the connector’s. Ef-fectively, this means that the sub-loom has to start off on that connector. If in the meantime any ports have been removed from that connector, it will be incompatible.

Looms

The Loom is an hierarchical collection of connectors. Its purpose is to facilitate the connec-tion of sensors and actuators to the system. Typically, it will be organised to represent the structure of the wiring loom on the car.

The Maths Channels loom is an hierarchical collection of math channels, organised into folders.


The Loom

The I/O cards in a Pi Sigma system produce raw channels known as input ports and con-sume channels known as output ports. To ease the connection of sensors, ports are or-ganised into groups such that all the ports required by a sensor are members of the group. These groups are known as connectors. When a sensor is dropped onto a connector, all its inputs are specified. Ports can exist on one connector only, so there cannot be conflicts.

Connectors are arranged hierarchically into functional groups known as sub-looms. For instance, all the gearbox connectors may be grouped into a sub-loom. This permits the replacement of related groups of sensors, such as when gearboxes are switched complete with wiring.

Connectors connect either more connectors (and math folders) or one sensor or actuator. A particular connector may be used in either role provided that it is compatible with the sub-loom or sensor in question. Compatibility is discussed in earlier sections.

The ports contained by a connector are also present on that connector’s parent connector, and so on up to the top of the loom. In this way, when a sub-loom is removed and replaced its compatibility can be checked.

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Ports, Port Addresses and Quantities

A port is a channel produced by an I/O card. It is referenced using a port address, which usually forms part of its name. For instance, Digital 3.05.00.28 refers to a port with ad-dress 05.00.28. In this address, 05 is the Tebnet node ID, which refers to an SCU. The port is produced by an I/O card with ID 00 residing on that node. This port has an index of 28 on that card.

In addition, ports are referred to as either input or output, with the direction relative to the Pi Sigma system. Input ports are typically generated by (physical) sensors, and output ports are used to drive (physical) actuators.

The value of a port is calibrated to a particular quantity. For instance, a port connected to a thermocouple will measure the voltage output from the sensor, so its quantity is voltage. The purpose of a sensor is to calibrate this port value to the required measurement, which in this case means converting the voltage into a temperature.


Connector Operations

Once a connector has been attached to a loom it can be manipulated through its property sheet. In Expert mode, right-click on a connector and select Connector Properties… from the pop-up menu.

Connector properties summary page

Use this page to edit the connector name and comments. In Standard mode, this is the only property page available ad its fields are read-only.

Connector Properties Summary page

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Connector Properties Edit Page

This is the most important property page, used to change the port configuration of a con-nector.

Connector Properties Edit page

Use Insert Input and Insert Output to add input and output ports respectively to the end of the list. Remove ports by selecting them one at a time and pressing (Delete). Rearrange ports either by selecting one and clicking Move Up or Move Down, or by dragging a port in the list. The port order is important for determining compatibility with sensors. A sen-sor with one voltage port and one time port, in that order, will connect to a connector with type voltage, time but not one of type time, voltage.

When a loom is migrated from an earlier version of Pi Workshop, the ordering of the port list on each connector is random. For it to be possible to move similar sensors around the loom, the port list orders must be edited. For instance, if a wheelspeed sensor takes a time, user type connector then all wheelspeed connectors must be set to port order time, user type. After a migration, it is likely that some of the connectors will have the ports reversed.


Moving ports

Ports can be moved from connector to connector using the edit page. To add a port to a connector which is already in use elsewhere, click Insert Input or Insert Output and check Show Ports Currently In Use. The ports which are currently in use have an icon overlaid with a red slash. Select the desired port, click OK, then close the property sheet. The port will be added to the connector and all its parents up the tree, then removed from the branch that it used to occupy. If the port was used by a sensor in the other branch then that sensor will be broken.

Looms page

This page is used to rearrange sub-looms and has purely aesthetic effect.

Connector Properties Looms page

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Diagnostic page

This page gives information on why a connector is broken.

Connector Properties Diagnostic page

Key page

This page is a key to different connector images. Port lists are mapped to connector images by the file CONNECTOR.INI and the mappings are shown here. Each quantity is prefixed by an i for input or o for output. The entry for default is a special case, used where no image is specified.

Connector Properties Key page


Locking

In Expert mode, connectors can be locked and unlocked. Locking a connector prevents the connected sensor or sub loom from being removed. Also, the connector and sensor properties will be read-only. Locking applies in all modes, but only Expert users can modify the lock status.

To lock or unlock a connector, right-click and select Lock Connector. The Lock Branch and Unlock Branch options lock or unlock all child connectors as well.

Loom Report

The loom report displays the connectors, sensors and (for Expert mode) ports in a selected sub-loom. Right-click on a connector and select Loom Report.

If the Sensors Only box is checked only connectors with connected sensors or actuators are shown. The report depth is the number of levels which the report should descend for data.

Double-clicking an icon or connector name will display the connector properties sheet, double-clicking a sensor name or channel name will display the sensor properties and double-clicking a port will jump to the Electronic Configuration for that port.

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Right-clicking the report displays a context menu.

Copy Selection will copy the selected report entries to the clipboard. Copy All copies the whole report.

Loom Views

Once a loom structure has been created, it may be useful to view a list of connectors or sensors, for ease of navigation.

Right-click on a connector and select View • Flat by Connector or View • Flat by Sensor. The tree is flattened out to a single level, sorted either by connector name or sensor name as selected. The selected connector remains selected after the switch, so once the right connector has been found you can select it and switch back to tree view, with the same sensor still selected.

Sensor and Loom Migration

Any sensors or looms which are present from pre-2.15.16 versions of Pi Workshop when a newer version of Pi Workshop is installed, will be upgraded to the new system. Nothing in the read-only library will be migrated, but that library should be over-written by a new version on installation anyway.

However, some situations arise where the migration process requires some help.


Math channels in the loom

It was previously possible, although discouraged, to place math channels in the loom. It was even possible to select ports as inputs for the math channels and they would act as sensors. These cases cause problems in the new loom.

To tell if you have an old math channel in the loom, double-click on it. If the resulting prop-erty sheet has a tab labelled Transfer Function then it is using the new math channel user interface. If the channel had no ports as inputs previously its Variables page will list some input channels and it may be valid. Drag the channel to the math loom or create a math folder in the loom and drag it into there.

If the math channel was being used as a sensor, its input ports will have been removed and the Variables page will be empty. It will then be necessary to migrate the math channel manually. Drag the math channel to the library, where it will appear with a math channel icon. Right-click and select Migrate Sensor….

The sensor migration dialog box appears.

This old math channel should be a sensor, as it has a port as an input. Check Migrate UI and select Sensor. Check the box in the port list by the port. It may be neces-sary to select a quantity if the original one was invalid, and if there is more than one port it

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may be necessary to rearrange the ports to fit the connector. Click OK to finish. The math channel icon will be replaced with a sensor icon. Drag the sensor back to the loom.

Old sensors with incorrect quantities

If an old sensor existed in the loom with a port quantity set incorrectly, it will be flagged as invalid after migration. For instance, if a wheelspeed sensor used a port with quantity time but had it set as user type it will be broken. To fix such sensors, drag them to the library, select Migrate Sensor… then select the suspect port and click Quantity…. Set the correct quantity, OK the dialog boxes and drag the sensor back onto the loom.

Sensors and looms in the read-only library

The read-only library is just that, so its contents cannot be migrated. Of course, that library should be over-written on install, but if this does not happen drag useful stuff to a normal library folder. It will then be migrated.

Duplicate ports

If, at the point of migration, an old loom had ports used in more than one place, the new loom will be broken. Basically, the port will have been removed from all the places it was used before, apart from the lowest one down the loom, leaving a number of broken sensors. It is no longer possible to use a port in more than one place on the loom.

Sensors with Calibrations

Wheel Speed sensors are simple things with no calibration, but most sensors require a lit-tle more setting up. In the following example you can create a strain gauge connector and sensor on the Rear loom to demonstrate.

1 Go to Rear and attach a connector called RL Strain with a single voltage input port.

2 Attach a sensor of type Single Input / Output Sensor.3 On the Information page name your new sensor, then move to Channel

Info.

This page specifies the details of the output channel.


The output channel will be called RL Load, with quantity force and units Newtons.

Leave the data type field alone for the moment; It is for advanced users only and should normally be set to F32.

4 Move on to the Calibration page.

The Calibration page is divided into three sections. At the top is a watch bar that shows the current value of the raw input to the calibration. The option buttons to the left allow the type of calibration to be selected and there is a drop-down list that selects which units the

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calibration will assume the raw input to have. To the right of the page is the actual calibra-tion.

The default calibration type for a sensor is a look-up table, as shown above. This consists of a list of points and a method of ‘joining the dots’. This can be either a standard LUT type (e.g. extrapolate) or a curve fit (linear or quadratic). If the car is present and the watch bar is live then clicking on the Insert Point… button will sample the current value and allow the matching calibrated value to be entered.

Switching to an equation calibration changes the dialog box as shown here. The equation shown was automatically generated from the previous table and will produce the same output (this even works with curve-fitting.) Clicking on either Variables … or Operators… will open a context menu containing items that can be inserted into the equation. Hovering over an item in the menu will show a description of that item and clicking on it will insert it at the caret. To check the validity of the equation, press the Check button.


The final type of calibration is a gain/offset calibration. This allows the gain and offset (as might be found on a data sheet) to be entered directly. The equivalent equation is shown at the bottom (and will be used if you then switch to an equation calibration.) There are two modifiers that alter how the gain is applied and when the offset is applied.

Once you have entered a calibration, go to the Watch page. Assuming that the car is con-nected you should see two watch bars. The top one shows the current value of the raw input and the bottom bar shows the value that is obtained by applying the calibration you entered to the raw value.

Note: The calibrated value is calculated within the sensor dialog box and represents what WILL be sent to the box the next time the setup is sent and not the current calibra-tion that is on the box.

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Linking a Sensor to an Application

A number of applications that run on the MCU require a raw (un-calibrated) channel with a fixed name. One example of this is the BeaconRaw channel that is used by the DRV application. (However, do not use the following method for connecting a beacon, as it has its own sensor.)

The majority of sensor dialog boxes will allow you to create one of these ‘internal channels’ from their raw inputs. Open the Strain sensor that we created in the last section. If you go to the Application Link page you will find a list containing one row for each of the raw inputs to your sensor (in this case there should only be one). The right-hand column contains a description of the raw input that you can edit yourself. The left-hand column allows you to enter the name of the channel that you want to generate. You can either type the name in or select it from a list of suitable channels that are required by the applications on the box but which are not yet being generated.

The Generic Application Link Sensor contains an Information page and an Application Link page and should be used where you need to create a link to an application but do not need a calibrated channel as well.

There are also two specific sensors for linking sensors to the DRV application. These are the beacon sensor and the wheelspeed sensor (actually four – one for each wheel.) Each of these has a watch page specific to their requirements.

Using a Channel in a Calibration

There are a number of cases where it is necessary to use a channel in a calibration as well as the raw input. One such case is a thermocouple that takes a cold-junction compensa-tion channel. This section shows how to create a sensor that will deal with this scenario. The method shown uses the Full Generic Sensor but there will eventually be a specific thermocouple interface.

1 Attach a connector to the Front loom called FL Disc, with a single voltage input port.

2 Attach a Full Generic Sensor to it.

This sensor is the most complicated there is as it can take both raw inputs and channels as


inputs to a calibration and can contain more than one calibrated output channel.

3 Name your sensor as FL Brake Temp. Go to the Variables page.

This shows all of the raw inputs and channels that can be used in the calibrations.

A variable is a label that is used to identify a particular input in a calibration but does not change when the channel associated with it changes.

The Variables page is split into two sections. The top half of the page shows the variables that are assigned to raw inputs. These assignments are fixed but you can change the units (as used in calibrations) and give a description of the raw input which is also shown in the Application Link page. The Properties… button opens a dialog box that gives a more verbose description of the different properties of the raw input.

The bottom half of the page contains a list of the variables that have channels assigned to them. Variables can be added and removed from the list (removing a variable will break any calibration that uses it). You can also set the channel that is assigned to the variable using a list of the channels that are present in the current setup. The units may be set as with the raw inputs.

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To deal with multiple calibrated channels, the interface for specifying the calibrated chan-nel’s details and calibration is slightly different than for the Single Input / Output sensor but it uses the same terminology.

The figure above shows the list of calibrated channels that the sensor generates and the calibration for the currently selected channel. The channel list shows some of the channels’ properties; click the Properties… button for more settings as well as a description of their purposes. The properties are the same as those set in the Channel Info page of the single I/O sensor.

At the bottom of the page is a section that resembles the Calibration page of the single I/O sensor. It is in fact the same component with only one difference – the key variable. This is in the place of the input units selector, which is handled for this sensor by the Variables page. The key variable is the variable from which the calibrated channel will inherit the rate at which it is calculated. For table and gain calibrations, which have one input each, this specifies which raw input is used for the calibration.


The equation shown above uses both of the variables defined on the Variables page and although the calibration is not actually a thermocouple calibration is demonstrates the principle.

Note: When you hover over a variable in the Variables menu it will show a tooltip con-taining the description of the variable (if present.)

Sensors

Earlier sections gave a brief overview of how to create and edit different types of sensor. This covered the main sensors that will cover every eventuality but the creation of new user interfaces for specific sensors is an ongoing project.

Raw Pcode Sensor

There are some calibrations that cannot be expressed easily within a user interface and that do not need to be edited. One such sensor is a kulite that uses two lookup tables in an equation calibration to generate its outputs.

To deal with complicated sensors such as these there is a user interface that only allows the user to change the name of the calibrated channels and to create internal channels from the raw inputs of the sensor.

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Channel usage

It is often useful to be able to see where a channel is being used in the system. The looms provide this information by having a context menu option on each channel in the loom that opens a dialog box listing where each channel is used and a possible rate. This functionality is also exposed through the sensor (and math channel) user interfaces. Switching to the Channel Usage page will show where each calibrated channel that the sensor generates is used.


Setting up a Sensor

The following section outlines the method required to setup a Sensor with a Pi Sigma System.

Overview

This section assumes that the software Loom has already been configured. The Loom is a logical representation of the real connectors and wiring on your car. Editing the loom itself should be left to Pi Research.

The Pi Workshop system is designed to work with pre-defined sensors. The idea is that when you plug an actual sensor into the car, you also plug a sensor into the software loom. Pi Research provides software versions of all the standard Pi Research sensors in the read only section of your library (see section Setup Organiser).

You can make your own sensors and store these in your library. As you proceed, the work with the Pi Sigma system in setting up a sensor will get less and less because you will have already stored your calibration for any 3rd party sensors you own.

The Sensors folder of the library

You can either drag pre-arranged sensors from the library or right click on a connector o add a sensor.

drag

Dragging a pre-arranged sensor onto a connector on the Loom

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Right clicking on a connector to attach a sensor

Attaching a pre-defined sensor

There are individual documents explaining each specific sensor (for example wheelspeed, beacon, K-type, 100 ohm RTD, Pi 300mm Potentiometer.) Sensors which you define your-self (either based on a Pi Sensor, or made from a blank sensor – see below) are attached in the same way.

There are just two steps to attaching a sensor:

n attach the sensor on to the connector on the loom;n type in the name of the channel(s).

Attaching the Sensor - The Right Click Method

If the sensor exists in the Sensors folder on your library (or in the read only Pi Standard Sensors folder _Sensors) just right click on the connector and select from the list of sen-sors.

You must remove a sensor from a connector which is already there before you can attach a new one.


To remove a sensor from a connector:1 Right click on the sensor you want to remove. A pop-up menu appears.2 Click Remove Sensor.

To attach a Sensor using right click:1 Click on the Loom branch of in the Setup Data Manager. The branch ex-

pands.2 Expand the branch on which yo want to add the sensor.3 Right click on the connector. A pop-up menu appears.

Connector with popup menu displayed

4 Click Attach Sensor…. The Attach Sensor dialog box appears.

Attach Sensor dialog box

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5 Double click on the sensor you want to attach, or select the sensor and click the OK button. The sensor is attached to the connector on the loom.

The Attach Sensor dialog box looks in the Library for a folder called Sensors. If you use a particular 3rd party sensor quite often, and you want it to be listed in this way (so that you can add them by just right clicking on the connector,) you must save your sensor in the Sensors folder inside the library.

To drag a sensor to the loom:1 Click on the Loom branch of in the Setup Data Manager. The branch ex-

pands.2 Expand the branch on which you want to add the sensor.

Loom branch expanded

3 Choose View • Setup Organiser or click Toggle Setup Organiser on the Managers toolbar. The Setup Organiser dialog box appears.

Setup Organiser dialog box

4 Locate the folder containing the sensor you want to add.5 Click on the sensor and drag it to the required connector on the expanded

loom. (See next two paragraphs for left drag or right drag options.)


If the connector is free (i.e. there isn’t a sensor on the connector already) left drag the sensor from the library to the connector. (Left drag means select the sensor by pressing and holding the left mouse button.)

If the connector is occupied then right drag the sensor onto the connector. This will reveal a dialog box with the following options:

Replace and Cancel are self explanatory.

Re-Calibrate only works if the sensor is exactly the same type. It must have the same number of outputs and they must have the same units.

Defining the output channel name(s):1 Once you have attached the pre-defined sensor the Sensor Properties dialog

box appears. Type in the channel name.

Sensor Properties dialog box with Channel Info tab selected

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Sensor Colour Coding

You can only attach a sensor which fits on that connector. For example a Beacon Sensor will not work correctly on an analogue input. To help spot which sensors are compatible with which connectors there is a colour coding scheme. It is possible to modify the colour coding scheme but this should be left to Pi Research. There are three factors governing the type of connector – how many inputs the connector has, what order this inputs are in, and what quantity the inputs are.

To view the key to connector:1 Click on + Loom in the Setup Data Manager. The branch expands.2 Right click a connector. A pop-up menu appears.3 Select Connector Properties…. The Connector Properties dialog box ap-

pears.

Connector Properties dialog box with Key tab selected

4 Click on the Key tab. The Key to Connectors window appears.


Typically, you will only see the following colours:

Colour Connector type

Blue Standard Analogue input (voltage)Green Wheelspeed Input (time, user type)Light Blue Three Analogue input connector (voltage, voltage, voltage)

The light blue connector will be present if you have a dedicated three axis accelerometer connector.

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Adding a new Sensor

1 Select the connector you want to add your new sensor to. 2 Right click and select Attach Sensor… from the pop-up menu. The Attach

Sensor dialog box appears.3 Select Full Generic sensor. The Full Generic Sensor dialog box appears.

Information tab1 Fill in the Information page.

If calibrations vary between different sensors of the same type, put the serial number of the sensor as well as the name, for example :

Full Generic Sensor Properties box with Information tab selected

This will mean you can store the exact calibration for this sensor in the Library for re-use.


Application link

Adding a channel in this page will create a channel with the same units as the input with a 1:1 calibration. It is usually used for satisfying sinks (a sink is a requirement that an ap-plication has on the box.) It is not often used.

Variables tab

The variables page contains two sections. The top part is the raw connections and you can only change the units. The quantity is fixed, the units you select are the actual units you use in your calibration. So if you select milli-volts instead of volts the number you will use in your calibration is 1000 times bigger.

The bottom section allows you to use other channels as part of your calibration. For exam-ple, if you had a temperature sensor mounted next to a pressure sensor you might use the temperature channel to compensate for any changes in the pressure calibration.

Full Generic Sensor Properties box with Variables tab selected

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Calibration tab

Full Generic Sensor Properties box with Calibration tab selected

Enter your output channel name in the Channel text box in the Calibrated Channels section of the properties box. You can have more than one output channel per math channel. The calibration for each output channel is entered in the lower half of this tab.

The value of the Raw Input is displayed in the Raw Input section of the properties box. It takes its scalings from the Global Channels Database (GCDB).

If you have more than one output channel, the equation section changes according to which channel you have highlighted.

Please see the Writing a Math channel section for a description of entering an equation and making a 1D look up table.


Zeroing sensors

This section gives information on zeroing sensors. In certain conditions you may find it is useful to force a sensor calibration to zero when the sensor reaches a particular measure-ment; for example, to set the static ride height of a damper.

Applying Offsets

Zeroing a sensor applies an offset to a channel. The Pi Sigma system on the car must be powered up and connected to Pi Server.

To zero a sensor:1 Right click on your setup in the Setup Data Manager and choose

Zero Sensors from the pop-up menu. The Zero Sensor dialog box appears.

Zero Sensor dialog box

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2 Click the List or Groups tab and select a channel in List or Group and drag it into the text box of the Zero Sensor dialog box.

To view all channels click at the bottom of the Zero Sensor dialog box.

To select a sequential block of channels, select your first channel, hold down (Shift) and select your last channel. To cancel the selection, release (Shift) and select any channel.

To select a discontinuous block of channels, hold down (Ctrl) and select each channel. To cancel the selection, select the channel once again.

To help find channels in the list type the first letter of the channel name. Only channels starting with that letter will then be listed. To reduce the list even further, type the second letter in the channel name and so on until only the channel you want is listed. To return to the complete list of channels use the backspace key to cancel each letter typed.

3 Click Offset to Target. All channels in the text box will be zeroed.

Trget refers to the Target value that is entered for a channel in the Global Channels Da-tabase.

Target value for channel FL Damper

Global Channels Database showing Target value for channel FL Damper

4 Click Close.


You can change the target value in the zero sensor dialog box.

To change the target value in the zero sensor dialog box:1 Right click on a channel that you have dragged into the text box of the Zero

Sensor dialog box.

2 Click which appears. The Set target Value dialog box appears.

Set Target Value dialog box

3 Enter a new Target value. Click OK.

Example of zeroing a sensor

An example of zeroing a sensor is shown in the section of a Zero Sensor dialog box below. The FL Damper in the text area has a physical range of 0–75mm. Its current static physical value is 37mm. The current Offset is –22, giving a calibrated value of 15. A Target value of 25 is shown.

If Offset to Target is clicked, the Offset will change to –12 (25 – 37 = –12).

If Remove Offset is clicked the Value would be 37 (which is the actual physical value) and the Offset would be 0.

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Section of a Zero Sensor dialog box showing example of Zeroing a sensor

To remove an offset:1 Right click on your setup in the Setup Data Manager and choose

Zero Sensors from the pop-up menu. The Zero Sensor dialog box appears.2 Use the List or Groups tab and select a channel in List or Group and drag it

into the text box of the Zero Sensor dialog box.

Note: Channels may already be shown in the text box. Delete channels from the text box that you do not want to remove the offsets from.

3 Click Remove Offset. All the channels in the text box will have the offsets removed.

4 Click Close.


You can view a log the sensors that you have applied offsets to i this session.

To view the offset log:1 Click View Log. The View Offset Log dialog box appears.

View Offset Log dialog box

2 Click Close to close the View Offset Log dialog box.

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Setting up a Wheelspeed

The following section outlines the method required to setup a Wheelspeed Sensor with a Pi Sigma System.

Tell the MCU that you want to measure Speed

When a sensor is plugged into a loom, the MCU needs to know where the sensor will be powered from and where it can expect the signal to come from. This means that you need to configure the Pi Sigma System.

To configure a Wheelspeed:1 Double click on Sigma Configuration in the Setup Data Manager Apps

branch. The Sigma Configuration window appears


2 Double click on MCU. The branch expands.3 Right-click on the Digital card. Select Properties… from the pop-up menu.

The Embedded IO Card Properties dialog box appears


Embedded IO Card properties dialog box with Group 2 tab selected

Once you are in the properties of the digital card, you should go to the group and chan-nel of the wheelspeed sensor (easily identified from the loom drawing) and set the digital channel to be a Speed channel.

4 Set the Excitation volts, Threshold and Hysteresis options.

The values shown are those that have been successfully used for active wheelspeed sen-sors. See below for values for passive wheelspeed sensors.

Note: The Excitation On has been set to Always as wheelspeed sensors are relatively low current sensors and it is important that they are activated when the car is not logging so that they will detect movement.

Passive wheelspeed sensors

Passive wheelspeed sensors should work with the settings below:

n Excitation always ONn Excitation Voltage 3.0Vn Threshold 73%n Hysteresis 5%

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However, some may work correctly at high speeds but will not work at low speeds. If you experience this problem with a passive wheelspeed sensor then you can increase the threshold setting in small steps up to 80%.

5 Click on Calculator… and check that the settings used are acceptable.

Calculator dialog box

The input settings displayed on the Calculator dialog box above are taken from the previous figure (but can be edited in this screen).

Assuming values are entered by the user:1 Enter Tyre diameter and Pulses per revolution. These values should repli-

cate the values that will be entered in the Wheel Setup. (See Wheel Setup in the Miscellaneous Application section.

2 The Expected max. speed is an estimation of the car top speed, providing a resolution at this top speed.

The most important information provided here is the minimum speed that can be measured. In the above example, 12.8 m.p.h. would be acceptable for a car travelling at up to 200 m.p.h. However, if only one pulse per revolution is used, this value would be 128 m.p.h., which would clearly be unacceptable. Therefore, a slower clock rate should be used to decrease the minimum measured speed.

Having accepted and saved these properties, the system is setup to receive a wheelspeed input on the MCU, Digital IO Card, Group 2, Input A. This should agree with the loom that you have purchased.


Setting up the Loom to receive the Sensor

Before a sensor can be dragged onto the loom, a connector must be attached incorporating the inputs created from the configuration.

Unlock the loom:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch right click on Loom and then on Un-

lock Loom.

Once the loom is unlocked you should navigate to the sub loom you want the connector to be attached.

To create a new sub loom if required:1 Right click on section of loom you want new section to be attached to and

select Attach Connector…

A useful hint is to try to create an electronic version of the physical loom to aid software-hardware compatibility. As the wheelspeeds are essential channels, it is common practice to include them in a sub loom called Core System Channels so that they are not easily deleted.

2 Having created this sub loom, right click on it and select Attach Connector… The Attach Connector Wizard appears.

Attach Connector Wizard

3 Click Sensor… and select the appropriate wheelspeed sensor template from the list.

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The example uses FL Wheelspeed sensor.

Attach connector dialog box

4 Click OK.5 Click Next. The Summary dialog box appears.

Summary dialog box

6 Enter a connector name associated with the sensor to be connected. The com-ment is optional, but is useful for reference purposes.

7 Select Next. The Edit dialog box appears.8 Select the inputs to be used for the wheelspeed channels.

The digital I/O card on the Logger has 9 inputs, however only 4 are suitable for wheel speeds (Groups 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B). The inputs shown are those that are both suitable for the required type of input and available (i.e. set up in the Sigma Configuration and not used elsewhere on the loom). The list shown is from a system that has an MCU, Logger card and a digital card.


The digital inputs are labelled Digital 0.02.00.16 through to Digital 8.02.00.40. The name describes the type of input (e.g. Digital). The first number defines the input number, the table below shows how the Input Name references the channel name in Pi Workshop.

Input Name Pi Workshop Channel Name

Digital 0.02.00.16 Digital 1ADigital 1.02.00.20 Digital 1BDigital 2.02.00.24 Digital 2ADigital 3.02.00.28 Digital 2BDigital 4.02.00.32 Digital 3ADigital 5.02.00.36 Digital 3BDigital 6.02.00.62 Digital 4ADigital 7.02.00.63 Digital 4BDigital 8.02.00.40 Digital 4C

The second number is the node that the card is on (02 is MCU, 05 is SCU), the third number is the slot (0 is the embedded digital) and the final number is specific to that port.

Note that input Digital 8.02.00.40 (Digital 4C) cannot be configured in Pi Workshop. It can only be used as a low speed digital input, such as a switch.

Having made Digital 2B a speed input, the system has provided the additional port Digital 3 Count.02.00.30. This is a counter that will count each pulse and is used for measuring distance. The standard Digital input will measure the time between pulses.

To calculate distance and speed the Wheel speed sensor has two inputs. One counts the number of pulses received denoted by a u and the other calculates the time between pulses shown with a ∆t. With this information, together with the number of triggers on the wheel and the diameter of each wheel, the Logger can calculate speed and distance. In the Edit dialog box simply double click where prompted and select from the list of inputs available (See Example below for a step by step guide).

Example

Providing Digital 2B has been configured to be a speed input the channel names Digital 3.02.00.28 and Digital 3 Count.02.00.30 should be in the Global Channel Database.

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In the Edit dialog box:1 Double click on ∆t and select Digital 3.02.00.28 from the list. Click OK.2 Double click on u and select Digital 3 Count.02.00.30 from the lit. Click OK.

Edit dialog box

Once both the ports have been selected the Edit dialog box appears as shown in the figure below.

