We are pleased to announce a new release of the OpenECU Functional Safety Developer Software. OpenECU FuSa was developed according to ISO 26262 for use on the M560 and M580 targets. For detailed information on functional safety, request the M560 Family Functional Safety Manual.
Users of M560 and M580 ECUs are encouraged to upgrade to this version as soon as possible to take advantage of the new features and fixes therein. Release 3.5.0 includes new features, fixes and improvements, some of which are briefly described below.
Please note that existing customers will need to contact support for an updated license. If you do not have an existing support contract, please contact Dana Novi Technology Center for a quote.
New Support & Features
New features introduced by this version, or significant changes to existing features.
Third party tool support
OpenECU builds on, and utilizes, various tools from third parties, including C compilers, calibration tools and operating systems. See the third-party tool requirements section of the full User Guider documentation for a complete list of required and options software, and the versions supported.
Added support for MATLAB R2025a for M5XX targets, removed support for R2015b, R2018b, R2020a, R2021b, and R2023a
Communications
Added support for diagnostic response override to the Simulink API
Updated CAN messaging and CAN database file (CANdB) handling in both Sim-API and C-API
Today’s vehicles rely heavily on complex electrical systems to provide advanced features. Although these systems provide many convenience and safety enhancements, they introduce new failure modes which must be addressed by appropriate diagnostics and diagnostic architecture. Read More
With complex vehicle architectures designed into modern vehicles for ADAS, EV systems, gateways etc., a simple ignition key driven ECU wake up architecture is no longer adequate. New strategies that require ECUs to be woken up by CAN traffic, or on a specific CAN message, are becoming a requirement. For example, EV architectures require a periodic wake-up of the ECU to perform some scheduling and background tasks, even when the vehicle is not in use. This requires a real-time clock wake up functionality in ECUs. Read More
Power-Line Communication (PLC) is used during charging of electric vehicles around the world and is a must-have in today’s electric vehicle (EV) market. PLC allows the charging station (aka electric vehicle supply equipment or EVSE) and the EV to negotiate charging sessions, allowing various charging profiles and potentially to negotiate payment. Dana’s M560 and M580 modules have PLC capability built in. Read More
Bollinger Motors, a Detroit-based EV company, is building an all-aluminum, all-wheel drive Class 3 electric truck from the ground up. Bollinger Motors has created a new platform that will support their electric SUV and pickup.
In this video a Controls Engineer from Bollinger Motors walks through the recent work they have done, and how they are using the OpenECU M560 controller as their VCU. Watch video
MAUMEE, Ohio, March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Dana Incorporated (NYSE: DAN) announced today that it has acquired Pi innovo LLC a leader in embedded software solutions and electronic control units to support the light vehicle, commercial vehicle, and off-highway markets. Dana previously held a non-controlling interest.
Headquartered near Detroit, Michigan, USA, the acquisition of Pi Innovo enables Dana to increase its in-house electrodynamics capabilities and electrification product portfolio by adding a strong library of turn-key electric vehicle application software, vehicle level controllers, and auxiliary controllers.
“The extremely talented and experienced Pi Innovo team have provided exceptional modular software and controls solutions for original equipment manufacturers for more than 25 years,” said James Kamsickas, Dana chairman and CEO. “Integrating Pi Innovo with Dana’s leading e-Propulsion software capabilities will further enhance our ability to provide value for our customers as they continue to accelerate their electric vehicle portfolio development.”
The software and controls expertise of Pi Innovo builds on Dana’s robust capabilities in designing, engineering, and delivering complete vehicle integration for e-Propulsion systems, further positioning the company as a leader in vehicle electrification.
About