Edit dialog box showing selected ports

3 Click Finish. The connector labelled FL Wheelspeed Connector will be added to the loom.

This connector will be associated with a Wheelspeed Sensor and will therefore only allow a Wheelspeed sensor to be attached to it. So the next step is to add a wheelspeed sensor from the Setup Organiser.


Attaching a Sensor to the Port

The final stage is to attach a sensor to the connector. This will provide a sensor that the system can use to provide speeds and distances. Pi Workshop uses the drag and drop principle to attach sensors.

1 Click the Toggle Setup Organiser icon as shown below.

The Setup Organiser window appears.2 From the read only list of _Sensors (in grey folder) drag a Wheelspeed Sensor

onto the Wheelspeed connector on the loom.

In the example the FL Wheelspeed is used. The mouse pointer will change to an arrow with a small + sign if the sensor is compatible with the connector. If the sensor is not compatible the pointer will be a . See the figure below.

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Once the sensor has been successfully dropped onto the connector the following screen will appear.

The Sensor Name should be changed to match the type of sensor that you want this to be, e.g. Wheelspeed sensor. You can then add a longer comment to describe specifics of the sensor, such as sensor excitation, part numbers etc.

In total there are six wheelspeed sink channels, meaning that the logger can use them for calculations. Not all the channels are required, however at least one of the front wheel-speed channels must be configured so that the logger can calculate distance and determine whether the car is moving. The sinks are named SpeedRaw with the prefix FL, FR, RL or RR and DistRaw with the prefix FL or FR.

The DistRaw channels are used to measure distance from the front wheels. Distance is not measured for the rear wheels, so there is no RL or RR prefix for DistRaw. However, a useful way to check wheelspeed functionality without running the car is to create two channels called RLDistRaw and RRDistRaw to count the pulses on the rear wheels. As the box does not need these channels, they will work like a normal sensor in that they must be used (e.g. logged) before they can be watched with a Watch manager.

When the wheelspeed sensors are added the associated sink channels are attached to the loom. For instance, if a FL Wheelspeed Sensor is added, the channel FLSpeedRaw and FLDistRaw will be added to the loom.

3 Finally click OK. The sensor and channels are added to the setup.

This process will need to be repeated for each wheelspeed sensor on the car.


The loom should now include the front left wheelspeed channels as shown below.

The Logger uses the channel FLSpeedRaw and the diameter of the Front Left wheel (see Wheel Setup in the Miscellaneous Application section) to calculate the channel FLSpeed, which is the actual speed of the Front Left wheel.

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Setting up a Beacon

The following section outlines the method required to set up a Beacon with a Pi Sigma System. If your loom has already been setup please turn to Attaching a Beacon sensor to the port.

Tell the MCU that you want a Beacon input

When a component is plugged into a loom, the MCU needs to know where the component will be powered from and where it can expect the signal to come from. This means that you need to configure your Pi Sigma System.

To configure the Pi Sigma System for a beacon input:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Sigma Configura-

tion. The Sigma Configuration window appears.


2 Expand the tree to reveal the Digital card.3 Right click on Digital and select Properties… The Embedded IO card dialog

box appears.


4 Click the tab for the Group and channel of the Beacon (it is normal to use Group 3A).

5 Select Split Beacon in the relevant Channel Function: box 6 Set the Excitation to 12.0 Volts. 7 Select the Excitation On option to Always.

The next figure shows the setup. This shows digital port 3A (Digital number 4) prepared to receive a Beacon pulse.

Embedded IO Card properties box

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Setting up the loom to receive the Beacon

Before a sensor can be dragged onto the loom, the ports created from the configuration must be attached to the electronic loom.

The first step is to unlock the Loom.

To unlock the Loom:1 In the Apps branch of the Setup Data Manager right click on Loom. De-select

Unlock Loom.

Once the loom is unlocked, navigate to the section of the loom you want the sensor to be attached to. As the Beacon is an essential channel, it is common practice to include it as part of a large connector called Core System Channels so that it is not easily deleted.

If Core System Channels connector does not exist in the loom:1 Right click on the section of the loom where you wish to position the beacon.2 Select the Attach Connector… The Attach Connector wizard appears.3 Name the loom Core System Channels.

A useful hint is to try to create an electronic version of the physical loom to aid software-hardware compatibility.


To attach the connector to the loom:1 Right click on Core System Channels and select Attach Connector… The

Attach Connector wizard appears.

Attach Connector wizard

2 Click Sensor… The Select a Template Sensor window appears.

Select a Template Sensor window

3 Select Beacon from the list displayed and click OK.

This will use the beacon sensor as a template for this new connector.

4 Click Next. The Summary dialog box appears.

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Summary dialog box

5 Enter a name for the new connector, such as Beacon and any comment you wish to be associated with the connector.

6 Click Next>. The Edit dialog box appears.

The ports shown in the Edit dialog box are those required by the template sensor. The Edit dialog box below shows that a beacon sensor needs only a single user type input, denoted by the u suffix.

Edit dialog box

7 Double click on the entry and the list of available ports will be displayed.

Note: Because the connector is based on a beacon sensor, the list of ports only contains compatible inputs, i.e. Digital inputs. If ports have already been attached elsewhere in the loom they will not show on this list.

8 Click OK.

The selected port will be used as the beacon input once the sensor is attached.


Attaching a Beacon Sensor to the Port

The final stage is to attach a Beacon Sensor to the port. This will provide a sensor that the system can use to provide Beacon information. This is done by dragging a beacon sensor from the default _Sensors library onto the new beacon connector in the loom.

1 Click the Setup Organiser icon on the Managers Toolbar.

The Setup Organiser window appears

2 Expand the _Sensor folder, and drag the Beacon sensor from the list onto the new connector named Beacon.

After dragging the sensor onto the connector the Beacon information window appears.

3 Change the name of the sensor if you wish, although the default name, Bea-con is probably suitable. You can also add a longer comment to describe specifics of the sensor, such as sensor excitation, part numbers etc.

4 Click OK.

The sensor will be installed into the loom giving the loom the following structure.

BeaconRaw is a sink channel and is automatically assigned to the Beacon sensor.

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Setting up a Fuel Input

The following section outlines the method required to setup the Fuel channels with a Pi Sigma System. Fuel channels often come from an ECU, however, if you use a fuel flow meter refer to the section Setting up a Fuel Flow Meter.

Tell the MCU which channel measures Fuel Used

When Pi Sigma has a channel that increments as fuel is used, it can provide the user with a number of channels which are coded into the logger code. These are channels such as LapFuelEconomy, RaceFuelEconomy, Fuel Used, TankFuel and RaceFuel.

To enable all of these channels to operate, the system must satisfy the sink FuelCount. When it has a value of FuelCount, it will automatically provide all of the other channels. As such, FuelCount is a Core System Channel.

Because the FuelCount channel is a Core System Channel and generated using a maths channel, Pi recommend that it is incorporated in a Maths Channel Folder named Pi Internal on the Core System Channels branch of the Loom in the Setup Data Manager.

To create a FuelCount channel:1 Select the Setup Data Manager and click the + icon on Loom folder. The

folder expands.2 Click the + icon on Core System Channels icon. The folder expands.

3 Right click on the Pi Internal folder and select the Attach Math Channel… option. The Attach Maths Channel dialog box appears.


Attach Maths Channel dialog box

4 Double click on Single Math Channel (Equation). The Single Math Channel (Equation) dialog box appears.

Single Math Channel (Equation) dialog box with Channel Info tab selected

5 Click the Channel Info tab. Name the channel FuelCount.

The name FuelCount should then be recognised by Pi Workshop, whereupon it will be au-tomatically underlined and the Quantity should change to reflect the settings of the channel. If this doesn’t happen, it’s probably because your PC hasn’t been connected to a car so it doesn’t have any FSR information. This will not cause any problems, just ensure that the quantity is volume and the data type is an F32. The units can be any unit of volume, just check that they are correct for the calibration. For example, if the Fuel channel increments for every 0.1 litres then the units must be in litres.

6 Click the Information tab.

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In the Information page you can change the name of the maths channel to something which reflects its functionality. You can then add a longer comment to describe specifics of the sensor, such as the channels that it will provide the user etc.

7 Click the Variables tab.

This is where the inputs to the maths channels are added and displayed. Because you are using a Single Maths Channel you only need to add one input variable.

Single Math Channel (Equation) dialog box with Variables tab selected

8 Click Add. The Variable Properties dialog box appears.


Variable Properties dialog box

9 Name the variable. In the above example the variable has been named fuel.

This is how it will appear in the calibration section of the math’s channel.

10 Select the channel which increments as fuel is used e.g. Fuel Used from the list in the Input Channel text box. This is the input variable.

This channel may be from an ECU or could easily be from a digital fuel flow meter. Refer to the section Setting up a Fuel Flow Meter for information on setting up a fuel flow meter.

11 In the Description section of the dialog box enter your own description for the channel.

Once the input has been specified, the calibration needs to be applied.

12 Click the Transfer Function tab and enter the calibration in the space available.

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The example below has the calibration:

FuelCount = fuel10

Where fuel is an alias name for the input fuel channel. This may be generated by the ECU and in this case represents each 0.1 litre used by the engine. i.e., if fuel = 10, the engine has used 1 litre. FuelCount is the output channel name with litres as the units.

The Variables… and Operators… buttons may be used to select from a list of inputs and maths operators respectively.

13 Click Check to test whether the equation is valid.

Single Math Channel (Equation) dialog box with Variables tab selected

Because the Fuel information is needed on the dash, the output FuelCount needs to be generated on the MCU.

14 Click the Fixed option in the Rate section of the dialog box and select a rate at which the channel is calculated in the MCU.

For example, if 5Hz is selected the channel will be calculated 5 times per second.


If the channel is configured as a Fixed Rate channel, then it is generated on the MCU at the rate specified.

If the Key Variable option is selected, the channel is generated by the PC either on of-fload, or over telemetry. The channel is then generated at the rate of the Variable you have chosen.

15 Click OK. All of the Pi Workshop fuel channels will function.

These include:

Pi Workshop channel name Channel function

FuelUsed Total amount of fuel usedLapFuelEconomy Fuel economy for the last lapLapFuelUsed Fuel used on each lap FuelDifference Difference between the expected fuel use and the actual fuel useRaceFuel Volume of fuel currently in the raceRaceFuelEconomy Fuel economy since last fuel resetTankFuel Volume of fuel currently in the fuel tank

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Setting up a Fuel Flow Meter

The following section outlines the method required to set up a Fuel Flow input with a Pi Sigma System using the output from a fuel flow meter instead of an ECU.

Tell the MCU that you want to measure Fuel Flow

When a sensor is plugged into a loom, the MCU needs to know where the sensor will be powered from and where it can expect the signal to come from. This means that you need to configure the Pi Sigma System.

To configure the MCU:1 In the Sigma Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Sigma Con-

figuration. The Sigma Configuration dialog box appears.


2 Navigate to the Digital card on the MCU that you are plugging the fuel flow meter into.


3 Expand the tree to reveal the Digital card.4 Right click on the Digital card. Select Properties… The Embedded IO Card

properties dialog box appears.5 Click the tab for the group and channel of the fuel flow sensor you are going to

setup (easily identified from the loom drawing). Set the digital to be a Speed.6 Set the excitation voltage, threshold and hysteresis values. Click OK.

The values shown in the following figure have been successfully used during testing.

Embedded IO Card properties dialog box with Group 1 tab selected

Having accepted and saved these properties, the system has been setup to receive a Fuel Flow input on the MCU, Digital IO Card, Group 1, Input A. This should agree with the loom that you have.

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Setting up the Loom to receive the Fuel Flow Sensor

Before a sensor can be dragged onto the loom, a connector must be attached incorporating the inputs created from the configuration.

The first step is to ensure that the Loom is unlocked.

To unlock the Loom:1 Right click on the Loom icon. De-select Lock Loom.2 Once the loom is unlocked navigate to the sub loom you want the connector

to be attached.

Create a new sub loom if required.

To create a new sub Loom:1 Right click on section of loom you want new section to be attached to and

select Attach Connector…

A useful hint is to try to create an electronic version of the physical loom to aid software-hardware compatibility. Since Fuel Flow sensors are popular digital channels, it has be-come common practice to include them in a sub loom called Core System Channels so that they are not easily deleted.


Having created this sub loom you must attach a connector to it.

To attach a Connector:1 Right click on the sub loom and elect Attach Connector… The Attach Con-

nector Wizard appears.

Attach Connector Wizard

2 Click Sensor… and select a FL Wheelspeed sensor template from the list. This sensor template can be used a it operates with a similar principle to a fuel flow meter.

Select a Template Sensor list

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3 Click OK. 4 Click Next>. Enter a connector name associated with the sensor to be con-

nected. The comment is optional, but is very handy for reference purposes.

Attach Connector Summary dialog box

5 Click Next>. The Edit Dialog box appears.

Attach Connector Edit dialog box


To complete the setup follow the Example below.

MCU digital IO card

The MCU digital IO card on the MCU has 9 inputs, however only 5 are suitable for fuel flow meters (Groups 1A and 1B, 2A and 2B, and 3B). The inputs shown are those that are both suitable for the required type of input and available (i.e. set up in the Sigma Configuration and not used elsewhere on the loom). The list shown in the next table is from a system that has an MCU, Logger card and a digital card.

The digital inputs are labelled Digital 0.02.00.16 through to Digital 8.02.00.40. The Input Name describes the type of input (e.g. Digital). The first number defines the input number, the table below shows how the Input Name references the channel name in Pi Workshop.




Note that input Digital 8.02.00.40 cannot be configured in Pi Workshop, it can only be used as a low speed digital input, such as a switch.

Having made Digital 1A a fuel flow input, the system has provided the additional port Digital 0 Count.02.00.16. This is a counter that will count each pulse and is used for measuring fuel count. The standard Digital input will measure the time between pulses.

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To calculate flow the Fuel Flow meter has two inputs. One counts the number of pulses received denoted by a u and the other calculates the time between pulses shown with a ∆t. With this information, the Logger can calculate the fuel flow (typically in Gallons or lbs.). In the Edit dialogue box simply double click where prompted and select from the list of inputs available. (See Example below for a step by step guide.)

Example

Providing Digital 1A has been configured to be a fuel flow input the channel names Dig-ital 0.02.00.16 and Digital 0 Count.02.00.18 should be in the Global Channel Database.

In the Attach Connector Edit dialog box:1 Double click on the ∆t and select Digital 0.02.00.16 from the list. Click OK.2 Double click on the u and select Digital 0 Count.02.00.18 from the list.

Click OK.

If the channel is hidden in the Channel Database it will be necessary to select the Show Hidden Ports option.

Attach Connector Edit dialog box before digital channels have been selected


When both the ports have been selected the Edit dialog box will appear as shown below.

Attach Connector Edit dialog box after digital channels have been selected

3 Click Finish. The connector labelled Fuel Meter will be added to the Loom.

This connector will be associated with a Fuel Flow sensor and will therefore only allow a Fuel Flow sensor to be attached to it. The next step is to add a Fuel Flow sensor from the Setup Organiser.

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Attaching a Sensor to the Fuel Flow Port

The final stage is to attach a sensor to the connector. Pi Workshop uses the drag and drop principle to attach sensors.

To attach a sensor to the connector:1 In the Setup Data Manager right click on the Flow Meter connector. Select

Attach Sensor… from the pop-up menu. The Attach Sensor dialog box appears with a list of compatible sensors.

Attach Sensor dialog box

2 Drag a Full Generic Sensor on to the Flow Meter connector on the loom.

The mouse pointer will change to an arrow with a small + sign if the sensor is compatible with the connector. If the sensor is not compatible the pointer will be a .

Once the sensor has been successfully dropped onto the connector the properties dialog box appears.


Full Generic Sensor properties Information page

3 Name the sensor. The name should match the type of sensor that you want this to be, e.g. Fuel Flow Meter.

You can then add a longer comment to describe specifics of the sensor, such as sensor excitation, part numbers etc.

4 Click the Variables tab. The Variables page appears.

Two variables will appear on the Variables page of the sensor setup. Variable x is based on the time between pulses, while variable x1 is based on the pulse count.

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Full Generic Sensor properties Variables page

5 Enter a Description for each variable.

Fuel Flow Meters often have a specific calibration based on an Average K Factor and the density of the fuel used.

6 Click the Calibrations tab. The Calibrations page appears.7 To enter an equation calibration select the Equation option. Enter the equation in the Calibration text area.

You can directly type in the equation or click the Variables or Operators button and select from the lists displayed.

9 Click Check to check that the equation has no errors.


The Properties Calibrations page below shows the calibration for a typical fuel flow meter used with Race Gasoline.

Full Generic Sensor Properties Calibrations page

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The Channel Name Fuel Used will provide the amount of fuel used (total Gallons or Lbs or litres). The calibration shown can be broken down as follows :

(X1/7640.14)/6.324

Where :

X1 is the number of pulses from the flow meter 7640.14 is the Average K Factor taken from the Flow Meter Calibration

Sheet (Pulses/Lb) 6.324 is the density of the gasoline used in the meter calibration (Gal/Lb) Fuel Used is the output (Gals) (or litres if the calibration is in litres).

10 Finally click OK. The fuel flow meter sensor and channels will be added to the setup.

This process will need to be repeated for each fuel flow sensor on the car.

If the Flow Rate (Lbs/hr; Gal/Min) is desired, create a math channel that takes the deriva-tive of the flow.

To use logger coded channels such as LapFuelEconomy, RaceFuelEconomy, Fuel Used, TankFuel and RaceFuel the system must satisfy the sink FuelCount. When the system has a value of FuelCount, it will automatically provide all of the other channels. As such, FuelCount is a Core System Channel.

Refer to the previous section Setting up a Fuel Input for information how to sink the channel Fuel Used to the Core Systems Channel FuelCount.


Setting up a Serial Stream

The following section outlines the method required to setup a serial stream with a Pi Sigma System.

Tell the MCU what Stream you want

1 In the Apps branch of the Setup Data Manager double click on the ECU Setup icon. The ECU Setup dialog box appears.

The ECU Setup dialog box

This ECU Setup dialog box will list up to three serial steams.

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2 To add a new stream click Add… The Open window appears.

Open window

3 Navigate around your network and select the required *.str file. The stream appears in the ECU Setup dialog box.

ECU Setup dialog box with a serial stream selected

Alternately, the stream can be dragged onto the ECU Setup dialog box from a library in the Setup Organiser.

4 Click Save. The stream is now in the setup.

The system does not know where to expect this stream to come from. Therefore you must go into Sigma Configuration to specify into which serial port the stream is arriving.


Setting up the Serial Stream input

You must go into Sigma Configuration to specify into which serial port the stream is ar-riving.

1 In the Apps branch of the Setup Data Manager double click on Sigma Con-figuration. The Sigma Configuration dialog box appears.

2 Right click on Logger.


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3 Select Serial Setup from the pop-up menu. The Serial Setup dialog box ap-pears.

Serial Setup dialog box

4 Click the tab for the port that the stream is connected to (stated in the loom diagram) and select the stream. The figure in brackets is the Baud Rate.

Once this is selected, the serial port must be setup to receive the stream.

5 Configure the port using the Baud Rate, Stop Bits Data Length and Parity text boxes.

Stop Bits, Data Length and Parity should be set to those stated in the serial stream speci-fication (the default values of 1, 8 and None are normally correct). The Baud Rate must be set to the correct value.

6 Click OK. The Serial Setup dialog box closes.7 Click Save. The Sigma Configuration dialog box closes. The configuration and

the serial stream are entered in the setup.


Setting up GearNumber

The following section outlines the method required to setup the GearNumber channel with a Pi Sigma System

Tell the MCU which Channel measures Gear

Pi Sigma needs to know what channel measures Gear so that it can use this channel to display GearNumber on the dash and also to facilitate the use of the shift lights which are gear dependant.

This is a typical case of using a sink channel. Some engine manufacturers may call the channel Gear, others Gang or Gear Position. Therefore you need to input whatever chan-nel measures the Gear position, and output a channel GearNumber which Pi Sigma is expecting.

If the channel given is in terms of a position, such as mm or degrees then it is recom-mended that you use a Single Math Channel with a sample and hold table calibration.

However if the Gear channel from the ECU is already the correct gear number, then it is more suited to a Single Math Channel with a unity equation calibration.

If the gear position is measured using a potentiometer and the voltage is connected directly to the Pi Sigma system then the calibration is done when the sensor is set up on the loom in Pi Workshop and a Math Channel is not required.

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Calibrating GearNumber from an ECU Channel

Because the GearNumber channel is a Core Systems Channel and generated using a maths channel, Pi recommend that it is incorporated in a Maths Channel Folder named Pi Internal on the Core System Channels branch of the Loom.

To create a GearNumber channel:1 Select the Setup Data Manager and click the + icon on Loom folder. The

folder expands.

2 Click the + icon on Core System Channels icon. The folder expands.

3 Right click on the Pi Internal folder ad select Attach Math Channel… The Attach Maths Channel dialog box appears.


4 Select Singe Math Channel (Equation). The Gear Number Maths Channel dialog box appears.


Maths Channel dialog box with Channel Info tab selected

5 Click the Channel Info tab, and name the channel GearNumber. This is the output channel.

The name should be recognised by Pi Workshop, whereupon it will be automatically un-derlined and the Quantity, Units and Data Type should change to reflect the settings of the channel. If this doesn’t happen, it’s probably because the PC hasn’t been connected to the Car so it doesn’t have any FSR information. This will not cause any problems, just ensure that the quantity is User Type and the data type is an S32. The unit box will be greyed out because the channel has a User Type quantity.

6 Click the Information tab and change the name of the maths channel to some-thing which reflects its functionality.

You can also add a longer comment to describe specifics of the sensor, such as the chan-nels that it will provide the user etc.

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7 Click the Variables tab.

Maths Channel dialog box with Variables tab selected

This is where the inputs to the maths channels are added and displayed. Because you are using a Single Maths Channel you only need to add ne input variable.

8 Click Add… The Variable Properties dialog box appears.


Variable Properties box

9 Name the variable. e.g. gear.

This is how it will appear in the calibration section of the math channel.

10 Select a channel from the list in the Input Channel section of the dialog box.

In the above figure the ECU channel GBoxPos has been selected as the input variable. The quantity has automatically been set to user type because the channel name GboxPos was recognized by Pi Workshop. The unit box is empty because the quantity is user type.

11 Enter you own description of the input variable.

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To apply the calibration:1 Select the Transfer Function tab. 2 Enter the calibration in the Equation for text area.

Maths Channel dialog box with Transfer Function tab selected

If the channel from the ECU is already the correct gear number then the calibration should be unity.

3 Use the Variables… and Operators… buttons to select from a list of inputs and maths operators respectively.

4 Click Check… to check that the equation is valid.

If the channel is configured as a Fixed Rate channel, it is generated in the MCU at the rate specified. If the Key Variable option is selected, the channel is generated by the PC either on offload, or over telemetry. The channel is then generated at the rate of the Vari-able you have chosen.


Because the Gear Number information is needed on the dash, the output, GearNumber needs to be generated on the MCU.

5 Click the Fixed option and select 100Hz. The channel will be calculated 100 times per second.

If the gear channel is a position such as barrel position given by the ECU then the easiest way to calibrate the GearNumber channel is to use a Single Math Channel with a sample and hold table calibration.

To do this follow that same steps as above for the Equation calibration except the Transfer Function and variable section of the setup are on the Transfer Function tab as shown below:

Single Math Channel dialog box with Transfer Function selected

1 Select an Input Channel from the list in the Input Channel text box.

The example above uses the channel GboxPos which is measured in degrees. The table should display both the names of the Input and Output channels.

2 Enter the gear position value that corresponds to each gear number.

Remember that the gear number will be held until the next threshold is reached. For ex-ample, in the above table a GboxPos of 0.0 -11.99 degrees will be equal to GearNumber 0 (i.e. neutral) and a GboxPos of 12.0 - 23.99 will be GearNumber 1 (i.e. 1st).

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Calibrating GearNumber from a direct input via a Sensor

If the gear position is measured using a potentiometer and is connected directly to the Pi Sigma system then the calibration is done in the sensor setup on the loom in Pi Workshop and a Math Channel is not required.

Create a sensor on the loom which accepts a suitable input from the gear position sensor and create an output channel named GearPosition.

For more information see the section Attaching a sensor.


Setting up EngineSpeed

The following section outlines the method required to set up the EngineSpeed channel with a Pi Sigma System.

Tell the MCU which channel measures engine RPM

When Pi Sigma has a channel that it recognises as RPM it will use this channel to start and stop logging and to operate display shift lights. To enable these channels to operate, the system must satisfy the sink EngineSpeed.

Because the EngineSpeed channel is a Core System Channel and generated using a maths channel, Pi recommend that it is incorporated in a Maths Channel Folder named Pi Internal on the Core System Channels branch of the Loom in the Setup Data Manager.

To create an EngineSpeed channel:1 In the Setup Data Manager click n Loom. The folder expands.

2 Click Core System Channels. The folder expands.

3 Right click on the Pi Internal folder and select the Attach Math Channel… from the pop-up menu. The Attach Maths Channel dialog box appears.

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4 Double click on Single Math Channel (Equation). The Single Math Channel (Equation) dialog box appears.

Single Math Channel (Equation) dialog box with Channel Info page selected

5 Click the Channel Info tab. Name the channel EngineSpeed.

The name EngineSpeed should then be recognised by Pi Workshop, whereupon it will be automatically underlined and the Quantity will change to reflect the settings of the chan-nel.

6 Click the Information tab.

In the Information page you can change the name of the maths channel to something which reflects its functionality. You can then add a longer comment to describe specifics of the sensor, such as the channels that it will provide the user etc.


Single Math Channel (Equation) dialog box with Information page selected

7 Click to the Variables tab.

This is where the inputs to the maths channels are added and displayed. Because you are using a Single Maths Channel you only need to add one input variable.

Single Math Channel (Equation) dialog box with Variables page selected

8 Click the Add button. The Variable Properties dialog box appears.

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9 Name the variable.

In the above example the variable has been named rpm. This is how it will appear in the calibration section of the math’s channel.

10 Select the channel which represents the engine speed e.g. RPM from the list in the Input Channel text box. This is the input variable.

This channel may be from an ECU or could be from a digital channel.

11 In the Description section of the dialog box enter your own description for the channel.


12 Click the Transfer Function tab and enter the calibration in the space avail-able. The example below has the calibration:

EngineSpeed = rpm

Where rpm is an alias name for the input RPM channel.


13 Use the Variables… and Operators… buttons to select from a list of inputs and maths operators respectively.

14 Click Check to test whether the equation is valid.

Single Math Channel (Equation) dialog box with Variables page selected

Because the RPM information is needed on the dash, the output EngineSpeed needs to be generated on the MCU.

15 Click the Fixed option in the Rate section of the dialog box and select a rate at which the channel is calculated in the MCU.

For example, if 5Hz is selected the channel will be calculated 5 times per second.

If the channel is configured as a Fixed Rate channel, then it is generated on the MCU at the rate specified.

If the Key Variable option is selected, the channel is generated by the PC either on of-fload, or over telemetry. The channel is then generated at the rate of the Variable you have chosen.

16 Click OK. The Pi Workshop engine speed channels will function.

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Setting up a Tachometer

This section outlines the method required to setup a Tacho with a Pi Sigma System. Note that if an ECU is used it is likely that RPM will come from the ECU stream.

Tell the MCU that you want a Tacho input

When a component is plugged into a loom, the MCU needs to know where the component will be powered from and where it can expect the signal to come from. This means that you need to configure your Pi Sigma System.

To configure the Pi Sigma System:1 In the Setup Data Manager App branch double click on Sigma Configuration.

The Sigma Configuration window appears.


2 Navigate to the Digital card on the MCU that you are plugging RPM input into.

3 Right click on Digital and select Properties… from the pop-up menu.


4 Click the tab for the Group and Channel for the Tacho input.

For this example Group 3B will be used.

Embedded IO card properties box with Group 3 page selected

5 Set the Channel Function to Shaft. 6 Set the Excitation to 12.0 Volts. 7 Select Always from the Excitation On options.

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8 Click Calculator… to establish resolution and minimum measurable value. The Calculator dialog box appears.

Calculator dialog box

9 Adjust the values to ensure that the resolution and the minimum measurable value are acceptable.

For an 8 Cylinder Engine, 4 Pulses to Average should be used.

10 Click OK.

The MCU is ready to receive a tacho input.


Setting up the Loom to receive the Tacho

Before a sensor can be dragged onto the loom, the ports created from the configuration must be attached to the electronic loom. The first step is to unlock the loom.

To unlock the Loom:1 In the Setup Data Manager right click on Loom. Uncheck Unlock Loom.2 Navigate to the sub-loom you want the sensor to be attached to.

You can create a new ‘sub-loom’ if required. A useful hint is to try to create an electronic version of the physical loom to aid software-hardware compatibility. As the RPM is an es-sential channel, it has become common practice to include it in a loom called Core System Channels so that it is not easily deleted.

To create a new sub-loom if required:1 Right click on section of loom you want new section to be attached to and

select Attach Connector… The Attach Connector wizard appears.

Attach Connector wizard

2 Click Sensor… and select the RPM sensor template from the list.

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Select a Template Sensor list

3 Click OK. 4 Select Next> to proceed to the next stage.

Summary dialog box

4 Enter a connector name associated with the sensor to be connected.

The comment is optional, but is very handy for reference purposes.

5 Select Next> to continue to the next step.

This will prompt the user to choose the inputs to be used for the RPM channel.


The Digital IO card on the Logger has nine inputs, however only five are suitable for RPM inputs (Groups 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, and 3B). The inputs shown are those that are both suitable for the required type of input and available (i.e. setup in the Sigma Configuration and not used elsewhere on the loom). The list shown is from a system that has an MCU, Logger card and a digital card.

The digital inputs are labelled Digital 0.02.00.16 through to Digital 8.02.00.40. The name describes the type of input (e.g. Digital). The first number defines the input number. The ta-ble below shows how the Input Name references the Channel Name in Pi Workshop.




Note that input Digital 8.02.00.40 cannot be configured in Pi Workshop. It can only be used as a low speed digital input, such as a switch.

Having made Digital 3B a RPM input, the system has provided the additional port Dig-ital 5 Count.02.00.16. This is a counter that will count each pulse. The standard Digital input will measure the time between pulses.

Each digital input has two inputs. One counts the number of pulses received denoted by a u and the other calculates the time between pulses shown with a ∆t. With this information, the Logger can calculate the RPM. In the Edit dialog box simply double click where prompted and select from the list of inputs available (See Example below for a step by step guide).

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Example

Providing Digital 3B has been configured to be a RPM input the channel names Dig-ital 5.02.00.36 and Digital 5 Count.02.00.38 should be in the Global Channel Database.

In the ‘Edit’ dialogue box:1 Double click on the ∆t and select Digital 5.02.00.36 from the list. Click

OK.2 Double click on the u and select Digital 5 Count.02.00.38 from the list. Click OK.

Edit dialog box


Once both the ports have been selected the Edit dialog box will appear as shown in the next figure.

Edit dialog box after selecting channels

3 Click Finish.

The connector labelled RPM will be added to the loom.

This connector will be associated with an RPM sensor and will therefore only allow an RPM sensor to be attached to it. So the next step is to add an RPM sensor from the Setup Organiser.

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Attaching a Sensor

The final stage is to attach a sensor to the connector. This will provide a sensor that the system can use to provide speeds and distances and start and stop logging.

To attach a RPM sensor to the loom:1 On the Managers toolbar click Toggle Setup Organiser.

The Setup Organiser window appears.

2 From the read only list of Pi Sensors (in grey folder) drag the RPM sensor onto the RPM connector on the loom.

The mouse pointer will change to an arrow with a small + sign if the sensor is compatible with the connector. If the sensor is not compatible the pointer will be a .

Dragging RPM sensor from the Setup Organiser to the Setup Data Manager


Once the sensor has ben successfully dropped onto the connector the sensor Properties dialog box appears.

Sensor Properties dialog box Information page

3 Enter a name for the sensor. Change the name to match the type of sensor that you want this to be. e.g. RPM.

4 In the Comments text box you can add a longer comment to describe specifics of the sensor, such as sensor excitation, part numbers etc.

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When the RPM sensor is added to the Loom, the associated sink channels (RPM and EngineSpeed) are attached to the Loom.

Variables5 Click the Variables tab

Two variables will appear on the Variables page of the sensor properties dialog box. variable x is based on the time between pulses, while x1 is based on the pulse count.

Sensor Properties dialog box Variables page


Calibrations6 Click the Calibrations tab.7 Select the Equation option for the Calibration. Enter the calibration equation

in the text box.

You can use the Variables and Operators buttons and select from the lists to enter them into the equation or just type the equation directly into the text box.

8 Click Check to test the status of the equation.

The figure below describes the calibration for a typical RPM sensor on a 8 cylinder en-gine.

Sensor Properties dialog box Calibrations page

9 Click OK. The sensor and channels will added to the setup.

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Miscellaneous Application

This section contains the information about Outing Information, Cornering, Logging Triggers, Beacons, Wheel Setup, Track and Fuel, Fuel Capacity, Effective Boost, and Qualifying Mode.

Outing Information

To enter Outing Information:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Miscellaneous. The

Miscellaneous dialog box appears.

Miscellaneous dialog box with Outing Information tab selected

2 Enter a driver name in the Driver box.3 Enter the session number in the Session text box. 4 Click Outing and Lap. The Send Outing/Lap to Car dialog box appears.


Send Outing/Lap to Car dialog box

5 Enter an Outing and a Lap.6 Click Send. The Outing number and Lap number are sent to the car.

Note: The car must be connected and the Pi Server application must be running. This sends ONLY the Outing number and the Lap number to the car. It DOES NOT send the full setup to the car.

7 Enter any comments in the Short Comment and Long Comment text box-es.

8 Check as required Get outing Information from PC Private. This refers to the offload path and outing information, which is stored in the MCU.

PC Private refers to the information stored in the MCU, not on your computer. If this is checked then Pi Workshop will use the offload path and attach the comments that were sent to the MCU. If a directory is being used that doesn’t exist, Pi Workshop will create it.

If you wish to use the information shown on your computer, for example if you have changed the comments during the session then uncheck this and your specified path and comments will be used.

9 Set the drive and directory you want then offload data to be stored in the Log-ger Offload text area. Use the Browse… button to find the location.

10 Click Save.

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Cornering

This is the threshold that Pi Workshop will use for determining corners in map making and displaying corner exit speeds.

To enter cornering information:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Miscellaneous. The


Miscellaneous dialog box with Cornering page selected

2 Click the Cornering tab.3 Enter a G value.4 Click Save.


Logging Triggers

Logging Triggers are conditions which have to be met before logging starts and when it stops. Use this page of the Miscellaneous dialog box to set the conditions which will start and stop logging on the MCU.

To enter Logging Triggers information:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Miscellaneous. The


Miscellaneous dialog box with Logging Triggers tab selected

2 Click the Logging Triggers tab.3 In the Moving section enter values for the Start Guard Time and Stop Guard

Time and Speed Threshold.4 In the Logging section enter values for the Start and Stop.

In the above figure the Moving criteria are: Speed Threshold is set to 32 kph, Start Guard Time is set 1.5 seconds and Stop Guard Time is set to 10 seconds.

The Logging criteria are: Engine Speed Start is set to 1500 rpm, Engine Speed Stop is set to 50 rpm Guard Start time is 1 second and Guard Stop time is 4 seconds.

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For the system to start logging the vehicle needs to be moving at >=32 kph for 1.5 seconds and/or Engine speed to be >= 1500 rpm for 1 second.

For the system to stop logging both conditions (Moving and Logging) must to be met i.e. the vehicle speed must be below 32 kph for 10 seconds and Engine Speed below 50 rpm for 4 seconds.


Beacons

Beacons are infrared devices placed at the track side which are used for lap counting, lap timing, telemetry transmission and end-of-lap indication. Beacon information is also used to divide logged data into laps.

To set Beacons:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Miscellaneous. The

Miscellaneous dialog box appears.2 Click the Beacons tab.

Miscellaneous dialog box with Beacons tab selected

3 Enter the beacon codes you are using.

End-of-lap and Split beacon code should be set to different codes, and the beacon transmit-ters must be switched to either lap or split.

4 Set Mask Times if there is a possibility that other teams have beacons using the same codes on the circuit.

The Mask times control how long the system looks for a valid beacon and reduces the chances of a false beacon from beacons other than your own.

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5 Check (✓) the End-of-lap box to trigger an end of lap beacon when the vehicle stops. (Pit stops etc.)

6 Click Save.

One minute beacon:1 Check (✓) this box to insert a beacon in logged data every 60 seconds.

This divides the logged data into 60-second laps, which is useful if there are no beacons at an event, e.g. a rally stage.


Wheel Setup

Pi Sigma uses pulses from triggers fitted to the wheel to measure vehicle speed, calculate distance for graphical analysis and map making.

To set Wheel Setup options: 1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Miscellaneous. The

Miscellaneous dialog box appears.2 Click the Wheel Setup tab. The Wheel Setup page appears.

Miscellaneous dialog box with Wheel Setup tab selected

Note: When opened for the first time the Wheelspeed page is too small to display all the ‘Car Speed is’ fields. You must re-size the page to display all the fields. The new page size is saved when the Template or Workbook is saved.

3 Enter the tyre diameters and total number of triggers on each wheel.

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4 Select which wheelspeed input is used to derive Car Speed.

The options are listed in the next table.

Car Speed is Option Description

Front Left Use only Front Left wheelspeed. Right Use only Front Right wheelspeed. Both Use both, with further options of Maximum, Average or Minimum. Maximum Use maximum value of Front Left and Front Right wheelspeeds. Average Use average value of Front Left and Front Right wheelspeeds. Minimum Use minimum value of Front Left or Front Right wheelspeeds. Rear Left Use only Rear Left wheelspeed. Right Use only Rear Right wheelspeed. Both Use both, with further options of Maximum, Average or Minimum. Maximum Use maximum value of Rear Left or Rear Right wheelspeeds. Average Use average value of Rear Left or Rear Right wheelspeeds. Minimum Use minimum value of Rear Left or Rear Right wheelspeeds.Front and Rear Maximum Use the maximum value of the Front and Rear. Average Use the average value of Front and Rear. Minimum Use the minimum value of Front and Rear. Front Primary Use the Front settings unless the Front wheelspeeds are zero, then use the Rear settings. Rear Primary Use the Rear settings unless the Rear wheelspeeds are zero, then use the Front settings.Advanced Advanced These settings control when the change over between front and rear wheelspeeds will occur.

5 Click Save.


Track and Fuel

Track and fuel information is used to calculate average speed and fuel consumption.

To set Track and Fuel:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Miscellaneous. The

Miscellaneous dialog box appears.2 Click the Track and Fuel tab.

Miscellaneous dialog box with Track and Fuel tab selected

3 Enter the track Name and Official Length.4 Select a Fuel Prediction option.

Decide if you wish to use the Official Length (as input by you) or the Measured Distance, which will be derived from the information, gathered from Wheel Setup.

5 Complete the Expected Number of Laps text box.6 Click Save.

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Fuel Capacity

Fuel Capacity information is used to calculate fuel consumption and fuel prediction.

To set Fuel Capacity:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Miscellaneous. The

Miscellaneous dialog box appears.2 Click the Fuel Capacity tab.

Miscellaneous dialog box with Fuel Capacity tab selected

3 Select a Fuel Count Source option. (ECU or Volume sensor).

Preset Fuel is the total amount of fuel allowed for the race.

4 Select a Preset Fuel option. (Count Up from zero to Preset Value or Count Down to zero from Preset Value).

5 Enter the Preset Value.

Tank Fuel is the car’s fuel tank capacity.

6 Select a Tank Fuel option. (Count Up from zero to Total Capacity or Count Down to zero from Total Capacity).

7 Enter the Total Capacity.8 Click Save.


Effective Boost

The boost pressure on a turbocharged engine changes rapidly according to throttle position and downshifting. It is important to know how much of the available boost you are using, and if you are losing boost pressure.

Pi Research provides two boost channels as part of an ECU Serial Stream:

n Dash Boost. This is boost pressure sampled at a slow rate and suited for the driver’s display.

n Effective Boost. This is the sum of Active boost pressure over an entire lap. Active boost pressure is boost pressure above a threshold value that you set.

To set Effective Boost:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Miscellaneous. The

Miscellaneous dialog box appears.2 Click the Effective Boost tab.

Miscellaneous dialog box with Effective Boost tab selected

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The Active Conditions Threshold is the value of boost pressure above which it is recorded as active boost. Active Conditions Guard Time is the time boost pressure has to have risen above the Threshold value for active boost to be recorded. When boost drops to the active condition threshold for the Guard Time, an average value for boost will be recorded.

3 Set the Active Conditions Threshold and Guard Time values.

The Inactive Conditions Threshold is the value of boost pressure below which active pres-sure is not recorded. Inactive Conditions Guard Time is the time boost pressure has to have fallen below the Threshold value for active boost not to be recorded.

4 Set the Inactive Conditions Threshold and Guard Time values.5 Click Save.


Qualifying Mode

Qualifying mode lets you instantly assess performance by comparing performance on the current lap against a datum lap stored by Pi Sigma. Qualifying data can be entered manu-ally or imported from an Qualifying Mode file.

To set Qualifying Mode:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Miscellaneous. The

Miscellaneous dialog box appears.2 Click the Qualifying Mode tab.

Miscellaneous dialog box with Qualifying Mode tab selected

3 Select an Operating Mode.

To disable Qualifying Mode select Disabled. Distance based lets you enter qualifying mode information as a distance and time pair. Split beacon based lets you enter qualifying mode information as a split beacon code and time pair.

4 Select a Learning Mode.

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To add rows to the table:1 Select either Distance based or Split beacon based operating mode.2 Click on a row and press (Return).3 For each row add either distance and time pairs (Distance based) or code and

time pairs (Split beacon based).

Incorrect pairs, for example where the distance exceeds the lap length, are ignored.

To delete rows from the table:1 Click on a row and click Delete.

To import qualifying mode files:

Qualifying Mode files have a .qm file extension. The files are generated using Pi Analy-sis.

1 Click Import…2 Locate a suitable Qualifying Mode file.

A suitable file would be from the same track as the one you are currently at.


Modifying the Logging Table

This section explains how to change an existing logging rate, add a channel to the logger and add a new logger.

Changing an existing Logging Rate

To change an existing Logging Rate:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Logger. The Logger

dialog box appears.2 Click the Continuous or Fastest tab. Use the scroll bar or type the first letter

of the channel to find it.

Logger setup table

Shown above are the two basic loggers – Continuous (every lap) and Fastest.

3 Right click on the channel and select a rate (from 1 to 1000 Hz) from the list.

To change more than one channel at a time select them with left click and (Ctrl) and then right click.

4 Click Save and close the window.

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Adding a channel to a logger

The following refers to adding a channel for which the sensor has already been set up. If you need to set up a new sensor and channel please refer to section Setting up a Sen-sor.

The two loggers (Continuous and Fastest) shown are totally independent and need to be set up individually. Channels added to the Continuous logger will not automatically be added to the Fastest logger. Every channel you want to log in Fastest needs to be added separately but the process is the same.

The channels can be dragged and dropped directly from the Global Channel Database.

If this is not displayed click the (Toggle Channel Database) button on the Managers toolbar.

1 Select the logger in which you want to add the channel (Continuous or Fast-est).

2 To add a channel, left click on it in the Global Channel Database channel list and drag it into the logger.

If you have left the Drop rate set to default the channel will have a rate matching the set-tings defined when the sensor was originally configured.


What is the Drop Rate?

Drop Rate text box

Drop Rate is the rate that will be attached to a new channel being added to the Logger. The default rate will be different for each channel, which will have been defined in the settings for the relevant sensor.

You can select a rate from the pull down menu and that will apply to each channel being dragged from the Global Channel Database channel list into the logger. For example, if you had set the Drop Rate to 100Hz and then dragged a channel into the logger the rate would be set to 100Hz.


Drop Rate can also be used to change the logging rate of several channels.

To change the logging rate of several channels using Drop Rate:1 In the Drop Rate text box select the rate you wish to use.2 Now select the channels you wish to apply it to. Left click on the channels to

change whilst holding down (Ctrl).

Continuous Logger table with a number of channels selected

3 Press (Space-bar). All of the selected channels will be changed. The rates change and you return to the top of the logging table.

Continuous Logger table showing selected channels logging rates changed to 50 Hz


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To create a new Logger

In Pi Workshop it is possible to create several burst loggers. The triggers for the burst start and stop are defined by events.

To take an example – On some circuits a quick lap may rest very heavily on having a good car setup through one particular corner, so you may wish to look at some parameters for that section at faster rates. In this case the trigger to start burst logging could be lap dis-tance or a split beacon. i.e. start logging at 480ft and end at 600ft.

You have the option of setting separate start and stop triggers or you could use the Event clear function. Event (Corner 2) being Lap Distance = 480ft and Event clear conditions (Corner 2 Exit) = 600ft.

To add a new logger:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Logger. The Logger

dialog box appears.

Logger dialog box

2 Right click anywhere on this window. Select Loggers from the pop-up menu.3 Select New Logger. The Logger Properties dialog box appears.


Logger Properties dialog box

4 Give the logger a name e.g. Corner 2.5 Select a Logging Mode option.

Start-stop will allow you to specify both conditions. Single Trigger will use an Event to trigger logging and the Burst time will dictate when it stops.

To set burst logging time:1 Select the Burst button. The Burst Logging dialog box appears.

Burst Logging dialog box

2 Set the number of bursts required in the Number box.

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This determines how many times you wish the burst logger to trigger during the outing.

3 Set the Burst Duration.4 Set the Keep Criterion.

Example

Logger Properties dialog box

In the above figure the Logging Mode is set to Single Trigger. The Event Corner 2 will trigger the logger with a burst duration of 2 seconds. Ten bursts will be logged during the outing, retaining the newest laps.

Burst logging dialog showing setting for the above example


Logging Inventory

The Logging Inventory provides you with a summary of the Logger settings in the form of a table. You can use the Logging Inventory dialog box to make changes to the channels logged and logging rates. You can also copy the contents of the table and then paste the information into a Microsoft Excel™ spreadsheet.

To open the Logging Inventory dialog box:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Logger Inventory.

The Logger Inventory dialog box appears.

The Logger Inventory dialog box

Hidden Channels

To display Hidden Channels click Show Hidden Channels.

Channels used

To display only Used channels click Show used channels only.

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Channel name filter

To quickly find a channel in the table, enter the first letter of the channel name in the Filter text box. Only channel names that start with that letter are then displayed in the table.

To show all the channels again, delete the letter from the Filter text box.

To change an existing Logging Rate:1 Click in the appropriate cell of the table. A list button appears in the cell2 Click the button. A list appears in the cell.

Section of Logger Inventory dialog box showing list

3 Choose the new rate from the list.If you make an error, click Undo. The Logging Rate returns to the previous value.4 Click Save.

The new logging rate will affect the total logging time available. The Continuous logging time area of the Logger Inventory dialog box will change to show the new logging time.

To add a channel to the Logger:

1 Click in the appropriate cell of the table. A list button appears in the cell2 Click the button. A list appears in the cell.

Section of Logger Inventory dialog box showing list

3 Choose the logging rate from the list.


If you make an error, click Undo. The Logging Rate returns to the previous value.4 Click Save.

The additional channel will affect the total logging time available. The Continuous logging time area of the Logger Inventory dialog box will change to show the new logging time.

Copy Table

You can copy the table to the Clipboard. The contents of the Clipboard can then be pasted into a Microsoft Excel™ spreadsheet.

1 Click Copy Table. The contents of the table are copied into the Clipboard.

Offload Directories

You can use the Logger Inventory dialog box to change the Offload Directories.

1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Logger Inventory. The Logger Inventory dialog box appears.

2 Click the Miscellaneous tab. The Miscellaneous page appears.

Logger Inventory dialog box Miscellaneous page

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3 Click on the appropriate Data Source in the Offload Directories pane.4 Click Browse. The Browse for Folder dialog box appears.

The Browse for Folder dialog box

5 Use the Browse for Folder dialog box to find and then select a different Offload Directory.

6 Click OK.

Driver name

You can use the Logger Inventory dialog box to change the name of the driver that has been set in the Setup Manager Miscellaneous Application.

1 Enter a name in the Driver text box.2 Click Save. The new Driver name replaces the previous Driver name.

Session number

You can use the Logger Inventory dialog box to change Session number that has been set in the Setup Manager Miscellaneous Application.

1 Enter a new Session Number in the text box.2 Click Save. The new Session Number is replaced.


Logger warning messages

You can use the Logger Inventory dialog box to read any warning messages that might have been generated by the Logger.

1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Logger Inventory. The Logger Inventory dialog box appears.

2 Click the Logger tab. The Logger page appears.

The Logger Inventory dialog box Logger page

Any warning messages that have been generated are displayed in the Logger model warnings pane.

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Setting up Telltales

The following section gives the information required to set up Telltales with a Pi Sigma System.

Open the Telltales Application

Telltales are channels that are created from the maximum and minimum values from other channels. Telltales channels provide useful comparisons between channels and an easy indication of the trend of a channel without actually having to constantly monitor each value coming across in telemetry or downloaded in a dataset.

To set Telltale information:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Telltales. The Tell-

tales window appears.

Telltales window

The setup in the above window has no telltales but includes the four columns that summa-rise the telltale functionality. The Output Channel is the name of the channel created that will provide the max. or min. of the Input Channel. The Reset Event is the event (standard


or user configured) that will reset the telltale. Min./Max specifies whether the minimum or maximum of the Input Channel will be displayed.

2 Right click inside the window.3 Select New Telltale from the pop-up menu. The Telltale Properties dialog box

appears.

Telltales Properties dialog box

The Output Channel Name is the name that will appear in the setup channel list. It is useful to always begin these channel names with Max or Min. as this will allow easy filtering to select all of the telltales.

4 Name the output channel in the Output Channel Name text box.

The Output Channel Value is either a Maximum or a Minimum.

5 Select Maximum or Minimum in the Value text box.

The Input Channel is a channel from the setup that will be latched

6 Select an Input Channel from the list in Input Channel Name box.

The rate is the frequency at which that channel will be polled.

7 Select a rate from the list in the Rate box.

The Telltale Reset Event is the event at which the latched value will be discarded and the latch will begin again. If the telltale is a maximum, the telltale will effectively reset to nega-tive infinity whereas if the telltale is a minimum, the telltale will reset to infinity.

8 Select a Telltale Reset Event from the list.

The RPM Qualifying level will discard all values that occur whilst the rpm is below the defined level.

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9 Enter an RPM Qualifying Level.

The telltale shown will produce a channel called Max Lap Speed which is a maximum of the channel Speed (referencing Speed at 20Hz) which will reset every Lap. RPM has no bearing on this telltale.

10 Click the Save button. The Telltales window will change to display a summary of the Telltale channel.

Telltales Properties window showing a telltale channel summary

A second telltale could be added by right clicking and selecting New Telltale. This telltale could be setup as shown in the example below.


Telltales Properties dialog box for telltale channel Min Fuel Pressure

This is a channel Min Fuel Pressure which is a minimum of fuel pressure referencing Fuel Pressure every 2 milliseconds. As this telltale resets on Logging disabled it will latch to a minimum that it will hold until the unit stops logging. The RPM Qualifying Level forces the telltale to ignore any values of Fuel Pressure that occur when RPM is lower than 12000.

Note: The rate of 500Hz means that a large amount of bandwidth will be used to proc-ess this telltale. Unless specifically required, the rates should be kept as low as possible, normally comparable to the rate at which the input channel will be logged.

The setting up of the above telltale will present the telltale window as shown.

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Telltales window showing telltale channel summaries

Once the window is saved the Output Channels will appear in the Global Channel Database list allowing them to be logged, used on the dash, sent in telemetry etc.


To edit a Telltale

1 In the Setup Data Manager App branch double click on Telltales. The Telltales window appears.

2 Select the telltale to edit, or double click on the telltale.3 Select Edit Telltale from the pop-up menu.

To delete a Telltale

1 In the Setup Data Manager App branch double click on Telltales. The Telltales window appears.

2 Select the telltale to edit, or double click on the telltale.3 Select Delete Telltale from the pop-up menu.

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Events

Overview

Events are defined points in time that occur given a set of conditions. Events can be used to indicate the end-of-lap (the end-of-lap beacon is an event), trigger alarms on the dash or in telemetry transmission, and to start and stop logging. Events can be either Critical events or non-critical events. Throughout the time that the vehicle is running any event that occurs will be stored in the Event log

Critical events

Critical events are defined in the logging application and must occur for the system to oper-ate correctly. Critical Events are

n Car haltn Drive outn End-of-lapn End-of-lap beaconn Logging disabledn Logging enabledn Split beaconn System restart


Non-critical Events

Non-critical events are defined using the Events Application and are based upon channels and a set of conditions.

These events, which can be viewed in Pi Analysis software, are marked by small blue crosses in the data.

Pi Analysis graph showing End of Lap beacons events

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Event storage

As default a maximum of 250 critical Events and 750 non-critical Events can be stored in the Event Logger. You can increase the number of Events that are logged.

To increase the number of Events that are logged:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Logger. The Logger

dialog box appears.2 Right click anywhere on this window. Select Loggers from the pop-up menu.

Logger dialog box showing Loggers pop-up menu

3 Select Event Logger Setup. The Event Logging dialog box appears.

Event Logging dialog box


4 Enter a size for the amount of memory in which to store the additional Events.

Note: You can store 1000 Events in 60 kilobytes of memory.

When the Event Logger is full of non-critical events, only critical Events are logged.

An Event can be used to trigger an alarm on the Dash or in telemetry and to start or stop a burst logger. For more information see section Modifying the logging table.

To view Critical Events:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Dash. The Dash

dialog box appears.2 Click the Alarms tab. The Alarms page appears.3 Select a Type from the list.4 Click Trigger. 5 Click in the Events box. A list of Events appears.

Dash dialog box Alarms page showing the list of Events

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The Event log shows all of the Events that occur during one run and is stored in the offload directory as a text file, which can then be viewed in Microsoft Excel™.

Each Event is identified by a code which can be found in event.ini, stored in the Pi World\Data Directory\Event Definitions.


Display Alarms

An Event can be used to display an Alarm on the dash. You must choose which Event will cause an Alarm to trigger.

To set up a new Event and Alarm

To set up an Event:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click Events. The Events

window appears.

Events window

2 Right click in the text area of the Events window and select New Event… from the pop-up menu. The Event Setup Properties dialog box appears.

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Event Setup Properties dialog box

3 Name the Event.4 From the Channel list select the channel which will trigger the Event.

e.g. RPM.5 Set the Condition and Threshold. – e.g. RPM >(greater than) 9000.6 An Event can be set to Auto Clear by setting the relevant conditions.

To configure this refer to Auto clearing Events and Alarms.

7 Click Advanced. The Advanced Settings dialog box appears.


You use the Advanced Settings dialog box to adjust RPM Qualify level, Guard Time and Retrigger Delay.

Advanced Setting dialog box

Advance settings parameters

Parameter Description

RPM Qualifying Level An RPM qualified Event ensures that the Event is created only when RPM is above the Qualifying Level.Guard Time How long a channel must meet the Event conditions before triggering an Event. In the above dialog box it is set to zero so it will trigger immediately.Retrigger Delay Prevents multiple Events being recorded in the Event log. If set to 0 it produces one Event each time the threshold is crossed. If a value other than 0 is used, this is the frequency at which the system looks to see if the Event is occurring.Disable While Stationary The Event will not be generated whilst the car is stationary as determined by the Moving Conditions.Drive Out Reset Enable Resets the threshold for the Event generator.

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An example of an Event named Overrev is shown below.

The associated Channel is RPMConditions which will trigger the Event >= greater than or equal to

threshold setThreshold 9800Rate 20HzAdjustment 50 rpm

Event Setup Properties dialog box for Event named Overrev


It is likely that the driver would want this Event and related alarm to auto cancel, therefore not requiring any manual acknowledgement. See Auto clearing Events ad Alarms.

Events window showing the Overrev event selected

The Overrev Event will now be stored in the Event Log should it occur.

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Setting a Dash Alarm

To use an Event as an Alarm it must be added to the Dash Alarms.

To set up a Dash Alarm:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Dash. The Dash

dialog box appears.2 Click the Alarms tab.

Dash dialog box with Alarms page selected

3 Select a Dash from the Type list.

The layout of the Alarms page changes with the type of dash selected. The above dialog box shows the type as Pi Compact Dash. When you use a Pi Compact Dash the Alarm lights are displayed on an Alarm Light satellite module and the Alarm Message is displayed on the Pi Compact Dash. The page layout is the same as the above if Pi Satellites is se-lected as THE type. The page layout when Pi Steering Wheel is selected shows the Alarm light section of a Pi Steering Wheel Dash.


You can select an Event that will trigger the alarm.

4 Click Trigger.5 Select an Event from the list that will trigger the alarm.6 Check (✓) Alarm Enabled to enable the alarm.7 Enter the Message that the driver will see when the alarm is triggered.

You can also enter a Long Message which will be displayed on a Pi Steering Wheel Dash Message Centre (this long message is limited to 24 characters in length). You may want to set up alarms that can be shown on a Pi Steering Wheel Dash for the driver and can also be shown on a Pi Compact Dash that has been set up for the car mechanics.

8 Check (✓) Flash Message to flash the message on the dash.9 Click on a dash alarm light (or combination of lights) which will light when the

alarm is triggered.

You must now select the channel that the alarm applies.

10 Click Channel. The Trigger options are replaced by Channel options.11 Select the Channel to which the alarm applies.

For example an End of lap beacon Event could trigger an Alarm that displays Fuel used or a Split beacon event could trigger the display of the channel Segment Difference.

12 Check (✓) Flash Units to flash the units of the channel when under alarm conditions.

13 Select an Appended Text to display either °C or °F for temperature chan-nels.

14 In the Decimal Places box set the precision with which the channel is dis-played in the display field.

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You can set the Alarm to cancel when a specified Event occurs.

15 Click Cancel. The Cancel options appear.

Dash dialog box Alarms page with Cancel options selected

16 Check (✓) Enabled.17 Select an Event from the list.18 Set a Minimum alarm duration.

This value sets the minimum time that an alarm will occur. For example, if you set this value to be 10 seconds and the alarm event only lasts for 8 seconds, the alarm will continue for the full 10 seconds set. If however, the alarm event lasts for 15 seconds, then it will remain for the 15 seconds.

19 If you want the driver to be able to cancel the alarm check (✓) Allow driver to cancel the alarm.

20 Click Save.


Editing existing Alarms

The following steps outline the basic principles of Alarm setups and relate to changing the details for an Event and Alarm that already exists (i.e. one already set up by your Support Engineer). If you need to create a new Event and Alarm please refer to section To set up a new Event and Alarm.

I want to change the oil pressure Alarm to <=30psi

Oil pressure dropping below 30 would trigger an Event which would have an Alarm attached to it. Every Event which occurs will be stored in the Event Log.

To change an existing alarm:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Events. The Events

dialog box appears.

Events dialog box

2 Double click on the Event you wish to change. The Event Setup Properties dialog box appears.

3 Make the changes required.4 Click Save.

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Example of an Event

In the example shown below the Event Name Oil P Low refers to the Oil Pressure channel dropping to a value of less than 30 psi. The channel will be checked at a Rate of 10 Hz (10 times a second). The 5 psi set in the Adjustment box means that once acknowledged by the driver, the event won’t retrigger unless the Oil Pressure drops to 25 psi (0 – 5 = 25).


Oil Pressure has to be below 30 psi for 0.5 second (Guard Time) to be recognised as an Event, and it won’t Retrigger in the EventLog for 10 seconds. These options are set in the Advanced dialog box.


To change Advanced options:1 Click Advanced on the Event Setup Properties dialog box. The Advanced

Settings dialog box appears.

Advanced Settings dialog box

2 Change the required thresholds. Click OK. You will return to the Events window.

For information on the Advance setting parameters refer to the table Advance Settings parameters in section To setup a new Event and Alarm.

3 Click Save and close the Event Setup Properties dialog box.

If you want an Event to clear automatically refer to section Auto clearing Events and Alarms.

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For the driver to be informed on the dash that the Event has occurred, the Event must have an Alarm attached.

To check that the Event is attached to an Alarm:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Dash. The Dash

dialog box appears.2 Click the Alarms tab. The Alarms page appears.3 Select a Type from the list.4 Click List. A list of Alarms appears.

Dash dialog box Alarms page showing the list of alarms set

5 Click on an Alarm in the List. The Trigger and Channel options for that alarm will be available when Trigger or Channel are clicked.

The List forms the basis of Alarm priorities. If two Alarms occur at the same time, the one highest on the list will be displayed. When the higher priority alarm has been cleared, the next highest will be displayed, provided that the Alarm conditions still exist.


6 Edit the alarm as required.7 Click Save to save the changes, or click Undo to return to the previous set-

tings.

The Message is what you want to appear on the Dash. In the above dialog box, the mes-sage is Oil T. The Lights section refers to the LED on the dash that you want to light when the Alarm occurs. The Channel and Units have already been defined as you are modifying an existing Event Alarm and you probably won’t need to change anything here.

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Auto clearing Events and Alarms

In some cases the driver may prefer not to have to acknowledge Dash Alarms manually but still need to know that an event has occurred.

Event Clear

The Event Clear facility combined with a Retrigger Delay prevents multiple events being recorded in the Event log.

Example of use of Event Clear

During Safety Car laps the engine temperatures may rise. If you had set up an Event for Coolant Temperature above 100 °C at a rate of 20 Hz (twenty times a second) with no retrigger delay and it remained above that threshold for 5 seconds, it would appear 100 times in the Event Log (20 times 5 seconds). This would use many Events.

If the retrigger delay was set to 5 seconds this wouldn’t happen. The Event would not be looked at by the system for another 5 seconds. If it has dropped below 100 °C the Coolant OK Event would occur once only.


To set up Auto Clear:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Events. The Events

window appears.2 Double click on the relevant event. The Event Setup Properties dialog box

appears.


3 Check (✓) Event Clear.4 Enter the Name of the clear Event you want to use. The Channel used in the

Clear Event will be displayed in the Channel box.

Note: The event must have been created before you can use the name.

5 Select a Condition that the Channel must meet to clear the event.6 Select a Threshold value of the Channel to which the Condition is applied to

clear the Event.

In the above dialog box the Event Coolant T High will clear when Coolant Temp drops below 100 °C.

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To set a Retrigger Delay:1 Click the Advanced button on the Event Setup Properties dialog box. The

Advanced Settings dialog box appears.

Advanced Settings dialog box

2 Enter a Retrigger Delay time in the text box.3 Click OK.


Setting up a Dash

Pi Sigma systems can display channels and alarms on a range of Pi Dashes. The range comprises the Pi Compact Dash, the Pi Steering Wheel Dash, Pi Omega Dash and Pi Satellite modules. The Satellite modules are a Gear/Shift light module, an Alarm module, and up to two Numeric display modules.

It is possible to use the complete range of Pi Dashes in one setup. For example, you could create a setup for a Pi Steering Wheel Dash, selecting the channels and alarms that the driver would need.

You could also create a setup for a Pi Compact Dash with Pi Satellites which would show the channels and alarms that a mechanic would need.

Dashes can be set up to show different text according to the status of the system. This section explains how to set up each area of a Dash and the satellite modules.

You will already have a default Dash display layout, which has been set up by Pi Research.

You use the Dash Application to configure the display Items, Alarms and shift lights.

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Pi Compact Dash

The Pi Compact Dash has five fields which can be used to display channel information. Three of the fields are 7-segment characters and two are alphanumeric characters (also known as star-burst characters).

Associated with each field are a set of annunciators, which indicate the units used in the field.

Oil

BOOSTFUEL

KPH MPH

Lap TimeALARM

PSI PSIFUEL

OIL

Water

BAR BARannunciator

7-segmentalphanumeric

field 1 field 2 field 3

field 4 field 5

alarm annunciator

Pi Compact Dash display fields


Pi Compact Dash and Pi Satellite Modules

A Pi Compact Dash can have Satellite modules attached as cost options. The Satellite modules are one Gear/Shift light module, one Alarm module, and two Numeric display modules.

Gear/Shift light module

The Gear/Shift light module has a single 7-segment LED display and five coloured LEDs (two green, two yellow and one red). The Gear/Shift light module will display gear number and shift lights. For information on setting up gear shift lights refer to the section Gear shift lights.

Alarm module

The Alarm module has four extra bright coloured LEDs; red, yellow, green and blue. The Alarm module will display alarm light information. For more information refer to section Setting up a new Alarm.

Numeric display module

The Numeric display module has five 7-segment numeric LED displays. The Numeric display module can display five digits for a positive number or a minus sign and four digits for a negative number.

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Pi Compact Dash set up

To set up a Pi Compact Dash:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Dash. The Dash

dialog box appears.

Dash dialog box Numerics page with Pi Compact Dash selected

2 Select Pi Compact Dash from the Type list.


Pi Compact Dash display fields

On a Pi Compact Dash there are five available display fields. All five fields are available on three separate pages (Race, Start and Practice) and are used for displaying fixed text, channel information or lap time.

3 Select a Page (Race, Start or Practice) from the list in the Page box.

Setting annunciators:

Annunciators are used to display fixed text labels on the dash e.g. FUEL, BOOST, MPH

4 Select an annunciator by clicking on the annunciator text. The text will appear on the dash if it is in CAPITALS.

To display channel information:5 Click on the relevant field button.6 Click Display.

Section of Dash dialog box with Display button selected

7 Select Channel from the list in the Format box.8 Select a Channel from the list in the Channel box, or drag a channel from the

Channel Database.

If the channel selected is a temperature channel the Append list becomes available. Select the required abbreviation from the list in the Append box.

9 Enter the number of decimal places in the DP box.10 Select the required units from the Units list.11 Click Save.

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To display Fixed Text:1 Click on the relevant display field button.2 Select Fixed Text from the list in the Format box. The Dash dialog box chang-

es.3 Enter the Text to be displayed.4 Check (✓) Flashing to flash the text in the display field.5 Click Save.

To display Timing information:1 Click on the relevant display field button.2 Select Timing from the list in the Format box. The Dash dialog box changes.3 Select a Channel from the list in the Channel box.

Ideally this should be a timing channel e.g. Lap Time.

4 Select a Format option. (SSS.HH, SS.HH or M.SS.HH).5 Click Save.

Display field actions

In addition to displaying information each display field can also perform certain actions based on a set of conditions. You select these options in the Actio on… section of the Dash dialog box.

Section of Dash dialog box with Action button selected


Page options

Each dash field can be configured to behave in different ways when the page is changed.

Page options

Alarm options

This option displays any of the information when an Alarm is triggered. Each field can be set up to behave differently. – i.e. One field could show the Alarm message (descriptor text), another the channel value, and the third showing the units text. All of the other fields could be set to go blank when Alarm details are displayed.

Alarm options

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Offload options

For when the system is offloading select what you wish to be displayed. Set one field up to display OFFLD and the others to be blank.

Offload options

Lap adjust options

If you are in a situation where a race will end before the official number of laps have been completed, or will exceed the official number of laps, you can use the display to adjust the lap counter and change the overall race distance. The system can then recalculate fuel consumption based on the new race distance.

Lap adjust options


Tank fill options

You could set this option so that Tank Fill displays FILL.

Tank Fill options

Fuel reset options

You could set these this option so that Fuel Reset displays FUEL.

Fuel Reset options

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Pi Compact Dash gear shift lights

If you are using a Pi Compact Dash you can set patterns of LEDs on a Gear/Shift light satellite to light at selected RPM values. A Gear/Shift light satellite has five LEDs that can be illuminated in any combination. You can set a maximum of eight different patterns for each of the three display pages. The output of the system channel named GearNumber will light the 7-segment gear number LED. Refer to section Setting up Gear Number.

To set LED patterns for a Pi Compact Dash:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Dash. The Dash

dialog box appears.2 Click on the Gear Change tab.3 Select Pi Compact Dash from the Type list.

Dash dialog box Gear Change page for a Pi Compact dash


4 Select a Page (Race, Start, or Practice) from the list in the Mode box.5 Set the number of Gears that you have.

Setting the number of gears automatically changes the number of rows in the pattern table. You can set a minimum of one and a maximum of eight gears.

6 Select a Shift Points option (Relative or Absolute).

If you select Relative, you must enter RPM values that are relative to the Redline value. See the example below. If you select Absolute you must enter the actual RPM values at which the shift lights change.

7 Starting with the highest RPM value at Pattern 8 to the lowest RPM value at Pattern 1, for each gear double click a cell in the table and enter the RPM value for the pattern you want to show.

8 Click on the LEDs that will light according to the RPM values.9 If you want to apply the settings from the current page to all three pages (Race,

Start, and Practice) click Apply To All Pages.

If you want the settings for each page to be different, don’t click Apply To All Pages. You will then have to set up each Page in turn.

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Example of relative shift points

In the example below, for each gear Pattern 1 will display when the RPM is 1000 below the redline value i.e. 4000 RPM for 1st Gear, 5000 RPM for 2nd Gear, 7000 RPM for 3rd Gear etc.

Pattern 2 will display when the RPM is 500 below the redline value, Pattern 3 will display when RPM is 200 below redline value, Pattern 4 will display when RPM is 100 below redline value and Pattern 5 will display when RPM is redline value.

Section of Gear Change page showing Shift Points option set to Relative

Example of absolute shift points

The actual RPM values for each shift point have been entered in the table.

Section of Gear Change page showing Shift Points option set to Absolute


Pi Steering Wheel Dash set up

There are two 5-digit 7-segment LED numerical display fields on the Pi Steering Wheel dash. In addition to the two display fields, information can also be displayed in the 24-character Message Centre. It is also possible to use two 5-digit 7-segment LED numeri-cal display Pi Satellite modules.

The Pi Steering Wheel dash also has alarm lights, shift lights, and a 7-segment LED gear number display.

To set up a Pi Steering Wheel Dash:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Dash. The Dash

dialog box appears.2 On the Numerics page select Pi Steering Wheel Dash from the Type list.

Dash dialog box showing the Numerics page with Pi Steering Wheel Dash selected

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Note: In the above dialog box the Pi Satellite modules numbered 2 and 3 are cost op-tions.

3 Select a page (Race, Start or Practice) from the list in the Page box.

On a Steering Wheel Dash the display fields are available on three separate pages (Race, Start and Practice) and are used for displaying fixed text, channel information or lap time.

To display channel information:5 Click on the relevant display field button.6 Click Display.



Channel Database.


9 Enter the number of decimal places in the DP box.10 Select the required units from the Units list.11 Click Save.


To display fixed text:1 Click on the relevant display field button.2 Select Fixed Text from the list in the Format box. The Dash dialog box chang-

es.3 Enter the Text to be displayed.4 Check (✓) Flashing to flash the text in the display field.5 Click Save.

To display timing information:1 Click on the relevant display field button.2 Select Timing from the list in the Format box. The Dash dialog box changes.3 Select a Channel from the list in the Channel box, or drag a channel from the

Channel Database.


4 Select a Format option. (SSS.HH, SS.HH or M.SS.HH).5 Click Save.


In addition to displaying information each display field can also perform certain actions based on a set of conditions. You select these options in the Action on… section of the Dash dialog box.


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Page options


Page options

Alarm options

This option displays any of the information when an alarm is triggered. Each field can be set up to behave differently. – i.e. One field could show the alarm message (descriptor text), another the channel value, and the third showing the units text. All of the other field could be set to go blank when alarm details are displayed.

Alarm options


Offload options

For when the system is offloading select what you wish to be displayed. Set one field up to display OFFLD and the others to be blank.

Offload options

Lap adjust options

If you are in a situation where a race will end before the official number of laps have been completed, or will exceed the official number of laps, you can use the display to adjust the lap counter and change the overall race distance. The system can the recalculate fuel consumption based on the new race distance.

Lap adjust options

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Tank fill options


Tank Fill options

Fuel reset options


Fuel Reset options


Pi Steering Wheel Dash Gear Shift Lights

You can set patterns of LEDs on the dash to illuminate at certain RPM values. Each pat-tern comprises two sets of five LEDs that can be illuminated in any combination. You can set a maximum of eight different patterns for each of the three display pages. The output of system channel named GearNumber will light the 7-segment gear number LED. Refer to Setting up Gear Number.

To set LED patterns for a Pi Steering Wheel Dash:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Dash. The Dash

dialog box appears.2 Click on the Gear Change tab.3 Select Pi Steering Wheel Dash from the Type list.

Dash dialog box Pi Steering Wheel dash Gear Change page

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3 Select a Page (Race, Start, or Practice) from the list in the Mode box.

4 Set the number of Gears that you have.

Setting the number of gears automatically changes the number of rows in the pattern table. You can set a minimum of one and a maximum of eight gears.









In the example below, for each gear Pattern 1 will display when the RPM is 1000 below the redline value i.e. 4000 RPM for 1st Gear, 5000 RPM for 2nd Gear, 7000 RPM for 3rd Gear etc.






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Pi Steering Wheel Dash Message Centre

The Message Centre can display six separate items (including text and channels) using a total of 24 characters.

To set up the Message Centre:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Dash. The Dash

dialog box appears.2 Click the Message Centre tab.

Dash dialog box with Message Centre tab selected

3 Select a Page from the list (Race, Start, or Practice).


You normally use a mixture of fixed text and channel values to display on the Message Centre.

To set fixed text:1 Click New.2 Click Display.3 Select Fixed Text from the list in Format.

Dash dialog box with Fixed Text format selected

4 Enter the text to be displayed in the Text box.

The number of spaces and characters remaining available in the Message Centre is shown in the Available: area of the dialog box. The text entered in the above figure was actually WJF (where F is a (Space)). The spacing of the items needs to be carefully planned. A decimal point uses a character, so 99.99 would use 5 characters.

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To set up a channel:1 Select Channel in the Format box of the Dash dialog box.

Dash dialog box with Channel format selected

2 Select a channel in the Channel list or drag a channel from the Channel Database on to a section of the Message Centre.

3 Define the number of decimal places and the field width required.

In the above dialog box channel WJ would return a value such as 68.56 (five characters, a field width of 5.)

Example of setting up a Message Centre display

A (Space) in the example below only is indicated by

WJ ##### F ##### BSP ###

FixedText

Channelvalue

FixedText

FixedText

Channelvalue

Channelvalue

Example of how a Message Centre display is set up

Message Centre display for the above message


You can move Fixed Text entries and Channels to a different position on the Message Centre.

To move text entries or channels on the Message Centre:1 Click on the text entry or channel on the Message Centre you want to move.

2 Click to move the item to the left, or to move the item to the right.

A button will only be available if you can move the entry in the direction indicated.

You can remove items from the Message Centre.

To remove items from the Message Centre:1 Click on the text entry or channel on the Message Centre you want to re-

move. 2 Click Remove.

You can select items on the Message Centre.

To select items on the Message Centre:1 Click on a text entry or channel on the Message Centre. 2 Click Prev or Next to move along the Message Centre.

A button will only be available if you can move in the direction indicated.

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You can list the entries used on the Message Centre.

To show a list of entries on the Message Centre:1 Click List.

Dash dialog box Message Centre page showing a completed setup


Message Centre Display field actions



Message Centre Page options


Page options

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Message Centre Alarm options

This option displays any of the information when an Alarm is triggered. Each field can be set up to behave differently. – i.e. One field could show the alarm message (descriptor text), another the channel value, and the third showing the units text. All of the other fields could be set to go blank when alarm details are displayed.

Alarm options

Message Centre Offload options

For when the system is offloading select what you wish to be displayed. Set one field up to display Offloading and the others to be blank.

Offload options


Message Centre Lap adjust options

If you are in a situation where a race will end before the official number of laps have been completed, or will exceed the official number of laps, you can use the display to adjust the lap counter and change the overall race distance The system can then recalculate fuel consumption based on the new race distance.

Lap adjust options

Message Centre Tank fill options


Tank Fill options

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Message Centre Fuel reset options

You could set these this option so that Fuel Reset displays Fuel Reset.

Fuel Reset options


Pi Omega Dash set up

The Omega dash has four 7-segment LED numerical display fields, (one central single character for Gear Number, and three 5-character), one 14-segment LED alpha-numerical Message Centre display field and one bar graph display field (for RPM/gearshift). The dash also includes a backlight colour alarm feature and four integrated buttons.

Display Options

In addition to the above display fields you can connect a Pi Omega Dash Shift/alarm mod-ule, two 5-digit 7-segment LED numerical display Pi Satellite modules and a Pi Satellite Alarm light module.

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To set up a Pi Omega Dash: 1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Dash. The Dash page

appears.2 Select Pi Omega Dash from the Type list.

Numerics page with Pi Omega Dash selected


Pi Omega Dash display fields

On a Pi Omega Dash there are five available display fields. All of the display fields are available on three separate pages (Race, Start and Practice) and are used for displaying fixed text, channel information or lap time.

3 Select a Page (Race, Start or Practice) from the list in the Page box.

Setting the RPM Bargraph display field4 Click on the bargraph. The Numerics page changes to show the RPM Bargraph

area.

RPM Bargraph area

5 Choose a value from the list in the Max RPM Scaling for the maximum RPM level for the bargraph.

The Scale below the bargraph changes to reflect the RPM value chosen.6 Click Save to save the changes, or click Undo to return to the previous set-

tings..

Setting annunciators:

Annunciators are used to display fixed text labels on the dash e.g. FUEL, BOOST, MPH

7 Select an annunciator by clicking on the annunciator text. The text will appear on the dash if it is in CAPITALS.

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To display channel information:8 Click on the relevant field button.9 Click Display.



Channel Database.


12 Enter the number of decimal places in the DP box.13 Select the required units from the Units list.14 Click Save to save the setup, or click Undo to return to the previous settings.

To display Fixed Text:1 Click on the relevant display field button.2 Select Fixed Text from the list in the Format box. The Dash dialog box chang-

es.3 Enter the Text to be displayed.4 Check (✓) Flashing to flash the text in the display field.5 Click Save to save the setup, or click Undo to return to the previous settings.


To display Timing information:1 Click on the relevant display field button.2 Select Timing from the list in the Format box. The Dash dialog box changes.3 Select a Channel from the list in the Channel box.


4 Select a Format option. (SSS.HH, SS.HH or M.SS.HH).5 Click Save to save the setup, or click Undo to return to the previous settings.

To set up Pi Satellite modules

1 Click on the required satellite and choose the channel and options as detailed above

2 Click Save to save the setup, or click Undo to return to the previous settings..



Section of Dash dialog box with Action on button selected

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Page options


Page options

Alarm options

This option displays any of the information when an Alarm is triggered. Each field can be set up to behave differently. – e.g. one field could show the Alarm message (descriptor text), another the channel value, and the third showing the units text. All of the other fields could be set to go blank when Alarm details are displayed.

Alarm options


Offload options

For when the system is offloading you can select what you wish to be displayed. Set one field up to display OFFLD and the others to be blank.

Offload options

Lap adjust options

If you are in a situation where a race will end before the official number of laps have been completed, or will exceed the official number of laps, you can use the display to adjust the lap counter and change the overall race distance. The system can then recalculate fuel consumption based on the new race distance.

Lap adjust options

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Tank fill options


Tank Fill options

Fuel reset options


Fuel Reset options

Gear Number display field

The output of System Channel named GearNumber will light the 7-segment gear number LED. Refer to Setting up GearNumber.


Pi Omega Dash shift/alarm module

If you are using a Pi Omega Dash Shift/alarm module, you can set patterns for the LEDs to light at selected RPM values. The shift light module has seven LEDs (4 green, 2 yellow and one red), for the shift light function and a single red LED as the alarm light. You can set a maximum of eight different patterns for each of the three display pages.

To set LED patterns for a Pi Omega Dash Shift/alarm module:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Dash. The Dash

dialog box appears.2 Click on the Gear Change tab.

Gear Change page for a Pi Omega Dash

3 Select a Page (Race, Start, or Practice) from the list in the Mode box.4 Set the number of Gears that you have.

Setting the number of gears automatically changes the number of rows in the pattern table. You can set a minimum of one and a maximum of nine gears.


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9 Click Save to save the setup, or click Undo to return to the previous settings.


In the example below, for each gear, Pattern 1 will display when the RPM is 1000 below the redline value i.e. 4000 RPM for 1st Gear, 5000 RPM for 2nd Gear, 7000 RPM for 3rd Gear etc.







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Pi Omega Dash Message Centre

The Message Centre can display six separate items (including text and channels) using a total of 14 characters.

To set up the Message Centre:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Dash. The Dash

dialog box appears.2 Click the Message Centre tab.

Dash dialog box with Message Centre tab selected

3 Select a Page from the list (Race, Start, or Practice).


You normally use a mixture of Fixed Text and Channel values to display on the Message Centre.

To set Message Centre Fixed Text:1 Click New.2 Click Display.3 Select Fixed Text from the list in Format.

Dash dialog box with Fixed Text format selected

4 Enter the text to be displayed in the Text box.

The number of spaces and characters remaining available in the Message Centre is shown in the Available: area of the dialog box. The text entered in the above figure was actually WJF (where F is a (Space)). The spacing of the items needs to be carefully planned. A decimal point uses a character, so 99.99 would use 5 characters.

5 To make the Message flash check (✓) Flashing.6 Click Save to save the setup, or click Undo to return to the previous settings.

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To set up a Message Centre Channel:1 Select Channel in the Format box of the Dash dialog box.

Dash dialog box with Channel format selected

2 Select a channel in the Channel list or drag a channel from the Channel Database on to a section of the Message Centre.

3 Define the number of decimal places and the field width required.

In the above dialog box channel WJ would return a value such as 68.56 (five characters, a field width of 5.)

Example of setting up a Message Centre display

A (Space) in the example below only is indicated by F.

Example of how a Message Centre display is set up

Message Centre display for the above message


You can move Fixed Text entries and Channels to a different position on the Message Centre.

To move Message Centre text entries or channels on the Message Centre:1 Click on the text entry or channel on the Message Centre you want to move.

2 Click to move the item to the left, or to move the item to the right.

A button will only be available if you can move the entry in the direction indicated.

You can remove items from the Message Centre.

To remove items from the Message Centre:1 Click on the text entry or channel on the Message Centre you want to re-

move. 2 Click Remove.

You can select items on the Message Centre.

To select items on the Message Centre:1 Click on a text entry or channel on the Message Centre. 2 Click Prev or Next to move along the Message Centre.

A button will only be available if you can move in the direction indicated.

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You can list the entries used on the Message Centre.

To show a list of entries on the Message Centre:1 Click List.

Message Centre page showing a List


Message Centre Display field actions



Message Centre Page options


Page options

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Message Centre Alarm options

This option displays any of the information when an Alarm is triggered. Each field can be set up to behave differently. – i.e. one field could show the alarm message (descriptor text), another the channel value, and the third showing the units text. All of the other fields could be set to go blank when alarm details are displayed.

Alarm options

Message Centre Offload options

For when the system is offloading select what you wish to be displayed. Set one field up to display Offloading and the others to be blank.

Offload options


Message Centre Lap adjust options

If you are in a situation where a race will end before the official number of laps have been completed, or will exceed the official number of laps, you can use the display to adjust the lap counter and change the overall race distance The system can then recalculate fuel consumption based on the new race distance.

Lap adjust options

Message Centre Tank fill options


Tank Fill options

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Message Centre Fuel reset options

You could set these this option so that Fuel Reset displays Fuel Reset.

Fuel Reset options

The FUEL option activates the Fuel Reset Command.

You can configure up to four different pages of information to display on the dash. Each page can be one of three types: Pit, Race or Lap. The pages are scrolled using the buttons on the sides of the dash, which can be configured using the settings on the Miscellaneous page of the Setup.

5 Click a Page tab.

The display fields change colour as the mouse cursor passes over them and the channel drop down list associated with a display field is highlighted.

6 Select the channel drop down list which is corresponds to the display field you want to configure.

7 Choose the channel that you wish to display in the field from the drop down list.

You can use the button and choose from the list which appears or type the first letter of the channel name. If you have several channel names with the same first letter keep typing the letter until the channel you want is selected in the channel box.

8 Repeat steps 6 and 7 for each of the display fields on a Page.9 Set a page display option (Pit, Race or Lap) by checking the appropriate

checkbox.

If you set a page to be both a Pit and a Race page, then the page will display all the time.


If you choose just the Race page display option, the page will only be displayed when the Dash Race Page Threshold speed (on the Miscellaneous page) has been exceeded.

If you choose the Lap page display option, the page is only displayed when a valid End-of-Lap beacon code is detected. The selected channels in the page are displayed for 10 seconds and then the display returns to the previous page display.

10 Configure the other available Pages as required.

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Setting up Pi Omega dash alarms

Using the Alarms page you can set up to twenty different alarms.

After you have completed setting up alarms you must click Save to save the changes, or click Undo to return to the previous settings.

To set up Pi Omega dash alarms:1 Click the Alarms tab. The Alarms page appears.

Pi Omega dash Alarms page

2 Click New.


3 Click Trigger and choose an Event from the list in the Events box which will trigger the Alarm.

Choosing an Event from the Events list

If you set up a relevant Alarms option in the Action On area of the Message Centre page you can choose which channel to display when the alarm is triggered.

4 Click Channels. Choose a channel to display in the Message Centre when the alarm is triggered.

Choosing a channel to display in the Message Centre

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You can choose an Event that will automatically cancel the alarm when the specified parameters have been reached.

5 Click Cancel and choose an Event from the list in the Events box.

6 To allow the alarm to be cancelled automatically when the chosen Event occurs check (✓) Enabled.

To allow the alarm to be cancelled using the Red button on the Pi Omega dash check (✓) Allow driver to cancel the alarm.

Alarm backlight

The Pi Omega dash has an option to change the backlight colour to red when an Alarm is triggered. To select this option click the light gray coloured ALARM BACKLIGHT annuncia-tor. The annunciator is active when it is black. To de-activate the annuciator click ALARM BACKLIGHT and the colour reverts to light gray.

When the Alarm is cancelled (either manually or automatically) the backlight reverts to the default colour.

Alarm annunciator

In addition to changing the background colour when an alarm is triggered you can also choose to display the word ALARM on the dash. Click the light gray word annunciator ALARM to activate. The annunciator is active when it is black.

To de-activate the annuciator click ALARM and the colour reverts to light gray.


Pi Omega dash Shift/alarm light LED module

You can attach an optional shift/alarm LED module to the Pi Omega dash and choose to set the alarm light when an alarm has been triggered.

To activate the Shift/alarm light LED module alarm light LED

Click the alarm LED to activate the alarm light when an alarm is triggered.

Click the alarm LED to activate

The LED changes to red when selected.

To de activate the Shift/alarm light LED module alarm lightClick the LED when it is red to de-activate the alarm light.

Satellite alarm module

You can connect an optional Satellite alarm module to the Pi Omega dash. You can then choose to activate an LED (or LEDs) when an alarm is triggered.

To activate LEDs on a Satellite alarm module

Click an LED to activate that LED when an alarm is triggered.

Click an LED to activate it

Save the Pi Omega dash setup

When you have finished the setting up the Pi Omega dash click Save to save the setup.


Switch Application

This section outlines the Switch Application and Switch to CAN boxes.

Overview

The Switch Application is analogous to a patch board. It maps real life switch inputs to bits in a channel. The idea is that you create an output channel, e.g. DisplaySwitch and you select which physical switch inputs affect which bits of your output channel.

Switch inputs in Pi Sigma are not directly wired to the MCU or SCU. Instead they are con-verted to a CAN serial stream and read by a CAN serial port on the MCU. This removes any limitation on the number of switches possible.

DisplaySwitch

000000000101

Switch ApplicationSwitch to CAN box

CAN (Id1)

????0101????

101000000000

????1010????

SW2

SW1

SW3

SW4

Representation of switch inputs mapped to an output channel

The figure above shows a Switch to CAN box (on the left) accepting 4 switch inputs. These switch inputs are sent via CAN and are decoded by the Switch Application which creates the appropriate mapping for an output channel. The channel in the figure above is named DisplaySwitch.

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Switch to CAN boxes

You use a Switch to CAN box to transform the switch inputs to a CAN message. In this way you can daisy chain CAN boxes together to attach as many switch inputs as you like (up to 14 CAN units on one can input). Each CAN box has a unique identity. You need to tell the Pi Sigma System which CAN boxes are on the vehicle. The standard Switch to CAN box has a CAN ID of 1.

If you add another Switch to CAN box it must have a different ID. Pi Research can change the CAN ID of CAN boxes (note you will probably need an adapter loom, available from Pi Research.)

The Pi Steering Wheel Dash has a CAN interface built in. The CAN ID of this interface can be changed by Pi Research.

The Slave Control Unit Properties dialog box (shown below) is the properties box of the SCU (or MCU if MCU is selected), both of which can accept a CAN input.

To tell Pi Workshop the CAN box IDs:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Sigma Configura-

tion. The Sigma Configuration window appears.2 Select SCU (or MCU).3 Right click in the window and select Properties… from the pop-up menu. The

Properties dialog box appears.

Slave Control Unit Properties dialog box


4 Click the CAN Setup tab. Select the IDs of the CAN boxes fitted to the vehi-cle.

The Switch to CAN box only has access to four switches. The CAN interface built into the Steering Wheel Dash can accept up to 12 switch inputs.

Switches float high and are grounded by the switch, therefore the usual state of a switch input (i.e. not pressed) is TRUE (or 1) whilst the pressed state is FALSE (or 0.) You can invert this in the Switch Application if required. Using the Switch Application

To open the Switch Application:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Switch. The Switch

dialog box appears.

Switch dialog box

You can have several output channels made up from the state of any Switch (from any CAN box).

The Rate specifies the rate at which the output channel selected (in this case there is only one) is generated, and therefore is the maximum rate at which it can be consumed.

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The Switch dialog box above shows the mapping for default database channel named DisplaySwitch. It is zoomed in below.

Channel bit number

Switch to CANbox ID

CAN messagebit

Whether thebit is inverted

Switch dialog box zoomed to show mapping of channel DisplaySwitch

This means that the state of bit 0 of the channel DisplaySwitch will be the inverted state of the sixth bit of the CAN message from the Switch to CAN box ID 1, situated on Node 0x05 (i.e. an SCU). This is shown in the figure at the start of this section.

Adding an Output Channel

To add an Output Channel:1 Right click on the left hand panel of the Switch dialog box.2 Select New Channel from the pop-up menu. The New Switch dialog box ap-

pears. 3 Name the new switch and select a rate.4 Click OK. The new switch name is displayed in the Switch dialog box.5 Right click on the new name and select Properties from the pop-up menu.6 Complete the properties dialog box as required.


Editing the Mapping

To edit the Mapping:1 Highlight the output channel in the Switch dialog box.2 Double click on the bit. The Switch Properties dialog box appears.

Switch Properties dialog box

This lets you select which bit from which CAN message should be used to control the required bit of the output channel. In the Switch Properties dialog box shown above, the Output bit, bit 0 of a channel named DisplaySwitch is mapped to the inverted bit 6 of the CAN message ID 1 from Node 0x05.

Source

Switch Properties dialog box showing the Source list

The Source List allows you to select from either fixed values (0 or 1) or the bits from one of the Switch to CAN boxes attached to the system.

Output channel named DisplaySwitch

In the example above an output channel called DisplaySwitch was created. This is a chan-nel which the Dash Application uses to facilitate the standard Pi switch functions, Page change, Alarm cancel, and Fuel functions.

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Validity

The output of the Switch Application is a U32. The first 16 bits can be set up by the Switch Application. The last 16 bits refer to the validity of the channel.

Bit 16 is TRUE if Bit 0 is VALID, it is FALSE if the bit is invalid, and so on.

This is useful for critical applications, which can check the validity of the switch to see if the CAN stream is OK. If the CAN stream is disconnected for more than 200 ms then all bits from that Switch to CAN box are marked invalid (you can easily check this in code by ANDing the upper and lower 16 bits.)

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Telemetry Application

The following section outlines the method required to set up the Telemetry Application with a Pi Sigma System. The telemetry setup of a Pi Sigma system is very critical. If set incorrectly, End-of-lap telemetry will overfill Continuous telemetry and the user will be left with no telemetry.

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Telemetry Sources and Telemetry Streams

Telemetry Sources take channel data and Events and create Data Streams. Data Streams are sent to the serial communication ports of Pi Sigma systems for connection to a telem-etry system.

The Telemetry Application generates up to four different Data Streams that comprise data from any combination of the sixteen Telemetry Data Sources and four Event Sources.


Channels and Telemetry Data Sources

A Telemetry Data Source is a collection of channels that can be combined into a Serial Stream for transmission by a telemetry system. A maximum of 16 Telemetry Data Sources are supported.

Events and Event Sources

An Event Source is a collection of Events that can be combined into a Serial Stream for transmission by a telemetry system. A maximum of four different Event Sources are sup-ported.

Telemetry Serial Streams

A Telemetry Serial Stream is a serial stream of data that is a combination of channel and Event data from a combination of Telemetry Data Sources and Event Sources. A maximum of four different serial streams can be defined.

Types of telemetry

Telemetry data is categorised as either End-of-Lap or Continuous and is generated by the Telemetry Source. The Trigger Mode determines the transmission points and the telemetry data category.

Telemetry Sources have three Trigger Modes

n Start-Stop – used to create end-of lap telemetryn Fixed-Length Run – for localised telemetry data transmissionn Continuous – for continuous telemetry data transmission

The Default template is supplied with two pre-configured Telemetry Sources: continuous and end-of-lap; and a single Event Source.

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Setting up telemetry

This section shows how to set up a telemetry stream with Pi Sigma system.

To set up telemetry:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double double-click on Telemetry.

The Telemetry dialog box appears.

Telemetry When dialog box with Continuous Telemetry Source selected

The When page shows Telemetry Sources and Event Sources.

To set the Continuous Telemetry Options on the When page :1 Click the Continuous Telemetry Source.2 Select the Continuous Trigger Mode option.3 If Start-Stop is required, select Start-Stop ad set the Start and Stop events.4 Click on the Advanced… button. The Data Engine Advanced Properties dialog

box appears.


Data Engine Advanced Properties dialog box

5 Select the Automatic Message Size option and click OK. The Data Engine Advanced Properties dialog box closes.

This uses the list of channels in the Telemetry table, plus the rates at which they are sent, and calculates the amount of data sent in each packet.

Each channel in the Data Source Setup has a Rate (Hz) at which it is added to the Te-lemetry Data stream. The higher the Rate the more channel data is sent at the expense of overall bandwidth. Bandwidth is determined by the transmission capability or baud rate of the telemetry system.

Message Size

The Message Size affects how data is received. A long message has a greater chance of corruption by interference and noise.

A shorter Message Size increases the chances of the telemetry system receiving a com-plete telemetry message in areas of poor reception. However, a smaller Message Size increases message repeats and reduces overall bandwidth.

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Pi Sigma stream optimization

When configuring a continuous Pi Sigma telemetry stream, it is possible to optimise the configuration of the stream to significantly enhance coverage levels. Where maximisation of coverage is required, the following procedure is recommended.

1 Only send the minimum acceptable group of channels required.2 Reduce each channel’s send rates to the minimum acceptable. It is worth

considering that the Pi Workshop Watch Cards are refreshed at 5Hz, hence any highly transient channels sent purely to be watched in Pi Workshop need not be sent at more than 5Hz. When a highly transient channel is logged via telemetry, or its value history is watched in Pi Workshop (e.g. as a time/dis-tance plot), it may be appropriate to send the channel via telemetry at more than 5Hz.

3 Assuming that the percentage of the stream used is now less than the maxi-mum for the radio, open the Data Engine Advanced Properties and select Manual Message Size. Reduce the manual message size incrementally until the stream usage equals the maximum for the radio.

The reason that the continuous stream usage should be maximised is because the trans-mitting radio will cease to remain in its transmitting mode after a certain time period has expired. If the continuous stream percentage is not maximised, pauses will exist between packets sent by a Pi Sigma MCU.

Baud rates and bandwidth

baud bandwidth (bytes per second) 80% bandwidth

300 30 24600 60 481200 120 962400 240 1924800 480 3849600 960 76819200 1920 153638400 3840 307257600 5760 4608115200 11520 9216230400 23040 18432460800 46080 36864

The rule is send lots of channels at low rates or less channels at higher rates.


Setting the End of Lap Telemetry Options on the When page:1 Click on End of Lap. The When page changes to show the End of Lap op-

tions.

Telemetry When window with End-of-Lap Telemetry Source selected

2 Select Fixed-Length Run option as the Trigger Mode.3 Select End of Lap as the Start Trigger.4 Set the Run Duration to 0.001 seconds.5 Click the Advanced… button and select Automatic Message Size.

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Setting the Events Telemetry Options on the When page:1 Click on Event Engine. The When page changes to show the Telemetry Event

Source Properties options.

Telemetry Event Source When page


To set the What page options:1 Click the What tab. The What page appears.

Telemetry What dialog box with Continuous Telemetry Source selected

To set Continuous Telemetry Options on the What page:1 Click Continuous in the Telemetry Sources window.

This is the page in which channels are dragged to include them in the Continuous stream.

2 To add a channel to the list, select the channel name in the Global Channel Database and drag it into the Data Source Setup window.

The example above shows that LapFuelEconomy will be transmitted at 2Hz whilst LapTime and LapNumber will be transmitted at 5Hz.

With this setup the MCU will transmit 68 bytes/second. To validate this, a 9600 baud radio will transmit 960 bytes/second.

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To set End Of Lap Telemetry (EOL) Options on the What page:1 Click End of Lap in the Telemetry Sources window.

This is the page in which channels are dragged to include them in the EOL stream

2 To add a channel to the list, select the channel name in the Global Channel Database and drag it into the Data Source Setup window.

Telemetry What dialog box with End-of-Lap Telemetry Source selected

In this page the rate is effectively ignored because the system will just send a snapshot value.


To set Event Engine Telemetry Options on the What page:1 Click Event Engine in the Telemetry Sources dialog box.

This is the page in which Events are selected to include them in the Event Telemetry stream.

Telemetry What dialog box with Event Engine Source selected

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To add Events to the Telemetry Event engine:1 Click the Add Event button. The Add Event dialog box appears.

Add Events dialog box

2 Select the Events you want to add. Click OK.


To set the Where to page options:1 Click the Where to tab. The Where to page appears.

Telemetry window with Where to tab selected

2 The Baud Rate should be set to match the hardware radio that is being used.

3 If telemetry logging is to be used, check (✓) the Logging Enable option.4 Set the Storage path where the telemetry data will be stored.

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Telemetry Sources (Priority Order)

For each stream you can combine any of the defined End-Of-Lap or Continuous Telemetry Data Sources and Event Sources. The priority determines the order of the data in the serial stream. Higher priority engines introduce their channels before lower priority engines. Use the Up and Dn buttons to promote or demote Telemetry Sources.

To set Telemetry Sources Priority Order:

Note: End of Lap source is top priority. If any of the other settings need to be changed, it is wise to check the setup first to ensure that telemetry is not detrimentally affected.

1 Select the source you want to change and click the Up button or the Dn button to move the chosen source up or down the list.

To check the Continuous Options:1 Click Continuous in the Telemetry Sources (priority order) window.

When Continuous is highlighted, the settings should be set to those shown in the previous figure.

Note: The text at the bottom of the window indicates how much of the stream is being used. It is wise to keep this below 80%.


To check the End Of Lap Options:1 Click End of Lap in the Telemetry Sources (priority order) window.

The Telemetry Source Settings shown below should be used for the EOL stream.

Telemetry dialog box Where to page with End of Lap Telemetry Source selected

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To check the Event Engine Options:1 Click Event Engine in the Telemetry Sources (priority order) dialog box.

Telemetry dialog box Where to page with Event Engine Source selected


Tell the MCU which Serial Port to use

The next step is to set up the configuration to send the telemetry information through the correct Serial Port on the MCU.

To select a Serial setup for the Telemetry stream:1 In the Setup Data Manager Apps branch double click on Sigma Configura-

tion. The Pi Sigma Configuration dialog box appears.

Pi Sigma Configuration dialog box with pop-up menu displayed

2 Right click on Logger.

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3 Select Serial Setup… from the pop-up menu. The Serial Setup dialog box appears.

Serial Setup dialog box

4 Click the tab for the Serial Port you are using for your telemetry.

The Telemetry Stream is usually sent through Port 2B.

5 Select RS232/TTL in/out from the list in the Config box.6 Select Realtime Telemetry (9600) from the list in the Output box.7 Select None from the list in the Input window.8 Set the Baud Rate to 9600, the Stop Bits to 1 and the Data Length to 8.9 Click OK.


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Writing a Math Channel

This section shows how to write a Math Channel or Calibration.

Overview

One of the powerful features of the Pi Sigma system is its Math Channel capability. You can write Math Channels with any number of inputs and outputs.

Math Channels that use only one input are called Simple. Math channels that use more than one input are called Complex (a mathematical term meaning composed of more than one.)

Math Channels are usually an equation, relating the output channel to one or more vari-ables. You assign channels available on the box to variables used in your equation. For example:

y = 3x+17.4 where y is the output, and the variable x is an input channel.


Adding a Math Channel

To start you must add a blank Math Channel.

To add a blank Math Channel:1 In the Setup Data Manager right click on the Maths Channels section.2 Click Attach Math Channel… from the pop-up menu. The Attach Math Chan-

nel dialog box appears.

Attach Math Channels dialog box

3 Select the type of Math Channel you want to add.

There are three types of Math Channel:

n The Group Math Channel (Equation) allows several equation-type Math channels to be edited in the same dialog box.

n The Single Math Channel (Equation) can have multiple input channels but generates a single output channel with an equation calibration.

n The Single Math Channel (Table) takes one input channel, applies a transfer function specified as a look-up table and generates a single output channel.

The Group Math Channel is used in this section as an example.

4 The Properties dialog box for the Math Channel appears.5 Click the Information tab and enter a name for the Math Channel in the Name

section.

This is the name that will be displayed in the Math Channel branch of the Setup Data Manager.

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Math Channel properties dialog box with Information tab selected

6 Type a description of the Math Channel in the Comments section.

This description will remind you what this Math Channel actually does. It will be displayed as a tool tip when you float the mouse over this Math Channel in Pi Workshop.


Define the inputs to be used as variables in your equation:1 Click the Variables tab on the Math Channel properties dialog box. This page

holds all of the input information.

Math Channel properties dialog box with Variables tab selected

2 Click Add… to add a new variable. The Variable Properties dialog box appears.

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You must now decide which channel you wish to assign to this variable.

Adding a variable:1 Name the Variable. (You might decide to have something more meaningful

than the default name x).2 Select an Input Channel from the drop down box.3 Select the Units which you want to use in this channel.

Pi Sigma understands the difference between different units and will automatically scale the channel. So if you want your equation in inHg you would just select it here.

4 Enter a Description. This is mainly used to remind you what this input does in the equation.

5 Continue adding all the inputs you need for your Math Channel.


They will be listed like this :

Math Channel properties dialog box showing Input Channels

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Define the outputs

You must now define the equation (or transfer function – which is a control engineering term meaning the ‘ratio of the output versus the input in terms of the Laplace operator S’).

1 Click the Transfer Function tab.

Math Channel Properties dialog box with Transfer Functions tab selected

2 Type the output channel name in the Channel block in the Channel area of the Generated Channels section.

3 Select a Rate option.


If the Fixed Rate option is selected the channel is generated on the MCU at the rate speci-fied. If the Key Variable option is selected, the channel is generated by the PC either on offload, or over telemetry. The channel is then generated at the rate of the Variable you have chosen.

You can have more than one output if you want. Each output channel has its own calibra-tion.

4 Set the Quantity in the Quantity block in the Channel area of the Generated Channels section.

5 Set the units in which you are calibrating your output in the Unit block in the Channel area of the Generated Channels section.

Pi Sigma will then understand what units you have calibrated the output(s) in and can scale the channel correctly if you want to view the channel in different units.

6 Enter the Equation in the Equation text box. 7 Click Check to validate the equation.

Example equation

The equation text box above is for the output channel Brake Balance. If you added more than one output channel then the equation box above will change to reflect the output chan-nel equation you are editing – this depends on which channel is highlighted.

Inserting variables into an equation:

The variable you define can be inserted into the equation (so you don’t have to remember them).

1 Click Variables… Select the variable from the list displayed. Alternatively you can type the variable name.

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Inserting an operator

An operator (for example plus or a minus) can be inserted.

1 Click Operators… Select an operator from the menu displayed. Alternatively you can type it in.

Floating the mouse over each operator gives a tool tip to explain how to use each one.

More detailed operator behaviour (including precedence and precision) is available in the Math channels operators and functions section.

Channel usage

This page gives a description of where in the system this Math Channel is being used.

1 Click the Channel Usage tab.

Math Channel Properties dialog box with Channel Usage tab selected


Look Up Table

You can make a look up table instead of an equation as a Math Channel.

1 In the Setup Data Manager right click on the Maths Channels branch. A pop-up menu appears.

2 Click Attach Math Channel… The Attach Maths Channel dialog ox appears.


3 Select Single Math Channel (Table). The Single Math Channel (Table) dialog box appears.

Single Math Channel (Table) dialog box

Everything is similar to before, except you can only do one-dimensional look up table at the moment, so the UI dialog box is simplified and only includes one input and one output channel.

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Once you have defined your output channel (in the tab called Channel Info) you select your input channel from the drop down box. Specify the units you want to use, and type in the values.

Use the (tab) key to add extra elements in the table.

Note: You can cut and paste from Microsoft Excel™.

Types of fit

There are several different fits available to your tabulated values. These are Sample and Hold, Interpolate, and Extrapolate. You select these from the Type pull down box at the bottom right of the dialog box.

Sample and hold Interpolate Extrapolate

Types of fit


Organising math channels

Math channels may be arranged into folders of related items. Use Hierarchical Folders to Organise Your Math Channels

The New Folder option allows you to arrange your Math channels so that they easier to maintain, and it looks better than one long list. You can make your folders first and add Math channels to each folder, or you can drag the Math channels into different folders afterwards. Just like files in Windows™ Explorer.

To create a new maths channel folder:1 Right-click on the Maths Channels loom or on a Maths folder. Select New

Folder.2 Math channels can be dragged into the folder and new ones created in the

folder.

Math channels and the sensor Loom

Say that a Math Channel exists which calculates wheelspeed from a gearbox input shaft speed. Such a channel will depend on gear ratio, and hence on a particular gearbox. These channels can be stored in the loom so that they are replaced with the gearbox sub-loom.

To create such channels:1 Right-click on the Pi Workshop Settings icon on the windows task bar. Select

the Expert option.2 In the Setup Data Manager Loom branch right-click on a connector.3 Select New Maths Folder. 4 Name the new folder.

Use the new folder as if it was part of the Maths Channels loom.

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Registers

Overview

Pi Workshop and Pi Sigma allow manipulation of channel outputs directly by using ‘regis-ters’ stored in memory.

Registers may be used via the equation entry area of a channel (Math Channels or Sen-sors). Each channel has a maximum of seven registers associated with it, numbered a0 through to a6. All registers are set to zero whenever the logger is ‘reset’. For example this could be when a setup is sent to the MCU or when the MCU is power cycled; i.e. the contents of the registers are not ‘reset’ every time the channel is calculated.

Maths Channels are calculated on the box using the base rate of the channel. e.g. if the channel is transmitted on telemetry at 100Hz then the channel is calculated every 10mS.


Example - a simple filter

If, for example, a channel has a particularly noisy or fast changing value and a control system is trying to use this channel then it is possible to apply an averaging filter to the output of a channel. For the purposes of this example a rolling filter is used but more complex filters could be fashioned. The following expression is used in the equation area of the channel;

a4 (@a3) ; a3 (@a2) ; a2 (@a1) ; a1 (@a0) ; a0 (x) ; (@a4 + @a3

+ @a2 + @a1 + @a0) / 5

Semi colons are used to define particular actions.

The operating system in Pi Sigma will perform each of the actions sequentially as it reads the equation from left to right.

The ‘@’ symbol loosely translates to a ‘get the contents out of’, type operation.

The first function ‘a4 (@a3)’ translates to ‘load register a4 with the contents of register a3’.

Although contained in the middle of this expression, the most important action is ‘a0 (x)’, which translates to ‘load register a0 with an instantaneous sample of channel x’. i.e. the main channel ‘x’ is loaded into register a0. This sample then subsequently passes through each register until ‘over written’ in register a4.

Finally the contents of the registers are summed and then divided by the number of reg-isters to obtain an average value. The average value is the result of the channel that the system uses.

It can be seen that a change in the value of ‘x’ will propagate from a0 through to a4 on each pass through by the rate task. So, if the channel is calculated at 100Hz then the filter response will be similar to a 20Hz roll off but with a time (phase) delay of about 4mS, which incidentally, may affect dynamic data analysis.

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Example - a counter resetting at the Beacon

In the next example a counter is used which ramps up in value until a beacon is seen whereupon it resets and starts to count over again.

a1 ( ( @a1 + 1 ) * ! ( c - @a2 ) ) ; a2 ( c ) ; @a1

In the Variables tab of the Math equation the channel ‘LapNumber’ has been assigned a variable name of ‘c’, which is then used in this expression.

The first operation not only performs the count but also ‘tests’ to see if the lap number has changed.

To perform this test the variable ‘c’ is compared to the contents of register a2. Depend-ing upon the answer to this test the count is ‘reset’ (actually multiplied by 0 which has the same effect).

Similarly another math comparison not equal ‘!=’ may be used which may be easier to visualise.

The second expression loads the value of lap counter to register a2 ready for the next time.

The final expression says to get the contents of register a1 and use this as the output. (Incidentally it is not necessary to put the @a1 at the end of the statement as this can be recognised anywhere in the expression.)

This channel will have the effect of counting up until a change in lap time is observed whereupon the counter is reset to zero. This channel may have use in the calculation of coverage for telemetry or for a rolling lap time for example.


Example - last Beacon code seen channel

This channel will capture the last valid code that the beacon input has seen. The following expression is used in an equation;

a3(c); a2( (@a2 * (@a3 >65000)) + (@a3 * (@a3 < 65000)) ); @a2

The variable ‘c’ is defined as BeaconRaw for use in the equation.

How it Works

Step 1

a3(c); translates to ‘load a3 with the value of ‘c’.

This is because c is referred to twice in the equation and it is important that the value does not change during the evaluation.

Step 2

a2( (@a2 * (@a3 >65000)) + (@a3 * (@a3 < 65000)) ); translates to ‘if a3 is over 65000, then load a2 with a2’ (i.e. keep the same value) plus ‘if a3 is under 65000, then load a2 with a3’ (i.e. the value of the variable c, BeaconRaw).

Step 3

@a2; translates to ‘set the maths channel output value to a2’.

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Example - a Beacon counter

This is a monotonic count of all beacons seen since the last logger reset. It could be easily modified to give just the number of EOL’s or the number of Splits. The following expression is used in an equation:

a4( ( @a4+(@a4!=0) ) * (@a4<100) ); a1( @a1 + (@a4 == 2) ); a4(

@a4 + ( (@a4 == 0) * (c<65000) ) ); @a1

How it Works

One way of thinking about this is as a ‘state engine’ with 101 states.

a4 holds the state (between 0 and 100)

a1 holds the beacon count

state operation 0 do nothing, if BeaconRaw = a valid code (in this case < 65000) increment

a41 increment a4, if a4 is greater than 100 force a4 to 0 2 increment a1, increment a4, if a4 is greater than 100 force a4 to 0..100 increment a4, if a4 is greater than 100 force a4 to 0101 increment a4, if a4 is greater than 100 force a4 to 0 (which in this state is

true so we return to state 0 i.e. a4 is only incremented when a4 is non zero, or when a4 is zero AND BeaconRaw is a valid code)

Step 1

a4( ( @a4+(@a4!=0) ) * (@a4<100) ); translates to ‘if a4 is greater than 100 then load a4 with 0’.

Alternatively this could be expressed as; a4 ( ! (@a4>100) ) because ( @a4+(@a4!=0) ) * (@a4<100) is a rather roundabout way of doing it (this says if a4 is less than 100 load a4 with a4, else load with 0).

Step 2

a1( @a1 + (@a4 == 2) ); translates to ‘if a4 is equal to 2, increment a1 (Beacon-Count)’


Step 3

a4( @a4 + ( (@a4 == 0) * (c<65000) ) ); translates to ‘If a4 is 0 and Bea-conRaw is a valid beacon code increment a4’. This is the “trigger”.

Step 4

@a1; Set maths channel value equal to a1 (BeaconCount).

Potential problems with registers

Starting with a zero value

Particular problems may be introduced at start up as the contents of all registers are zero. i.e. it is not possible to pre-load a register with a starting value. If this is a problem then a ‘choose’ qualification could be used. For example;

a1 ( ( choose ( @a1, @a1 , x ) + x ) / 2 )

This expression will test the value of a1 to see if it is zero. If it is then it will use the variable x in its place for the purposes of the calculation. This test is performed with every pass but it will be highly unlikely for the register to be zero at any other time than at start up. The complete expression merely filters the variable x by adding it one previous sample and then dividing by two.

Overflowing registers

Similar caution should be exercised if the contents of the registers are likely to overflow. The size of registers are doubled and so overflow will be unlikely.

Sampling on different nodes may give different answers

Because the same channel is calculated on every node on which it is used, and because the nodes do not all start at e same moment, cumulative channels on different nodes might give different answers.

Sampling the same channel more than once within a channel

Anything you use as an input to an equation can cause a problem if it is sampled twice – the

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underlying value from TebNet might change in between the two reads if the source rate does not equal the calculation rate. e.g. a0 = x ; a1 = x ; does a0 equal a1? Not necessarily, but a2 = x; a1 = a2; a0 = a2 ; now a0 does equal a1.

Channels which only contain registers

If the equation definition for a channel only contains references to registers then the logger will not regard this as an equation to be calculated. The trick to get around this is to make some reference to a channel within the expression – hence the use of a constant type channel in the counter example.


Math Channels Operators and Functions

This section describes the types of Math operations you can do in a Math Channel.

Note: Pi Sigma will return a value of zero for any valid math function that cannot be evaluated.

Operators

The following table defines the operators that are supported in precedence order.

Operator Usage Description

Unary associate right to left- -x unary negation! !x logical negation: if x is not zero result is zero, else 1~ ~x bitwise not: inverts every bit in x cast as a 32 bit integerMultiplicative associate left to right* x*y returns the product of x and y/ x/y returns the dividend of x and y. If y = 0, then returns zero.Additive associate left to right+ x+y calculates the sum of x and y- x-y calculates the difference of x and yShift operators associate left to right<< x << n shifts x cast as a 32 bit integer left n bits>> x >> n shifts x cast as a 32 bit signed integer right n bits, sign extending the resultComparisons associate left to right> x > y returns 1 if x > y else 0>= x >= y returns 1 if x >= y else 0<= x <= y returns 1 if x <= y else 0< x < y returns 1 if x < y else 0

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Equality == x == y returns 1 if x equal y else 0!= x != y returns 1 if x not equal y else 0Bitwise associate left to right& x & y Casts x and y to a 32 bit integer, and then bitwise AND’s the two results.| x | y Casts x and y to a 32 bit integer, and then bitwise OR’s the two values.Logical associate left to right&& x && y returns 1 if both x and y are non zero else zero^^ x ^^ y returns 0 if x and y are both non zero or zero, else 1|| x || y returns 1 if either x or y are non zero else 0

Functions

The following table defines the functions which are supported.


rand Random value 0..1Transcendentalacos acos(x) The acos function returns the arccosine of x in the range 0 to p radians. If x is less than –1 or greater than 1, acos returns an indefinite (same as a quiet NaN).asin asin(x) The asin function returns the arcsine of x in the range –p/2 to p/2 radians. If x is less than –1 or greater than 1, asin returns an indefinite (same as a quiet NaN). atan atan(x) atan returns the arctangent of x. If x is 0, atan returns 0. atan returns a value in the range –p/2 to p/2 radians.



atan2 atan2(x,y) atan2 returns the arctangent of y/x. If both parameters of atan2 are 0, the function returns 0. atan2 returns a value in the range –p to p radians, using the signs of both parameters to determine the quadrant of the return value. sin sin(x) sin returns the sine of x. If x is greater than or equal x in radians to 263, or less than or equal to –263, a loss of significance in the result occurs.cos cos(x) as sine but calculates the cosine x in radianstan tan(x) tan returns the tangent of x. If x is greater than or x in radians equal to 263, or less than or equal to –263, a loss of significance in the result occurs, in which case the function generates a _TLOSS error and returns an indefinite (same as a quiet NaN). sinh sinh(x) sinh returns the hyperbolic sine of x. If the result is x in radians too large, sinh returns ±HUGE_VAL. cosh cosh(x) as sinhx in radians tanh tanh(x) tanh returns the hyperbolic tangent of x x in radians exp exp(x) The exp function returns the exponential value of the floating-point parameter, x, if successful. On overflow, the function returns INF (infinite) and on underflow, exp returns 0.hypot hypot(x,y) hypot returns the length of the hypotenuse of the triang specified by x and y if successful or INF (infinity) on overflow. log log(x) The log functions return the natural logarithm of x if successful. If x <= 0, returns 0.log10 log10(x) The log functions return the logarithm base 10 of x if successful. If x <= 0, returns 0.

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pow pow(x,y) returns x to the power of y, except when: (x=0 and y<=0) or (x<=0 and y is not integral) in which case 0 is returned.sqrt sqrt(x) The sqrt function returns the square-root of x. If x is negative, sqrt returns 0.

Conversions


ceil ceil(x) The ceil function returns a double value representing the smallest integer that is greater than or equal to x. floor floor(x) The floor function returns a double value representing the largest integer that is less than or equal to x.fabs fabs(x) returns the absolute value of x.fmod fmod(x/y) fmod returns the floating-point remainder of x / y. If the value of y is 0.0, fmod returns 0. min min(x,y) returns the lesser of x and ymax max(x,y) returns the greater of x and yshr shr(x,n) converts x to a 32 bit unsigned integer, and shifts the bits right n bits, shifting in zeroes in the high order bitschoose choose(c,x,y) if (c is 1) returns x otherwise returns ys8 s8(x) returns x casts to a signed byteu8 u8(x) returns x cast to an unsigned bytes16 s16(x) returns x cast to a signed wordu16 u16(x) returns x cast to an unsigned words32 s32(x) returns x cast to a signed wordu32 u32(x) returns x cast to an unsigned dword


Types

All operations are performed on 8 byte (64 bit) IEEE floating point values. When a cast operator is used, the value is cast to the type specified, and then stored back into an 8 byte IEEE float.

Constants

Constants are entered in standard notation. The exception is that if you want to enter a number such as 1.3e-4, you must enclose it in single quotes, as ‘1.3e-4’.

Channels

Channels are entered into the equation by typing their name. If a channel includes spaces, you must enclose it in single quotes. You can also drag and drop channels into the equation editor, and quotes will be added as appropriate.

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Real Time Data Manager

Introduction

The Real Time Data Manager provides a source of both Watch channel data from the current System connected to the Pi Server application running on the Watch Server PC, and Real Time Telemetry data from configured telemetry server PCs. The Real Time Data Manager communicates over the network using Multicast IP protocols. This is illustrated in the overview figure below. Pi Server will only broadcast the data when it receives data from the telemetry system or from the Watch channels system.

PC running Pi Server

Network server or hub

Data Stream

Information Stream

Watch Requests

Telemetry

Watch channels

Watch Requests

Data Stream

Information Stream

Watch Requests

Data Stream

Information Stream

PC running Pi WorkshopReal Time Data Manager

GlobalChannelsDatabase

Controls

PC running Pi WorkshopReal Time Data Manager

GlobalChannelsDatabase

Controls

Real Time Data Manager overview

Before the Real Time Data Manager can be used the network must be configured for use with Multicast IP by your Network administrator.


Real Time Data Manager operation

The Real Time Data Manager uses a number of streams passed over the network be-tween the Pi Server PC and a number of PCs, each running a Real Time Data Manager in Pi Workshop.

Information Stream

The Information Stream from Pi Server contains only information on channels it can broad-cast. It does not contain any data. The Information Stream is decoded by Pi Workshop and the channels are shown in the Global Channels Database (GCDB).

Watch Requests

A Watch Request from Pi Workshop informs Pi Server that a particular channel will used by a Control. The Watch Request is generated when a channel is dragged from the GCDB onto the Control.

Data Stream

The Data Stream contains only data for those channels which have a Watch Request.

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To set up a Real Time Data Manager

To set up Pi Workshop Real Time Data Manager:1 Click the Real Time Data Manager button on the Managers Toolbar.

A Real Time Data Manger is displayed in the Data Manager pane.

To connect the Pi Workshop Real Time Data Manager:1 Right click on the Real Time Data Manager. Choose Connect from the pop-up

menu.

This will establish a connection to all configured server machines. Any errors during this process will be displayed in the status tab and the status Circle will go red.

To set the Pi Workshop Real Time Data Manager Properties:1 Right click on the Real Time Data Manager. Choose Properties from the pop-

up menu.

The Real Time Data Manager Properties dialog consists of four property pages: General, Status, Hardware Setup and Track Map.


General page

Real Time Data Manager General page

Use the Name field to set the name of the Data Manager.

The Description field is a read only field that provides a brief description of the type of data provided by the Real Time Data Manager.

The Watch Server Machine field is a combo box used to select the one and only Watch server machine. A list of the most recently used machines shown.

The Telemetry Server Machine field is a read only edit box. It displays the name of the telemetry server if only one is configured. If more than one telemetry server is configured then this field will display <Multiple>.

Click the Config button to open the Additional Telemetry Servers dialog box.

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Additional Telemetry Servers Dialog box

This dialog is used to manage the telemetry servers. The Add, Edit and Delete buttons add, edit, and delete Telemetry servers from the lis. Only one entry can be selected at any one time.

Telemetry Server Configuration dialog box

The Disk Cache Location field is read/write edit box that is used to set the directory for the real time data manager disk cache. The ‘Browse’ button activates a browse dialog to allow the user to browse to the desired disk cache location.


Status page

The Status page is used to determine the current state of the Real Time Data Manager.

Real Time Data Manager Status page

The Data Manager field is a read only field that shows the current state of the Real Time Data Manager.

The Last Reported Error field is a read only field that describes the last error that was encountered.

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Hardware Configuration page

This Hardware Configuration page is used to configure he hardware settings for the real time data manager.

Real Time Data Manager Hardware Configuration page

The IP Address and Port fields are read/write edit boxes. They are used to configure the information stream and port that the desired server machine is to broadcast on. These values can be obtained from the Real Time Broadcast group in the Telemetry tab of the server application running on the desired server machine.

The Network Adapter field is a combo box that displays the IP Addresses of all network cards in the system that have bindings to TCP/IP. It is used to select the network card to communicate with server. This option is only configurable if multiple network cards exist on the real time data manager machine and have TCP/IP bindings. If no network card exists on the machine <None> will be displayed. If one network card exists on the machine it will be selected by default and the combo box will be greyed out.

The Network Hops field is used to configure the time to live for packets sent from the real time data manager to the desired server machine. It basically tells the packets how many sub nets to try before giving up and being destroyed.


Track Map page

Real Time Data Manager Track Map page

This page is used to set the real time data managers’ associated track map. The config-ured map is employed when using the Map Display Control in Pi Workshop. The Attach to selected control option will connect the real time data manager to all currently selected controls in workshop.

The Remove option will close and delete the Real Time Data Manager.

The Hot Link ID displays the current Hot Link ID for the Real Time Data Manager

GCDB Pane Available Channel List

The Available Channel List, which resides in the GCDB pane, will be populated with the superset of channels available from the Watch Server PC and all currently configured Te-lemetry Server PCs. The list will be identical to the existing available channel list.

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Real Time Data Manager states

The Real Time Data Manager has five possible states, each represented by a different colour circle.

State Circle colour Meaning

Disconnected Grey The Real Time Data Manager is idle.Connecting Black The Real Time Data Manager is attempting to connect to the Server machine/s configured in the General property page.Connected Yellow The Real Time Data Manager has established a connection to the configured server machine(s) configured in the General property page. Upon entering this state the list of available channels will be populated.

Receiving Data Green The Real Time Data Manager has received event or channel data from the server. A timeout of five seconds operates in this state, so that if no data is received within this period the state is set back to Connected.

Broken Red The Real Time Data Manager has encountered a problem. In this state the Status page will display text which provides a brief description of the most recent error.

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Introduction to Controls

You use Controls in Pi Workshop to display and manipulate data. These controls (for ex-ample a histogram bar graph) are dropped onto cards, and stored in a book called a Work-book. A control can display data from a variety of sources. These data sources are called Data Managers, for example the Telemetry Data Manager, or the Watch Data Manager. The idea is that you arrange controls on different cards corresponding to different areas of interest – for example Chassis Watch or Engine Telemetry.

This section explains the functionality of each control.

The figure above shows a typical card with several different types of controls. Some of the controls show <No Data> or No Data Manager; this is because the controls have not been


linked to a Data Manager – the card shown above is one of the default templates supplied by Pi Research when you first install Pi Workshop. You must select the Data Manager you wish to link the control to, and then drag a channel from the list of channels in the Global Channels Database on to the control. If the Global Channels Database list is empty then you can click the magnifying glass to see all of the channels.

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Toolbars

Pi Workshop has a number of toolbars available which can be displayed or hidden. The Controls toolbar is one of these toolbars.

To view the Controls toolbar:1 Choose View • Toolbars… The Toolbars dialog box appear.

Toolbars dialog box

2 Check (✓) the Controls option. Click OK.

The Controls toolbar appears.

Controls Available

Controls are available from the Controls toolbar. The controls are organised into two groups: General, and Graphing. If you have AutoCal installed you will have a third group called Instrumentation – these are special controls for doing active control. To use a control click an icon on a toolbar and drag it onto a card.


General Controls Toolbar

To view the General Controls Toolbar:1 Choose View • Toolbars… The Toolbars dialog box appears.2 Select (✓) the Controls option. Click OK. The Controls toolbar appears.3 Select General from the list in the text box.

The next table details the controls on each of the buttons on the General Controls tool-bar.

General Controls toolbar buttons

Control General Controls Toolbar button

Tabular Lap Report Control

Events Control Hot Link Control Channel Display Control Text Control Graphic Control Dial and Knob Control Button Control Slider and Thermometer Control Bit Indicator

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Graphing Controls Toolbar

To view the Graphing Controls Toolbar:1 Choose View • Toolbars… The Toolbars dialog box appears.2 Check (✓) the Controls option. Click OK. The Controls toolbar appears.3 Select Graphing from the list in the text box.

The next table details the controls on each of the buttons on the Graphing Controls tool-bar.

Graphing Controls toolbar buttons

Control Graphing Toolbar button

20 Second Chart Recorder

Autoscaling X-Y Graph Autoscaling Time Graph Autoscaling Distance Graph

10-bin Histogram Telemetry Map


General Controls: Tabular Lap Report Control

The Tabular Lap Report Control (TLR) gives a summary of selected channel values every lap. You must send the channel LapNumber in the End-of-lap (EOL) telemetry for the lap number field to be updated.

To create a Tabular lap report:1 On the General control toolbar drag the Tabular Lap Report control onto a card.

The Tabular Lap Report control appears.

Tabular Lap Report (after channels have been added)

2 Drag the required channels from the Global Channels Database into the con-trol. The Select the statistic to calculate dialog box appears.

Select the statistic to calculate dialog box

3 Select one of statistic options displayed. Click OK.

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Each option corresponds to a different function at the end-of-lap as detailed in the next table.

Option Meaning

Maximum max channel value per lap calculated by the PCMinimum min channel value per lap calculated by the PCMean mean channel value from start of outing updated every lapInitial channel value at start of lapFinal channel value at end of lapChange difference between the start of lap and end of lap valueEnd-of-Lap the channel value sent over the EOL telemetry from the car

You can select the number of laps to display.

To select number of laps to display:1 Place the cursor inside the control and right click. The Tabular Lap Report

Control Properties dialog ox appears.

Tabular Lap Report Control Properties dialog box

2 Enter the number of laps to display in the Number of Columns box.3 Click OK.


You can change the properties of the font used in the Tabular Lap Report.

To change the font properties:1 Place the cursor inside the control and right click.2 Select Properties… from the pop-up menu. The Tabular Lap Report Control

Properties dialog box appears.3 Click the Fonts tab.4 Make the changes. Click the Apply button to see the effect of the options

chosen.5 Click OK.

You can change the colours used in a Tabular Lap report.

To change the colours used:1 Place the cursor inside the control and right click.2 Select Properties… from the pop-up menu. The Tabular Lap Report Control

Properties dialog box appears.3 Click the Colours tab.4 Select a Property Name from the list.

ForeColor refers to the colour of the text in the control. BackColor refers to the back-ground colour in the control.

5 Select a colour from the colour palette or select a System Color from the list.

You can copy the contents of a Tabular Lap Report and then paste them into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. This feature allows you to save data acquired in the Tabular Lap Re-port.

To copy from a Tabular Lap Report:1 In the Tabular Lap Report select the channel(s) to copy.

To copy a sequential number of channels press and hold (Ctrl) and drag the mouse over the channels. To copy a non-sequential number of channels press and hold the (Ctrl) key and click on the channels you want.

2 Right click and select Copy or press (Ctrl) + C.

The selected channels will be copied to the Windows™ clipboard and can be pasted into the Microsoft Excel™ application.

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General Controls: Events Control

The Events Control is a tool for monitoring events occurring on the MCU via telemetry. The control references the .evt files in the events directory in C:\PiWorld\DataDirectory to look up a description. If the event is not listed (for example a user event like an oil pressure alarm) then the Events Control will just display the event number.

To create an Events Control:1 On the General control toolbar drag the Events control onto a card. The Events

control appears.

Events control window

You must specify the events to be sent over telemetry using the Telemetry Application – see the Telemetry Application section.


General Controls: Hot Link Control

The Hot Link Control is a special control which allows scripts to be run within Pi Work-shop. You have to write scripts in a special language, and each hot link control executes a pre-written script. Every card and control has it’s own hot link identifier which is used to access a control from within any script you write. Contact Pi Research for details of the scripting language.

To create a Hot Link:1 On the General toolbar drag the Hot Link button onto a card. The Hot Link

control appears.

Hot Link control

After creating the Hot Link control you can change its properties.

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To change the Hot Link Control properties:1 Right click on the Hot Link control and select Properties… The Hot Link Con-

trol Properties dialog box appears.

Hot Link Control Properties dialog box

2 Name the Link in the Name box.

You can apply an image to the Hot Link control.

3 Check (✓) the Image on the button option.4 Select an Image Type (bitmap or icon). 5 Enter the image path and file name in the Image box or use the Browse button

to locate the image file.6 Enter a description of the Hot Link in the Comment box.

To change the font properties:1 Right click on the Hot Link control and select Properties… The Hot Link Con-

trol Properties dialog box appears.3 Click the Fonts tab.4 Make the changes. Click the Apply button to see the effect of the options

chosen.5 Click OK.


You can edit the script that the Hot Link will run when it’s button is pressed. You have to write scripts in a special language, and each hot link control executes a pre-written script. Contact Pi Research for details of the scripting language.

To edit the Hot Link script:1 Right click on the Hot Link control and select Edit Script… The Hot Link Script

Editor window appears.

Hot Link Script Editor window

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General Controls: Channel Display Control

The Channel Display Control is used for displaying channel values.

To create a Channel Display Control:1 On the General control toolbar drag the Channel Display Control onto a card.2 Drag the channel to be displayed into the control from the Global Channel

Database. See below where Seed has been dragged in.

Channel Display Control after Speed channel has been dragged in from the GCDB

To remove and show the Channel Display Control header:1 Right click in the control and select the Show Header option from the pop-up

menu.

This is a toggle option. Selecting the option changes it to the other state.

Note: The colour of the channel text is set in the Global Channel Database.


You can change the properties of a Channel Display Control.

To change the properties of a Channel Display Control:1 Right click in the control and select Properties… The Channel Display Control


Channel Display Control Properties dialog box

To remove and show the Channel Display Control header:1 Right click in the control and select Properties… The Channel Display Control

Properties dialog box appears.2 Click the General tab and select the Show Header option.

This is a toggle option. Selecting the option changes it to the other state.

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Channels can have Alarm thresholds set in the Global Channels Database. The colour of the channel text under normal conditions is set in the Global Channel Database. However you can change the colour of text if the channel alarms. You can set both the colour of the text and the colour of the back ground that the text is displayed against if a channel alarms.

To set the Alarm Colours:1 Right click in the control and select Properties… The Channel Display Control

Properties dialog box appears.2 Click the General tab. Click Foreground and select a colour for the channel

text.3 Click Background and select a colour that the text will be displayed against.

In addition to changing the colour of text if a channel you have dragged into the Channel Display Control reaches its alarm conditions you can also enable an Alarm Window to ap-pear. Each Channel Display Control has its own associated Alarm window.

To enable an Alarm window:1 Right click in the control and select Properties… The Channel Display Control

Properties dialog box appears.2 Click the General tab and check (✓) the Enable option in the Alarm window

area of the page.3 In the Name area enter a name for the Alarms window when it appears.

Alarm window


An Alarm Window displays Alarms in the order that they were triggered. i.e. the latest Alarm is at the top of the list in the Alarms window.

If an Alarm window appears you have the options listed in the next table.

Option Result

Acknowledge The selected Alarm is removed from the Alarm window. If the Alarm exceeds the Alarm thresholds set it will be triggered again.Select All Selects all the alarms in the Alarm window.Ignore The Alarm is ignored. If the threshold values are reached again the alarm will not be triggered.

You can change the font used in the Channel Display Control.

To change the font used in the Channel Display Control:1 Right click in the control and select Properties… The Channel Display Control

Properties dialog box appears.2 Click the Fonts tab. The Fonts page appears.3 Select the font options for all the text used in the Channel Display Control.4 Click the Apply button to see the effect of the options chosen.5 When you have chosen the options you want click OK.

You can change the colours in a Channel Display Control.

To change the colours in a Channel Display Control:1 Right click in the control and select Properties… The Channel Display Control

Properties dialog box appears.2 Click the Colours tab. The Colours page appears.3 Select the colour options for the control.4 Click the Apply button to see the effect of the options chosen.5 When you have chosen the options you want click the OK button.

Note: The colour of the channel text is set in the Global Channel Database. However you can change the colour of text if the channel alarms.

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Channel properties are set in the Global Channel Database. Any changes made to the properties of a channel in the Global Channels Database are copied to all areas that use the channel. However you can locally override the Threshold Alarm properties of a channel in a Channel Display Control.

Note: The local channel Threshold Alarm override properties are saved with the Work-book, not the GCDB. If you don’t want the local override properties saved, don’t save the Workbook when you close it.

To change the Threshold Alarm properties for a channel:1 Double click on the channel in the Channel Display Control. The Threshold

Alarm dialog box for that channel appears.

Threshold Alarm dialog box for a channel

2 Select the Threshold Alarms Maximum and Threshold Alarms Minimum options.

3 If you selected a Local Override option, enter a value in the relevant Thresh-old box.

The options are listed in the next table.


Option Result

Ignored If the channel exceeds alarm thresholds it is ignored.Alarm Enabled Must be selected to enable the alarm.Local Override Locally override the Alarm Max and Alarm Min threshold values set in the Global Channels Database.Threshold Enter Alarm Max and Alarm Min threshold values to be used in the control.

The options chosen only affect the channel in that control. The Alarm Max and Alarm Min values in the Global Channels Database are not changed. If the channel is used in other controls, the Threshold values will not be changed in those control.

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General Controls: Text Control

To create a Text Control:1 On the General control toolbar drag the Text Control onto a card. 2 Double click on the control to add text.

You can change text attributes in the Text Control.

To change Text Control attributes:1 Select the control and right click. The Text Control dialog box appears.2 Select the tab for the attribute you wish to change and select the option.

Text Control Properties dialog box


General Controls: Graphic Control

You can display a bitmapped (.bmp) or an icon (.ico) graphic on a card.

To create a Graphic Control:1 On the General control toolbar drag the Graphic Control onto a card.2 Right click on the control and select Properties… from the pop-up menu. The

GraphicControl Properties dialog box appears.

Graphic Control Properties dialog box

3 Select Bitmap or Icon in the Type box.4 Type the file path and name in the Image box or use the Browse button to find

and select the graphic file to display in the control.

Note: The control only stores a path to the bitmap – so if you move the location of the bitmap then the control will not find it and will be blank.

5 Click OK.

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General Controls: Knob Control

The Dial and Knob Control is one of the three National Instrument™ controls included with Pi Workshop. They all follow a similar format, and are very configurable.

To create a Knob Control:1 On the General control toolbar drag the Knob Control onto a card.2 Double click on the control. The CWKnob Control (National Instruments)

Properties dialog box appears.3 Configure the control as required.

The following sections detail the options available to configure the control.


Knob Control Style tab1 Click the Style tab to select the type of knob for the control.

CWKnob Control (National Instruments) Properties dialog box showing some Styles

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Knob Control Numeric tab1 Select the numeric tab to specify the configuration of numeric information

displayed on the control.

this sets the colourof the knob

this sets the colourof the background

this sets the colourof the caption

this caption is displayedabove the control

this sets the font for alltext on the control

CWKnob Control (National Instruments) Properties dialog box – Numeric tab selected

Knob Control Scale option

This sets the maximum and minimum values that can be displayed on the control.

The invert option changes the numbering from anticlockwise (normal) to clockwise (in-verted.)

The Log option makes the scale logarithmic.

Knob Control Values

This specifies whether the control shows discrete values (i.e. whole numbers) or a continu-ously changing value.


Knob Control Arc angles (degrees)

Imagine a circle with 0 and 360 at the very top where the numbers increment clockwise.

0

90

180

270

Arc angle specifies the arc you want, cut from the circle you have just imagined, starting at the Start angle and weeping anticlockwise to the End angle.

For example:

0 degrees = 360 degrees !

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Knob Control Pointer tab

You use this page to organise pointers. You can have as many pointers on your knob con-trol as you like. Each pointer an perform a different function (defined by the mode.)

CWKnob Control (National Instruments) Properties dialog box – Pointer tab selected

Knob Control Mode options

Mode option Function

Control This mode is designed for active control applications, where the user needs to change parameters in AutoCal – this is disabled under most applicationsIndicator In this mode the pointer reflects the value of the channel (either from Watch card or Telemetry card)Maximum In this mode the pointer displays the maximum value seenMinimum the pointer displays the minimum value seenMean the pointer displays the arithmetic mean of the channel


Fill Style

This allows you to add a band of colour either in front or following the pointer.

The dial on the left shows Fill to Minimum.The middle dial shows Fill to Maximum.The dial on the right shows two pointers, both set to Fill to Minimum.

Note: The second pointer appears behind the first pointer. This is the rule for new point-ers added. The first is on top, and subsequent additions are placed underneath. This order can be changed in the Advanced tab.

Style

There are three different pointer styles :

■ None – in this case there is no pointer (although a fill option -described above - will still be visible.)

■ 3D – the figures above show the 3D style.■ Thin – this is just a line.

Value

This is the start value of a control pointer.

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Combining these settings – An Example.

Setting a danger zone :

The control above has two pointers, the first is Pointer-1and is an indicator (see the set-tings in the next dialog box.)



The second, Pointer-2 defines the danger region. As you can see in the following dialog box the Style is set to None and the Fill is ill to Maximum. It’s Mode is Control and it’s Value is 6.05143.


Or it could be a minimum, or a mixture of both.

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Tics tab

The ticks are the little lines or graduations on the scale.

CWKnob Control (National Instruments) Properties dialog box – Ticks tab selected

Labels

Labels are the numbers themselves e.g. 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 as shown in the next figure.

Example of labels on a control.


Tick Spacing

The ticks are the little lines or graduations on the scale. You can leave the number of ticks automatic or you can specify the number of ticks manually. The dialog box is a little mislead-ing, because the Major means the number of major “spaces” over the whole range whilst the Minor means the number of spaces per major division.

Example of Tick spacing options:

Tick spacing options

As you can see in the next figure, specifying 3 in the Minor box of the Tick spacing options gives 3 spaces per Major division (or 2 minor ticks.)

Example of tick spacing with 3 specified in the Minor box

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Tick arks

You can have ticks inside and out, and you can change the colours.

Tick marks options

ticks inside

ticks outside

Control displaying ticks inside and ticks outside

Format tab

This page specifies the format for the numeric display within the controls.

CWKnob Control (National Instruments) Properties dialog box – Format tab selected


Format string

Include text by appending the Format string with text wrapped in quotes. See the example below.

Example of Format string wrapped in quotes

Contents of the above example Format string displayed on a control

Images tab

The images page allows you to change the way some of the images within the control are displayed. It allows you to set bitmaps (.bmp files) for some of the Images that make up a control.

CWKnob Control (National Instruments) Properties dialog box – Images tab selected

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Images

The button allows you to load a bitmap file (.bmp) into the image.

Animation

The Animation section allows you to further influence the appearance of these images.

Blink: makes the image flash on and off. Animate: This splits the image into a matrix, each section of the matrix is

shown one after the other.

The Rows and Columns allow you to specify how the image is divided up into sections. If you set the number of columns to 2 and the number of rows to 2 you will split the bitmap into 4 sections. Animating these will show top row from left to right and then the next row from left to right. When all rows have been shown the animation starts from the beginning.

For example using the following image file, split into 4 sections (2 rows and 2 column.)

Example bit map


Selecting the following options will animate the bit map.

CWKnob Control (National Instruments) Properties dialog box – Images tab selected

In the above dialog box the bimap has been loaded as the background. The effect is shown in the next figure.

Example of a control with an animated bitmapped loaded

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Advanced tab

The Advanced page lets you change the order of all the parts that make up the control.

CWKnob Control (National Instruments) Properties dialog box – Advanced tab selected

Parts

The Parts section shows the Z-order of the control; it refers to a 3 dimensional plot, Z-Y and Z. In the above figure you can see that the Background is at the very bottom of the list; this means that it will be drawn first and all the other parts will be layered on top of it. Parts can be moved up and down the list using the Up and Down arrow buttons on the dialog box.

Auto size and position

The Auto size and position option lets you move the parts around and make them larger or smaller.


General Controls: Button Control

The Button Control is used to indicate an On or Off state. The threshold is halfway between the maximum and minimum values set (lower is OFF, higher is ON.)

To create a Button Control:1 On the General control toolbar drag the Button Control onto a card.2 Right click on the control. The CWButton Control (National Instruments)


CWButton Control (National Instruments) Properties dialog box - Style tab selected

The following sections give information on the options available for a button control.

Style tab

The Style page contains a set of buttons to choose from, including a picture button at the bottom left hand corner. The picture button allows you to put a bitmap for the ON and the OFF state.

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Button tab

This page allows you to change the colour of the button style you have chosen, as well as the caption and the text displayed in each state.

CWButton Control (National Instruments) Properties dialog box - Button tab selected

Below is an example of an LED button with the settings above.

Button showing the On text Button showing the Off text


Images tab

The Images page is where you can specify a background image.

CWButton Control (National Instruments) Properties dialog box - Images tab selected

If you have chosen the picture button, this is where you specify a bitmap for the ON and OFF stat.

To specify a bitmap for the OFF state: 1 Click the Advanced tab and select the OFF state.

CWButton Control (National Instruments) Properties dialog box - Advanced tab selected

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You can now load a bitmap for the OFF state.2 Click the Images tab.3 Select Image in the Images list.4 Click the button and select Load… from the pop-up menu.

The Open window appears.

5 Locate the .bmp file for the image and click Open

6 Repeat this process for the ON state.


General Controls: Slider and Thermometer Control

The Slider and Thermometer Control is similar to the Knob and Dial control except the styles.

To create a Slider Control:1 On the General control toolbar drag the Slider Control onto a card.2 Right click on the control. The CWSlide Control properties dialog box ap-

pears.

CWSlide Control (National Instruments) Properties dialog box

Refer to the General Controls: Knob Control for a description of the other pages e.g. For-mat, Images etc.

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General Controls: Bit Indicator

The Bit Indicator provides a binary representation of a channel. It is useful when a chan-nel is used to represent different modes (from an ECU perhaps) and each bit represents a mode.

To create a Bit Indicator control:1 On the General Control toolbar drag the Bit Indicator control onto a card.

You can reshape a Bit Indicator control by resizing it.

To resize the Bit Indicator control:1 Click on the control. Sizing handles appear on the each side of the control.2 Select on of the handles and drag the control to the shape you require.

You can further affect the layout by changing options in the Layout tab.


Layout tab

Bit Indicator Properties box with Layout tab selected

You can remove the header or make your own.

The Style options affect the control in the following ways.

Label location

This puts the label (e.g. bit0) in a different location. Note that the ON/OFF text (specified in the Bits tab) is not displayed when the Label location is inside. Here are some examples

Above Left Inside

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Bit Order

The Bit Order changes the order of the bits within the control.

Across Down

Border Style

The Border Style affects how the whole control merges with the background card.

Style Effect

None

Raised

Sunken

Etched

Bumped


Item Border

The Item Border option controls the lines between bits (below shows this option un-checked.)

Bits tab

From the Bits tab you can change the ON and OFF text, the ON and OFF colour, the label (under the heading name) and whether the bit is enabled or not (in the case when you aren’t using 32 bits.)

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You can highlight more than one bit at a time to set some of the parameters.

Bit Indicators Properties dialog box

Several bits selected


Using the Bit Indicator: An example

A popular way to use the bit indicator control is to display the gear number.

Lets say you have a channel called Gear – this could be sent from an ECU or perhaps it’s a zero-order hold calibration (stepped) of a drum pot. Gear is a number from 0 to 6 repre-senting 6 forward gears 1 through 6, and neutral, 0.

The first thing to do is convert the Gear channel into a channel suitable for the Bit Indicator Control. You need to think in binary for this:

Bit 0 is 1 in decimal (20)Bit 1 is 2 in decimal (21)Bit 2 is 4 in decimal (22)Bit 3 is 8 in decimal (23)Bit 4 is 16 in decimal (24)Bit 5 is 32 in decimal (25)Bit 6 is 64 in decimal (26)

So make a table maths channel, input = Gear and output = Gear Indicator where 0=0, 1=2, 2=4, 3=8, 4=16 ad so on.

Math Channel (Table) dialog box with Transfer Function tab selected

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Then you can send this channel over telemetry and then set up the Bit Indicator control to display the gear number.


Graphing Controls: 20-Second Char Recorder

The 20-Second Chart Recorder is a general purpose chart, with time on the x-axis, and one or more channels of your choice on the y-axis. The default scale for the time is 20 seconds, but this can be changed if you wish.

The graph above shows speed versus time

You can resize the title and the chart area using the mouse.

To resize the 20-Second Chart Recorder:1 Click in the control. Sizing handles appear on each side and corner of the

control.2 Drag the relevant sizing handle in the direction required.

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To add channels to the control:1 Click on the appropriate data manager (Telemetry, Watch or Sigma Setup) and

drag channels from the Global Channels Database.

Title tab

The Title page lets you change the title text, title Font and font Colour.

2D Graph Properties dialog box - Title tab selected


Graph tab

This page relates to the chart itself (i.e. the grey area where the line are drawn.)

2D Graph Properties dialog box - Graph tab selected

Mode Tile: means that the graph is split into sections, and each section shows a

channel (similar to the tile option in Pi Analysis). Overlay: means the channels are laid over the top of one another.

Data Retention

This sets the amount of information the control will store. You should set this to Manual and specify the same length of time as the x-axis (in this case 20 seconds.) Setting the Data Retention to Infinite will allow you to expand the graph at a later time during the session and see earlier data – but you must use care because the PC will run out of resources if left too long.

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Style

You can change the Back Colour of the chart (where the lines are drawn) here, for exam-ple it has been changed to white:

Indent Frame changes how the chart area blends into the control itself. The figure above and to the left is not indented, whilst the figure above and to the right is indented.


Trace tab

In this page you can change the Type and Colour of the line.

2D Graph Properties dialog box - Trace tab selected

1 Click Colour to change the line colour.2 Select the trace (you can add more traces by dragging more channels from the

Global Channel Database.)3 Click on the options you want.4 Click OK.

Deleting a channel from the chart:1 Click on the Delete option and click Apply.

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X-Axis tab

This page allows you to set the parameters of the X-axis.

2D Graph Properties dialog box - X-Axis tab selected

Draw

Draw specifies if the x-axis is drawn on the top, bottom or both sides of the chart.

X-axis at top of chart

X-axis at bottom of chart


Range

Setting Effect

Scrolling Using this mode you can either link to retention (advised) or set a smaller x-axis then the retention you have specified (this is only really for specialist applications.) Manual In manual mode you can set fixed limits – this is not advised when the x-axis is time.

Tick Range

This sets the number of graduations on the x-axis.

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Y-Axis tab

This page allows you to set the parameters for the Y-axis.

2D Graph Properties dialog box - Y-Axis tab selected

Range

When set to Expanding the Y-axis autoscales, or you can select the Manual option to set a scale.

Tick Spacing

The Tick Spacing option is described in the X-Axis section.

Draw

The Draw Option is described in the X-Axis section.


Grid tab

This page sets the grid options for the chart.

2D Graph Properties dialog box - Grid tab selected

An example of the automatic grid settings selected in the above dialog box is shown in the next figure.

Example graph grid with automatic settings selected

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2D Graph Properties dialog box - Grid tab selected

An example of the manual grid settings selected in the above dialog box is shown in the next figure.

Example graph grid with manual settings selected


Cursor tab

This page allows you to update the values in the bottom left-hand side of the chart.

2D Graph Properties dialog box - Cursor tab selected

You can change the font size (the figure below shows the font at 14 pt rather than the default of 6 pt.)

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Background tab

The background page allows you to adjust the colour of the area between the chart and the edge of the control.

2D Graph Properties dialog box - Background tab selected

2D Graph with coloured background and Frame Indent checked


You can also adjust how the control blends with the card using the Indent Frame option.

2D Graph Properties dialog box - Background tab selected

The figure below shows Frame Indent unchecked.

2D Graph with coloured background an Frame Indent un-ticked

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Graphing Controls: Autoscaling X-Y Graph

The Autoscaling X-Y Graph is the same as the 20 second chart recorder, except that the X-axis does not have to be time. It can be any channel you want.

Autoscaling X-Y graph

A good idea is to put RPM as the x-axis for this control. Then you can put parameters that vary with engine RPM versus RPM to see if they are reacting properly.

Adding a channel to the X axis.

The first channel you drag on to the chart will be automatically be placed on the X AND Y axis (so if left like that you would get a straight line.)

Adding a channel to the Y axis.

Subsequent channels will be added to the Y axis only.

Note : Delete channels you don’t want on the Y-axis (including the first channel you add-ed) using the same process as for deleting channels in the 20 Second Chart Recorder.


Graphing Controls: 10-Bin Histogram

The 10-bin Histogram can have as many bins as you like. All the tabs work as for the 20-second chart recorder with the exception of the Bin tab.

2D Graph Properties dialog box with Bin tab selected

The 10-Bin histogram shows the relative amount of time a channel has spent between a certain range. You can set the number of bins yourself, and you can set the range for each bin.

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10-bin histogram control

This is especially useful for keeping track of how long an engine has run in a particular RPM band during a long race. You can then decide whether you can run at a lower or higher gear to preserve engine life.


Graphing Controls: Telemetry Map

You can display a track map created in Pi Analysis software. To create a track map refer to the Mapping Section of the Pi Analysis User Guide.

To display a Telemetry Map:1 Click and drag the Telemetry Map button onto a card. An empty Telemetry

Map control appears on the card.

You select the Telemetry Map to display using Telemetry Data Manager Setup dialog box.

To select a telemetry map:1 Right click on the Telemetry Data Manager and select Properties…

The Telemetry Data Manager Setup dialog box appears.

Telemetry Data Manager Setup dialog box

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2 Click the Track Map tab.3 Click the Browse button. The Open Map dialog box appears.

Open Map dialog box

4 Locate a track map file in the Look in text area. A preview of the map will ap-pear.

5 Select the map you want. The map is loaded into the Map control.


To set the Telemetry Map properties:1 Right click on the Telemetry Map control. The Telemetry Map Properties

dialog box appears.

Telemetry Map Properties dialog box

2 Set the properties as required.

To use the Telemetry Map you must send Distance in both Continuous and EOL telem-etry. To activate the Map you must drag the Telemetry Data Manager task bar across the control.

Refer to the section Telemetry Application for information on how to setup telemetry.

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Activating controls

To display data in a control you have created you must tell Pi Workshop where to get the data.

To activate a control:1 Click on the relevant Data Manager task bar (Watch Data Manager or Telem-

etry Data Manager) and drag the mouse across the control.

The shape of the mouse cursor indicates if the control and Data Manager have been cor-rectly linked.

Correctly linked

Unable to link to the control

Deleting controls

You can delete a control.

To delete a control:1 Select the control to delete. To select several controls at once hold the (Shift)

and select the controls you want to delete.2 Choose Edit • Delete Control(s) or press (Ctrl) + (Del).


Sizing a control

You can change the size of a control.

To change the size of a control:1 Click the control. A border and a number of sizing handles appear on the con-

trol.2 Click a sizing handle. The cursor changes to a double headed arrow.3 Drag the arrow.

The direction of the arrow heads indicates the directions which you can drag.

Positioning a control

You can change the position of a control on a card.

To change the position of a control:1 Click the control. A border and a number of sizing handles appear on the con-

trol.2 Click a border. A double cross appears below the cursor.3 Drag the control to the new position.

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Pi Server

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Pi Server Application

Pi Server is the PC application that communicates with the Pi Sigma MCU on the car. Using this application you can send a setup to the car, download logged data and receive telemetry data. The following section explains each area of Pi Server and shows how to set up the Server Application.

The Server application has five pages that each show different communication-related information.

Debug page

The Debug page shows communication messages as communication takes place between Pi Sigma MCU and Pi Workshop.

System page

The System page gives information about the setup files that are available, and the ability to connect to Archive Managers on other network PCs.

Details page

The Details page shows information that the Pi Sigma system sends to your PC. This includes versions of code that are included in the cards in the MCU. Used by Pi Research Support engineers.

Telemetry page

The Telemetry page is where you select the communication port of your PC to which you have a telemetry receiver connected. The telemetry page lets you set baud rates, and the download path for telemetry data.

Logger page

The Logger page lets you manually start and stop the logging, manually force a download or set download automatically whenever you connect to the Pi Sigma system using the download connector.


Starting Pi Server

If the Workbook or Template that you are opening requires Pi Server, then Pi Server will be started automatically when you start Pi Workshop, but you can run Pi Server without starting Pi Workshop.

To start Pi Server:1 Choose Start • Pi Research • Pi Server. The Pi Server window appears.

If Pi Server is already running behind the current application, click the Pi Server button on the Windows taskbar to bring Pi Server to the front. The Debug page is the default page.

The colour of the traffic light indicates

the connection

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Pi Server Debug page

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Message Port window

The Message Port (annotated 1 in the above figure) window displays the ID of the message service assigned to communicate with the PC. If there is no entry in this window then the PC is not communicating with the car.

Car Port window

The Car Port window (annotated 2 in the above figure) displays the ID of the car connected to Server. If there is no entry in this window then there is no car connected to the PC.

Traffic Light Logger button

A red traffic light indicates that there is currently no Pi Sigma MCU connected to the PC via the download cable. This state could be due to a number of factors:

n the download cable is not plugged inn the Pi Sigma system is not switched onn there is no software loaded onto the logger cardn the software on the logger is not running, i.e. the logger could be in boot

moden the download cable is damaged.n the Network card cable adapter is damaged (if applicable).n the Pit detect circuit is not functioning correctly, maybe due to an incorrect

pinout.n the Network card in the PC is not working or configured incorrectly.

A green traffic light indicates that there is a communication link between the Pi Sigma MCU and the PC via the download cable.

Note: This only indicates that there is a comms link and doesn’t check that the logger code is compatible with the version of Pi Workshop being used. It also doesn’t check any custom application code that maybe loaded on the Control card. This should be taken into consideration if problems are encountered sending setups or downloading data from the MCU.

Accompanying the green traffic light should be a number of additional messages on the Debug page, indicating that the computer is communicating with the Pi Sigma MCU.


Selecting and sending a Setup to the car

Once a connection has been established with the car, Pi Server needs to know what Setup to send to the car.

To select and send a Setup:1 Click on the System tab in the Pi Server window. The System page appears.

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4

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6

The Send button is in colour when the car is connected and in grey

when disconnected

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Pi Server System page

Active System name

The Active System (annotated 1 in the Pi Server System page figure) shows the name of the Setup that will be sent to the car if the Send button is pressed.

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Archive Manager Host Name

The Archive Manager Host Name (annotated 2 in the Pi Server System page figure) is the computer where all the Setup information is stored. For instance it is possible to have all the Setup data on one computer and change the Setup from another. This option is only viable when using a network of computers. If you are operating from just one PC the host name should be localhost.

Available Systems window

The list of available systems (annotated 3 in the Pi Server System page figure) displays the names of all the Setups stored on the selected archive manager. To change the Active System, select a new Setup name in the list and click Apply. The Active System name should change to the same as the new Setup.

FIA Offload Directory

The FIA Offload Directory (annotated 4 in the Pi Server System page figure) is a path on the Server PC where the application software running on the MCU can be off-loaded for inspection. This is only used in F1 but may be used in other forms of motorsport where active control is widely used.

Sync Setup before send

The Sync Setup before send option (annotated 5 in the Pi Server System page figure) checks the build stamp of all boxcode used in the Setup prior to it being sent to the car. The build stamp is basically the date that the software was created. If the option is selected and any of the build stamps in the Setup differ from what is actually on the car, the Setup will be automatically updated to the required boxcode. If the option is not selected, the Setup cannot be sent until the user manually updates the build stamps in the Setup to match what is on the car. It is recommended that the option be selected, as it will save the user time changing build stamps manually.


Enable Remote Send

The Enable Remote Send option (annotated 5 in the Pi Server System page figure) allows

the Send button in the PI Workshop Server toolbar to send a Setup to the car when Pi Server is connected to the car. In Pi Workshop choose View • Toolbars… • Server to show the Server toolbar.

Create Setup from car if not found in archive manager

The Create Setup from car if not found in archive manager option (annotated 6 in the Pi Server System page figure) will create a Setup in the archive manager from the Setup on the car when Pi Server is connected to the car.

Disable Automatic Event Display

When checked this will disable the display of Events on the Details page.

Server Message window

The Server Message window (annotated 7 in the Pi Server System page figure) displays all the messages associated with communicating with the Pi Sigma system. Some messages have a prefix, denoting where the message was generated. The two tables in this section explain the prefixes and all the messages that may be generated along with their meaning and what to do if there is an error.

Send button

This button sends the active setup to the car. The Send button is grey when the car is disconnected and in colour when connected.

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Setting up Pi Server to receive Telemetry

To receive telemetry with the Pi Sigma system you will need to set up some options in Pi Server.

To setup Pi Server to receive telemetry:1 Click on the Telemetry tab in the Pi Server window. The Telemetry page ap-

pears.

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Pi Server Telemetry page


Serial Port

The Telemetry receiver sends the data to the computer via a PC serial port. The speed at which you can send data is determined by the radio system being used. The serial port section (annotated 1 in the above figure) in Pi Server is associated with the Real Time radio telemetry.

To setup a serial port on the PC:

Pi Server Telemetry page - Serial Port setup section

1 Select a serial port on your computer which is going to be connected to the telemetry radio receiver. If you are using a laptop, this will most probably be COM 1.

2 From the next drop down menu select the Baud Rate at which the data is being sent by the telemetry radio.

3 Check (✓) the Enabled option.4 Click the Apply button.

If you are prompted with the following warning message, it means that another program is already using the COM port. Close any software that may be using the COM port and click the Apply button again.

Pi Server warning message

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Real Time Broadcast

The Real Time Broadcast section (annotated 2 in the Pi Server Telemetry page) works in conjunction with Real Time Data Managers in Pi Workshop, and the Realtime functionality in Pi Toolbox. This section shows the Multicast IP addresses for the multicast streams. Pi Server uses the Information Stream to advertise that it is alive and broadcasting data, the Data Stream to broadcast the telemetry and watch data, and the Watch Stream to respond to watch channel requests by the Clients.

In addition, the Client (Pi Workshop or Pi Toolbox) accesses a file in the Data Directory of the Server machine to understand how to decode the Data Stream. This file will usually be found in C:\PiWorld\Data Directory\PiRtSetup. Pi Server will automati-cally share this directory and give it the shared name $RTSETUP. The $ sign signifies to Windows that this is a hidden share.

CAUTION: The following Real Time Broadcast configuration information should only be used by your Network administrator. Incorrect settings will prevent com-munication between Pi Workshop Real Time Data Managers and Pi Server or prevent your network from operating correctly.

To change the Real Time Broadcast configuration:1 Click Configuration. The Real Time Broadcast Configuration dialog

appears.

Real Time Broadcast Configuration dialog


Ports

It is recommended that you choose a port number over 4000 for the streams, for example 4567. It is recommended that you choose the same port number for all three streams and that this is the same for any Server on the network.

Choosing an IP Address.

You should have a different IP Address for each stream. As discussed below, the Informa-tion Stream should be the same for all servers on the network, but the Data Stream and Watch Stream should be unique (different to each other and the Information Stream and to the IP Addresses set on a different Server computer.)

There is a specially allocated set of IP Addresses for Multicast use. The allocated band is 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255. However many of these IP Addresses are used by the Network itself, for example Router to Router communication, Microsoft Network Services and so on, or reserved for the Internet.

It is recommended that you select an IP Address in the following range:

239.1.x.x where x can be between 1 and 254.

Pi Server should default to 239.1.1.1, 239.1.1.2 and 239.1.1.3 for the Information Stream, Data Stream and Watch Stream respectively.

Note: Using addresses outside these recommended ranges can cause problems on your network. This range is reserved for use on a private LAN.

For example you might set up two telemetry servers as follows:

Server_AInformation Stream 239.1.1.1 Port 4567Data Stream 239.1.1.2 Port 4567Watch Stream 239.1.1.3 Port 4567

Server_BInformation Stream 239.1.1.1 Port 4567Data Stream 239.1.1.4 Port 4567Watch Stream 239.1.1.5 Port 4567

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Note: Your Network Administrator may have to configure routers or switches to allow the transport of Multicast packets.

Information Stream

It is recommended that this IP address be the same for all Pi Server applications running on the network.

Data Stream

Pi Server broadcasts all its data on the Data Stream. It is recommended that this IP address be different for all Pi Server applications on the network.

Watch Requests Stream

Real Time Data Manager clients send all Watch requests to the Pi Server using the Watch Requests Stream. It is recommended that this IP address be different for all Pi Server ap-plications on the network.

Network Adapter

This is the IP address of the network card that you use to connect to the network over which you wish to broadcast the Watch and Telemetry data. You will be given a choice of only those network cards with a TCP/IP binding.

Decode Directory

This is where the Pi Server places the decode files used by the Clients to decode the Data Stream. To change this directory click Browse and choose a new directory.

Network Hops

This sets the number of sub-nets that packets broadcast from the Pi Server can pass through. The sub-nets include items such as network servers and Firewalls etc. This should be set the same on the Server and Client.

Note: The Network Hops is also decremented if the packet waits in a Server for over one second.


Disable High Data Rate

Applies to Pi dB Telemetry. When this option is chosen it prevents Pi dB telemetry data from swamping the Real Time Broadcast system.

Telemetry Key Cache

Each Setup has a telemetry key. This key allows the telemetry system to only decode telemetry from a Setup with that key. If you send a new Setup to the car, a new telemetry key is generated.

The Telemetry Key Cache (annotated 3 in the Pi Server Telemetry page figure) setting determines how many telemetry keys are remembered.

If the number of keys generated exceeds the value set in the cache, the oldest key is de-leted from the cache to allow the new key to be remembered.

Telemetry diagnostics

The Diagnostics section (annotated 4 in Pi Server Telemetry page figure) can be used to test that the Telemetry link is working. The PC needs to be connected to the car, via the download cable.

To test the telemetry system:1 Click the Test Link button.

A message box reading Telemetry test message received is displayed for each telemetry stream received by the Server. If no message boxes are displayed, then there is a problem with telemetry.

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Pi Digital Broadcast Telemetry Setup

Pi Digital Broadcast Telemetry is a telemetry system that transmits the data as a digital signal instead of an analogue signal. This improves coverage and error correction and also improves the data rates available. The base station is connected to the Host PC via TCP IP using an Ethernet cable and network card. The base station decodes the digital data stream and generates an output in a DCOM format that Pi Server can access. The base station is capable of receiving data from two cars (Car 1 & Car 2) simultaneously and there are 4 streams of data per car: Real Time A, Real Time B, Dump A and Dump B.

The Real Time streams are usually transmitted continuously and generally have a lower bandwidth than the Dump streams. The A and B suffixes are intended to distinguish be-tween the Engine channels and Chassis channels. This method enables the Engine Manu-facturer to receive a separate telemetry stream from the Race Team/Chassis Engineers. The Dump streams are high bandwidth streams transmitted over a microwave link at the end of each lap. Channels broadcast in this way can be sampled at a much higher rate.

The Pi dB Setup section is annotated 5 in the Pi Server Telemetry page figure.

To set up Pi dB telemetry:1 Select a Host Name to which the Pi dB telemetry base station is connected.

Pi Server Telemetry page - Pi dB Telemetry Setup dialog

The settings in the above figure show how to configure the Pi dB Telemetry if the base station is connected to the local PC. This is reflected by the Host Name being localhost.


If the Pi dB telemetry base station is connected to a different PC on the network then the name of this PC should be entered in the Host Name section.

2 Check (✓) the Streams options which are to be received by Pi Server.

The Streams section in the above figure section shows that streams Real Time A and Dump A are to be received by the Server.

3 Select which data stream (Car 1 or Car 2) to use in the System box.4 Check (✓) the Enabled box and then click the Apply button.

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Telemetry logging

It is possible to log the Telemetry data received from any of the telemetry sources outlined above. If the telemetry streams are configured by Pi Workshop to enable logging, then when Master logging enable for all streams in the Telemetry Logging box (annotated 6 in Pi Server Telemetry page figure) is checked, the telemetry data will be written to a Version 6 dataset file in the PC directory specified in Pi Workshop. This data can then be displayed in Pi Analysis, in the same way off-loaded data is analysed.

The Version 6 dataset file is divided into laps. The Pi Sigma system must detect a valid end-of-lap beacon to enable the dataset to be divided at the correct point. If the end-of-lap beacon is not detected then laps in the dataset will be too long.

The Flush Dataset every mins option allows you effectively enter end-of-lap beacons into the dataset at the time specified in the mins box.


Pi Server Logger page

The Logger page lets you manually start and stop logging, manually force a download or set download automatically whenever you connect to the Pi Sigma system using the download connector.

To send a Setup:1 Click on the System tab in the Pi Server window. The System page appears.2 Select the setup you want to send from the list in the Available Systems box.3 Click Apply. The Active System name changes to show the name of the Setup

you have selected.4 Click on the Logger tab (or click the Traffic Light Logger button) on the

Pi Server toolbar. The Logger page appears.

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Pi Server Logger page

5 Click Send on the Pi Server toolbar.

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The selected setup is sent to the car. The Server Message window (annotated 6 in the above figure) will display a number of messages while the setup is being sent. A message saying that the setup has been loaded successfully will be displayed. A message will then say that Pi Server is connected to your setup.

You can test the setup without driving the car. Make sure that the PC is connected to the car.

To test the setup:1 Click the Logger tab in the Pi Server window.2 Click Start Logging. The text on the button changes to Stop Logging and the

Manual Override status changes to (ON).3 After approximately 10 seconds click Stop Logging. The text on the but-

ton changes to Start Logging and the Manual Override status changes to (OFF).

The Pi Sigma now has a dataset which you can offload onto your PC and which can be analysed using the Pi Analysis PC software.

To offload the dataset:1 Click the Logger tab on the Pi Server window.2 Click Offload or click the Logger (Traffic light) button on the Pi Server tool-

bar.

The scroll bar in the Progress section of the Logger page will indicate the progress of the offload. The message window will display a number of messages during offload and will indicate when offload has completed.

Automatic offload

When Automatic offload (annotated 3 in the above figure) is selected, download automati-cally occurs whenever the Pi Sigma System connected contains new data and is not cur-rently logging.

Send Outing\Lap To Car

When clicked, Send Outing\Lap To Car (annotated 4 in the above figure) the Send Out-ing\Lap dialog box appears. You can enter new Outing and Lap numbers and then send them to the Pi Sigma system. This option ONLY sends Outing and Lap information to the Pi Sigma system.


Pi Server Details page

The Details page shows information that the Pi Sigma system sends to your P. This in-cludes versions of code that are included in the cards in the MCU.

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Details page

Summary pane

When Pi Server is connected to the Pi Sigma System, the Summary pane (annotated 1 in the figure above) displays information on the Applications running on the System.

If you select an entry in the Summary pane, the Selected Detail pane (annotated 2 in the figure above) displays detailed information about the selected entry.

Events pane

The Events pane (annotated 3 in the figure above) lists Events that occur whilst Pi Server is connected to the Pi Sigma System.

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Pi Server message prefixes

Message Prefix Meaning Function

CP CARPORT Talks to the car with messages via units.

BU BASE UNIT Basic communications functionality

BUC BASE UNIT CONNECT Connection functionality

OU OFFLOAD UNIT Functionality for reading data from the car

WU WATCH UNIT Deals with requests for watching data

RFU READ FILE UNIT Reads files from the car

WFU WRITE FILE UNIT Writes Operating System (OS) files to the car

WDU WRITE DATASET UNIT Writes datasets to the car

RU RESET UNIT Deletes files and resets the car

MOU MANUAL OVERRIDE UNIT Handles manual logging and telemetry

SCU SEND COMMAND UNIT Simple commands (logger reset, telemetry test)

CSU CAR STATUS UNIT Assesses car status - i.e. if it has logged data or the engine is running

PMU PRIVATE MESSAGE UNIT Messages from applications other than Pi Workshop e.g. Autocal

OM OFFLOAD MACHINE Handles the logger offload

OC OFFLOAD CONVERTER Converts logged data to V6 format

COS COSWORTH MICROWAVE INPUT

Handles Cosworth Microwave data

TD TELEMETRY DECODER Sorts out telemetry packets

TC TELEMETRY CONVERTER Converts telemetry data to V6 format

TLOG TELEMETRY LOGGER Saves telemetry data to disk

SN SIXNET Handles network communications between the PC and the Logger


Messages generated by Pi Server

Server Message Meaning Message type Solution

Sending Setup Server is starting to send the setup to the car

Diagnostic – No error

N/a

Send Setup Complete

Server has finished sending the setup tables to the car


N/a

Connected to Car <setup >

Server is connected to an MCU with a setup called <Setup>


N/a

Resetting node <number>

The System is being reset, usually before and after a send setup. The number indicates which part of the system is being reset.

Diagnostic – No Error

N/a

Failed to send setup There has been an error sending the setup.

Setup Error Check that the setup is correct for the System. Check that the car is still connected. Check that the car still has power. Check that the network cable is OK. Check that the Logger code is the right build stamp. Check that all other nodes such as SCU & ACU are still connected and working.

CP: Updating FSRs...

The selected setup in server has different boxcode buildstamps to the box setup

Setup Error Server will automatically update the buildstamps in the Workshop setup. This will be saved automatically in the Archive Manager.

CP: ERROR - Failed to get folder for setup <setup id>

Failed to get archive folder for the selected setup

PC Error The file required by the archive manager is missing. Ensure that you have not deleted any files from the PiWorld Data Directory. If you are using a remote archive manager ensure that it is switched on and is visible on the network.

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CP: ERROR - Cannot send (incomplete hardware details)

There is no logger card or master tick detail

Sigma Hardware Error

The Logger card (master tick generator) has disappeared from TEBNET, check that the box is not resetting. This can be due to faulty SRAM/FRAM Cards resetting the box. This can also be due to incorrect box code.

CP: Cannot send setup due to a conflicting process

Busy doing something else e.g. FIA offload


Simply wait until Server finishes its current task, then try to send setup again.

Server Message Meaning Message type

Solution

CP: ERROR - failed to save file <file name>

Could not write the offloaded data to disk

Offload Error Check that the offload directory exists. If the destination is a remote server, check that the network is operating correctly.

CP: ERROR - failed to add unit

Out of unit slots Comms Error The car port communicates with the Car with units. This error occurs if the system has run out of units when trying to send a message. The car port is basically being overloaded and you should wait before repeating the process that caused the error.

CP: Error: Received unexpected unit notification (type)

Car port got an unknown notification.

CP: ERROR - Current FSRs update failed

Could not write the FSR list into the archive

Setup Error Check that the PC running the archive manager is operating correctly. If the PC is on a network, check that the network is OK.

CP: ERROR bad FSR offload context

Invalid FSR offload Setup Error Check that the FSR is correct. May require the boxcode to be reloaded.

CP: FSR <node id> <FSR id>

A new FSR has been offloaded


Each time Pi Server connects to the car, it checks the buildstamps of the box code (FSR). This message means that the box code has changed since Pi Server last saw the car.

CP: ERROR FSR update failed

Failed to write an FSR to the archive

Setup Error Check that the PC running the archive manager is operating correctly. If the PC is on a network, check that the network is OK.



CP: Connected to unknown setup <setup name>

The setup on the box is not in the archive


Pi Server does not have a Setup named <setup name> in its Archive Manager. Tick ‘Create setup from car if not found in archive manager’ option in the System page of Pi Server and reconnect to car, OR select a setup (make it active) and then send that setup to the car.

CP: Connected car has no setup

There is no setup in he box so Pi Server could not read the file PC Private from box. This file stores all the setup information.


The box that Pi Server is connected to has no setup or the setup is invalid. For the box to function just send a valid setup to the box. If this occurs after trying to send a setup, there was an error during the send process. Try and send the setup again.

BU: ERROR - failed to send status req <msg id>

Could not send message Comms Error Check that Pi Server is still connected to the car. Ensure that there is a car port and a message port. If not try a power cycle.

BUC: ERROR - failed to create connection

Usually means the message port has dis-appeared

Comms Error Repeat the action that caused the error. If this happens again, restart Pi Server.

OU: ERROR - failed to send message

Offload unit failed to send a message

Comms Error Repeat the action that caused the error. If this happens again, restart Pi Server.


Solution

WU: ERROR - bad ACK node <node id> setup

The box did not accept a watch setup

Setup/Comms Error

Bad setup on one of the Tebnet nodes. This could be due to an SCU not resetting.

WU: ERROR - failed to send setup for node <node id>

Could not send a watch setup

Setup/Comms Error

Could not send the setup for a node on Tebnet. Probably due to the node not existing. Check the power to SCUs. Check that the box code in SCUs and Application cards is still running.

WU: ERROR - failed to send request for node <node id>

Could not send a watch request

Could not send a watch request to a node on Tebnet. Probably due to the node not existing. Check the power to SCUs. Check that the box code in SCUs and Application cards is still running.

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Error: Detail cannot be decoded...

Unknown detail type received followed by raw data

RFU: ERROR - Bad checksum

The offloaded file had a bad checksum

Read Error The offloaded data was corrupted. Try offloading the data again.

WFU: ERROR - failed to save archive copy of PC Private

Failed to write the PC Private file to memory

Write Error The logger failed to write the PC Private file to memory. The Logger needs this file to decode the telemetry key. Check the setup and send setup again.

WFU: ERROR - bad ACK

ACK fail or garbage Write Error

WFU: ERROR - bad reply (<message id>)

Received an unknown message type

Write Error

WDU: Warning - <app name> dataset is empty

Application dataset has been sent but was empty

Write Warning

The dataset associated with <app name> was empty. This could be a user application, which needs a valid dataset to function (i.e. sent from Autocal). However it may not be essential to the setup and is only a warning. The logger will still function as normal but the application may not work. If the application requires a valid dataset, then the user will have to send one via Autocal.

WDU: Warning - No <app name> dataset

There is an application running on the box which has no dataset

Write Warning

If the application doesn’t require a dataset, this warning can be ignored. However if a dataset is essential for the application to function then one must be sent to the box via Autocal.

RU: ERROR - failed to send disable node <node id>

Failed send message to disable sync tebnet

SCU: ERROR - failed to send status

Failed to send status message


Solution



SN: ERROR - Invalid binding handle

Sixnet driver is not working

Sixnet Error on PC

The Pi Sigma Network Protocol has not been bound correctly to the network card in the PC. Check that the network card is functioning correctly. Check that the Pi Detect circuitry is working in the download cable. Check the download cable.

SN: ERROR - Failed to open binding


Sixnet Error on PC

The Pi Sigma Network Protocol has not been bound correctly to the network card in the PC. Check that the network card is functioning correctly. Check that the Pi Detect circuitry is working in the download cable. Check the download cable.

SN: OB - bad driver handle


Sixnet Error Check network connections, check Sixnet and other protocols are bound correctly to the network card.

SN: Partner Found The driver has detected the car


Pi Server has established a connection with the car and everything is OK.

SN: Partner Gone The driver has lost the car

Diagnostic – No ErrorORPossibly a Comms Error

The car has been disconnected from Pi Server. This is usually due to the download cable being unplugged However if not it could be due to the following: It could be a problem with the PC network card The download cable may be been damaged. The comms chip in the Logger may be damaged. The Pit detect circuitry may have developed a problem

.

SN: lock msg port The message port is locked in place against partner gone

SN: unlock msg port “The message port will go when partner goes

“

SN: ERROR - sent message mismatch

Result notification from driver does not match message sent

Sixnet Error

Pi Server 451S

erve

r


OC: Cannot open database

Converter could not open mdb containing logged data

Data Conversion Error

The convert button takes an .mdb file containing logged data and converts it to a .dat V6 dataset. Check that the file you tried to convert actually exists, also check that the network is OK if the file is on another PC.

Create..connection failed

Offload machine failed to create connection to box

Comms error

OM: Cannot start - wrong car port

“Carport in om and message do not match

“

OM: Staying alive Logger keep alive message

OM: Bad ack <ack id>, <ack type>

ACK fail or garbage

OM: ERROR - Failed to read DRV archive

Could not read outing info from Derived Data (DRV) setup table in archive manager

Setup Error The DRV setup table is generated by the Miscellaneous App in workshop. Check that the outing information is valid. Send setup again.

OM: ERROR - Cannot start (no box setup)

There is no PC Private available

Setup Error There is not a valid setup on the box. Send a valid setup to the box before trying to do anything else.

OM: ERROR - Cannot start (no box queue)

Failed to allocate a message queue to talk to the box

Offload error Check connection with the box.

OM: Warning - Failed to read DRV PCP

Failed to get outing info from PC Private

Offload warning

Failed to read the DRV PCP file (Derived data file). This maybe because you are offloading with a different PC than the one which sent the setup.

OM: ERROR - Cannot start (no threads)

Failed to create threads to do offload

Offload error The offload has failed. Try restarting server and attempt to offload again. May also be worth trying power cycling the car and restarting the PC.

COS: ERROR - failed to get data file path

Could not read the Cosworth datafile path from the ini file

Cosworth Microwave Telemetry Error

Check that the Cosworth microwave telemetry software is running correctly. Check that the path to the cosworth ini file is correct.



COS: ERROR - failed to get read count

Could not read the read count from the Cosworth.ini file

Cosworth Microwave Telemetry Error

Check that the Cosworth microwave telemetry software is running correctly. Check that the path to the Cosworth.ini file is correct.

TLOG: Failed to open data file

Telemetry logger could not open mdb to put data in

Telemetry Logging Error

Check that the offload path is valid. If it is on a remote PC, check that the network is operating correctly.

Index

Index 455In

dex

Archive Manager 55,39

distributing 48

edit an Archive 38

how many? 38

to shutdown 38

Archives 38

Pi AutoCal Database 185,119

Setup database 113

Attaching a Sensor 330

Autoscaling X-Y Graph 417

adding a channel

to the X axis 417

to the Y axis 417

BBeacon

attach beacon to a port 140

Digital I/O card

channel 136

setting the loom to receive a beacon 137

set up 135

Mask Times 194

Minute beacon 195

Split Beacon 136

Beacon input

Configure the Pi Sigma System 135

BeaconRaw channel 105

Beacons 194

Bit Indicator Control 397

Buildstamp 431

Button Control 393

Button page 392

create 394

Images page 392

CCalibrated Channels 119

CAN message 298,300,301

CAN serial port 297

Channel Display Control 369

Channel Properties 43

Alarm Max 43

Alarm Min 43

Autoscale 43

Colour 43

Decimal Places (DPs) 43

Hidden 43

Maximum 43

Minimum 43

Origin 43

Quantity 43

Tag Name 43

Target 43

Tel Max 43

Tel Min 43

Units 43

User name 43

Channels 43

Channel Usage 109

Choosing an IP Address 436

Codebuild Manager 66

Component Services window 25

Configuration window 318

Connector Operations 95

Connector Properties 115

Edit Page 95

re-arrange ports

Move Down 80

Move Up 88

Summary Page 88

Connectors 88

Attach a sensor 81

explicitly compatible 90

generic 91

Attach Connector wizard 83

Compatible Sensors 91

Compatible Sub-Looms 83

create a connector 87

Loom Drag-And-Drop 90

port list 89

Port Propagation 89

removing connectors 89

removing sensors 90

removing sub-looms 91

sensor as a template 22

Index

Symbols

create 397

Layout page 398

resize 397

Bit Order 399

Border Style 399

Item Border 400

Label location 398

10-bin Histogram 415

20-second Chart Recorder 414

Background 416

Cursor 408

Indent Frame 406

Deleting a channel 406

Graph 406

Data Retention 407

Mode 405

Style 408

Title 409

Trace 409

X-Axis 410

Draw 410

Range 411

Tick Range 411

Y-Axis 412

Draw 411

Grid 411

AAbsolute sensors 70

Activating controls 423

Adding sensors 66

Add I/O Card 62

LVDT Card 64

Additional Telemetry Servers Dialog

box 349

Alarm Window 371

Applying offsets 120

Archive Assistant 38


sensor drag-and-drop 66

sub-looms 357

Controls 423

activate a control 424

change the position of a control 424

change the size of a control 359

Controls toolbars 359

General 359

Graphing 137

General controls

Bit Indicator Control 392

Button Control 369


Events Control 376

Graphic Control 366

Hot Link Control 377

Knob Control 396

Slider Control 362

Tabular Lap Report 375

Text Control 141

Graphing controls

10-bin Histogram 404

20-Second Chart Recorder 417

Autoscaling X-Y Graph 420

Telemetry Map 423

to delete a control 360

Controls Toolbar

General controls 165

Graphing controls 172

Core System Channels 141

attach math channel 165

create a GearNumber channel 191

DDash Application 242

Dash Boost 200

Dash Setup

Lap page 292

page display option 291

Pit page 291

Pit, Race or Lap pages 291

Race page 292

Data Stream 436,437

DCOM

setting properties

Windows 2000 96

Windows XP 129

dcomcnfg 130

Decode Directory 437

Default Setup 130

send the Default Setup 130

Deleting controls 423

Diagnostic Page 126

Digital Broadcast Telemetry 439

Chassis channels 439

Dump A data 439

Dump B data 439

Engine channels 439

Real Time A data 439

Real Time B data 439

Digital I/O card 126

Digital 2B 126

Input Name 115

Pi Workshop Channel Name 129

setting excitation voltage 288

Disable High Data Rate 438

EECU Channel

Fuel Used 144

RPM 175

ECU Serial Stream 200

ECU Setup 161

Effective Boost 200

Active Conditions Guard Time 201

Active Conditions Threshold 201

Inactive Conditions Guard Time 201

Inactive Conditions Threshold 201

Enable Remote Send 432

EngineSpeed 172

Equation

calibration 103

check button 103

example of an equation 328

Ethernet Network Interface 221

Events 236

advanced options 227

Auto Clear 227

condition 221

critical events 239

Event Clear 221

event storage 227

event trigger 222

non-critical events 221

Overview 239

retrigger delay 231

setting a dash alarm 232

alarm trigger event 226

set up a new event 227

threshold value 224

view critical events 281

Events Control

create 365

Example of relative shift points 198

FFIA Offload Directory 431

Fixed Rate channel 146

Fixed Synchronous Requirements 65

Logger card

channels 65

Logger card channel

EngineSpeed 142

Fixed Synchronous Requirements

(FSR) 133

FLDistRaw 133

FLSpeedRaw 199,142

Fuel Capacity 199

Fuel Consumption 141

FuelCount 199

Fuel Count Source 147

Fuel Flow meter 148

Fuel Flow sensor 198

Fuel Prediction 159

Fuel Used 107

Full Generic Sensor 105

Index 457In

dex

Ggain/offset calibration 104

Gear channel 164

GearNumber channel 164

Gear Number display field 279

General Controls

Button Control 393

Images 394


Alarm colours 371

Alarm thresholds 371

change properties 370

change the colours 372

change the font 372

create 369

enable an Alarm Window 371

Show Header 370

Threshold Alarm properties 373

Hot Link Control 366

create 366

Knob Control

Advanced 391

Arc angles 380

Auto size and position 391

Format 387

Images 388

images animation 389

Labels 385

Mode options 381

Numeric 379

Parts 391

Pointer 381

Pointer Fill Style 382

Pointer Style 382

pointer value 382

Scale 379

setting a danger zone 383

Style 378

Tick Marks 387

Ticks 385

Tick Spacing 386

Values 379

Tabular Lap Report

number of laps to display 363

Text Control 375

Generated Channels section 47

Generic Application Link Sensor 105

Global Channel Database 45

Channel List 46

channel name filter 46

Channel Properties 124

how channels appear 47

Graphic Control 376

HHierarchical Folders 332

Hot Link Control

properties 367

script 368

IInformation Stream 346,436,437

input ports 92

Insert Input 95

Insert Output 95

Installed software

Pi Server 20

Pi Workshop 20

Tebnet Setup 62

I/O card port 93

J

KKey Page 97

Key to Connector 115

key variable 107

Knob Control 377

Advanced 391

Auto size and position 391

Parts 391

create 377

Format 387

Images 388

Animate 389

Numeric 379

Arc angles 380

Scale 379

Values 379

Pointer 381

Fill Style 382

Mode options 381

Style 382

Value 382

Properties 377

Style 378

Ticks 385

Labels 385

Tick Marks 387

Tick Spacing 386

LLap page 291

left drag 113

Library files

Backup copies 55

localhost 98

Locking 98

lock a branch 98

lock a connector 98

unlock a branch 98

unlock a connector 62

Logger 62

add I/O card 65

Logger Inventory

Driver name

change 140

Session number

change 98

Logging conditions

Engine Speed Start 192

Logging criteria 210


Logging Inventory 211

add a channel to the Logger 211

change an existing Logging Rate 211

Channel name filter 212

Copy Table 91

Hidden Channels

to display 214

Logger warning messages 96

Offload Directories

change directory 99

only used channels

to display 210

Logging start and stop

Logging Triggers 192

Logging Tables

burst logging

burst duration 209

Keep Criterion 208

burst logging time 206

channels logging rates 204

continuous (every lap) 207

create a new logger 205

Drop Rate 204

Fastest 207

Logger Properties 209

Logging Mode 192

MMath Channel 80

and the Sensor Loom 332

calibration page 102

Channels used 344

Channel Usage 329

constants 344

default calibration type

look-up table 103

extrapolate fit 331

functions 341

Group Math Channel (Equation) 322

inserting an operator 329

in the Loom 104

look up table 103,330

extrapolate fit 103

linear fit 103

quadratic fit 103

Math Channel (Equation) 103

operators 340

operator types 344

organising Math Channels 332

registers 333

channels which only contain regis-

ters 339

overflowing registers 338

sampling on different nodes 338

sampling the same channel 338

starting with a zero value 338

Sample and Hold fit 331

Sensors with calibrations 101

Single Math Channel (Equation) 143,322

Variable Properties 144

Single Math Channel (Table) 322,330

Transfer Function 107,327

variable 106

Variable 325

Math Channel branch 322

Math Channel Folder 95

Microsoft Excel™ 364

Modify logging table

existing logging rate 192

NNetwork Adapter 437

Network Hops 437

Network Interface Card

Installing an NIC 196

OOfficial Length 198

Offload the dataset 42,443

progress section 42,443

One Minute beacon 195

Open the Logging Inventory dialog box 210

Operating systems 18

Windows 2000 18

Windows XP 18

Organising Math Channels 332

Output ports 92

Output Units 44

Ppage display option 291

PC Private Database 39

Pi Analysis 222

distance plots 39

Pi AutoCal Database 65

Pi Compact dash 246

7-segment characters 243

alphanumeric characters 243

annunciators 243,246,274

Display field actions 247,276

display fields 246,274

Gear shift lights 251

number of Gears 252,280

Shift Points option 252,280

set up 245

Alarm options 248,277

display Channel information 246,275

display fields 246,274

display Fixed Text 247,275

display Timing information 247,276

Lap adjust options 249,278

Offload options 249,278

Page change options 248,277

Page - Race, Start, Practice 246,274

setting annunciators 246

Tank fill options 250,279

Pi Omega dash

alarms

cancel alarms

red button 295

Alarms page 293

Example of absolute shift points 282

Example of relative shift points 281

Message Centre

Alarms 294

Display field actions 288

Index 459In

dex

Fixed Text 284

set up a Channel 285

Message Centre display

Example 285

set up

alarms 272,293

alarm annunciator 295

alarm backlight 295

channels to disply 294

new alarm 293

Satellite alarm module 296

Shift/alarm light LED module 296

trigger event 294

cancel alarm 295

allow driver to 295

display channel informa-

tion 246,255,275

display fields 274

Display Options 272

Gear Number display field 279

Max RPM Scaling 274

Message Centre 283


to set fixed text 284

RPM Bargraph display 274

setting annunciators 246,274

shift/alarm module 280

to display field ac-

tions 247,256,268,276,288

Pi Satellite modules

Alarm module 244

Gear/Shift lights 242,244

Pi Sensors 36

Pi Server 427

Active System 430

Archive Manager Host Name 431

Automatic offload 443

Available Systems 431

Car Port 429

Create Setup from car 432

Debug page 427

Details page 427,444

Details Page

Events pane 36

Selected Detail 444

Summary pane 444

Disable Automatic Event Display 432

FIA Offload Directory 431

Logger page 427,442

send a Setup 442

Message Port 429

message prefixes 445

messages generated by 446

select a Setup 430

send a Setup 430

send button 432

Send Outing\Lap To Car 443

Server Message Window 432

setting to receive telemetry 433

Sync Setup before send 431

System page 427

Telemetry

PC serial port 434

Telemetry page 427

Digital Broadcast Telemetry 439

Serial Port setup 434

Telemetry logging 441

To set up Pi dB telemetry 439

to start Pi Server 428

Traffic Light button 429

Pi Server Application 427

Pi Server window

message section 36,443

Pi Sigma MCU

core card

digital 146

Pi Standard Sensors folder 111

Pi Steering wheel dash 146

display channel information 146


Alarm options 146

Fuel Reset options 146,254

Lap adjust options 146

Offload options 254

Page options 255

Tank Fill options 256,283

Display field options

Alarm options 271

Fuel Reset options 270

Lap adjust options 269

Offload options 268

Page options 270

Tank Fill options 33

Gear shift lights 257

LED patterns 259

number of gears 258

Shift Points option 258

Message Centre 257

display field actions 259

example of a message 260

list the items 260

move text entries 261

remove items 261

select items 254

to set Fixed Text 268

to set up a Channel 265

numerical display fields 267

page 266

Practice 266

Race 266

Start 264

set up 265

to display Fixed Text 254

to display timing information 255

Pi Steering wheel dash setup

Message Centre 255

Pi Tools 255

Pit page 254

Pi Workshop 256

Book default window 256

library files 199

read only folder

Sensors 291


QQualifying Mode 202

distance based 203

importing files 203

Learning Mode 202

Operating Mode 202

split beacon based 203

RRace page 291

Ratiometric sensors 70

Raw Pcode Sensor 108

raw (un-calibrated) channel 105

Real Time Broadcast

Choosing network Ports 436

Data Stream 437

Decode Directory 437

Disable High Data Rate 438

Information Stream 437

IP Addresses

recommended 436

Network Adapter 437

Network Hops 437

to change configuration 435

Watch Requests Stream 437

Real Time Data Manager 346

Data Stream 345

Information Stream 347

Multicast IP 348

Properties 349

Additional Telemetry Servers dialog

box 347

Disk Cache Location 348

General 351

General page 347

Hardware Configuration page 347

Hardware Setup 350

Status 347

Status page 347

to set up 352

Track Map 353

Track Map page 353

States 353

Broken 353

Connected 353

Connecting 353

Disconnected 347

Receiving Data 347

to connect 346

to set up 348

Watch Requests 95

Watch Server Machine 116

Rearrange ports 116

Re-Calibrate 114

right drag 113

SSaving Templates and Workbooks 33

SCU 62

Add an SCU 62

Select a Template Sensor 138

Selecting and sending a setup to the

car 430

Selecting a Setup 59

<No Setup> 60

to select a Setup 60

Selectronic I/O card 67

amplifier gain 75

configuration constraints 71

current input special mode 75

differential inputs 76

excitation modes 72

Group 74

input functions 73

Input range 74

power supply Type 74

RTD special mode 75

single ended inputs 77

unipolar inputs 76

volts 74

Sending your first setup to the car 41

Send Outing\Lap To Car 443

Sensor and Loom Migration 99

Sensor Colour Coding 115

Sensor connections

ADC ref 25

absolute sensors 25

ratiometric 70

Excite 70

Gain 70

Bipolar 69

Unipolar 70

Input 70

Mode 70

Bipolar 69

Unipolar 70

Special 70

Type 70

Differential input 70

Single ended 69

Sensor Name 110

Sensors 108

Sensors folder 110

Serial stream 69

Server toolbar

Send button 69

Setting DCOM properties in Windows XP 13

dcomcnfg 39

Setting up telemetry 41

check the End of Lap options 316

check the Event Engine options 317

Data Source Setup 319

End of Lap telemetry 306

Message size 308

Baud Rates and Bandwidth 306

serial port setup 318

Telemetry Sources (priority order) 315

the What page

Continuous telemetry options 32

Event Engine telemetry options 312

options 313

the When page

Automatic Message Size 32

Continuous telemetry options 306

Continuous Telemetry Source 305

Continuous Trigger Mode 305

Index 461In

dex

Data Engine Advanced Proper-

ties 305

End of Lap telemetry options 305

End of Lap Trigger Mode options 308

Events telemetry options 308

the Where to page

options 314

Setup database 316

Setup Data Manager 52

Applications 52

Looms 52

Maths Channels 61

Sigma Configuration 52

Telemetry 59

button 62

Loom Application

Attach connector 137

Unlock Loom 137

Miscellaneous

Outing Information, Session 189

Outing Information 189

driver name 189

Sigma Configuration

I/O cards 56

window 53

to open Setup Data Manager 53

Setup Organiser 57

Another User 52

create a new folder 52

folder options 53

Create Duplicate 53

Library mode 52

Looms 57

read only 51

read only folder 51

Setup mode 61

Show Setups 95

start the Setup Organiser 112

toolbar

toggle button 163

Show Ports Currently In Use 96

Sigma Configuration 192

Serial Setup 138

Sixnet and Windows XP 424

Sizing a control 396

Slider Control 396

Start Logging

Manual Override 443

Status Bar 298

turn off the 298

Steering wheel dash 298

sub-loom 297

Summary dialog box 297

Switch Application

CAN serial stream 300

Editing the Mapping 300

output channel

add an output channel 302

output channels 297

validity 298

TTabular Lap Report

copy 364

create 362

number of laps to display 363

statistic to calculate 362

Tank Fuel 303

Telemetry

continuous 422

Diagnostics 438

Test Link button 438

EOL 422

Telemetry Application 303

Baud Rate 314

Continuous Telemetry 303

End-of-lap Telemetry 320

Event Sources 304

Serial Setup 319

Serial Stream 303

serial port 319

Telemetry Data Source 304

Telemetry Serial Stream 303

Telemetry Source 41

Telemetry Streams 215

Telemetry diagnostics 438,441

Telemetry Key Cache 438

Telemetry logging 441

Telemetry Map 215

Telemetry Source

Trigger Modes 215

Continuous 420

Fixed-Length Run 304

Start-Stop 304

Telemetry Sources

priority order 315

Telltales 216

Input Channel 317

Min/Max 215

Output Channel 216

polling rate 38

Reset Event 45

Telltale Properties 169

test the setup 198,443

Text Control 198

The Archive Manager 196

The Global Channel Database 196

Toolbars

Controls toolbar 196

General Controls toolbar 286

To select items on the message centre 287

To show a list of entries on the message

centre 359

Track and Fuel 360

UUnits configuration 22

edit units parameters 23

to set the Units 22

User Levels 80

Advanced 80

Expert 80

Standard 80

Using a channel in a calibration 105


VView Flat

by Connector 99

by Sensor 99

WWatch page 104

Watch Requests 346

Watch Requests Stream 437

Watch Server Machine 348

Watch Stream 436

Wheel Setup 196

Car Speed 197

Front and Rear options 197

Front options 197

Front Primary option 197

Rear options 197

Rear Primary option 197

options 196

Wheelspeed 32

diameter of the FL wheel 125

Wheelspeed channels

FLSpeed 32

Wheelspeed connector 134

Wheelspeed Sensor 132

wheelspeed sink channels 125

Wheelspeed setup

active wheelspeed sensor 32

calculator 126

passive wheelspeed sensor 127

Wheelspeed sink channel

DistRaw 34

SpeedRaw 133

Windows Taskbar 133

hide the 36

Auto hide option 36

X

Y

ZZero a sensor 120

Zeroing sensors 120

applying offsets 120

Offset to Target 121

remove an offset 123

Remove Offset button 123

Target value 122

View Log 124

View Offset Log 124


Index 464In

dex

Contact information

For more information about Pi products and details of worldwide authorised agents, please contact:

Pi ResearchBrookfield Motorsports CentreTwentypence RoadCottenhamCAMBRIDGEUK Customer Support Tel +44 (0) 1954 253600CB24 8PS Fax +44 (0) 1954 253601

Pi Research, Inc.8250 HaverstickSuite #275IndianapolisIN 46240 Tel +1 (317) 259-8900USA Fax +1 (317) 259-0137

www.piresearch.com

Documents

Pi Workshop - Cosworth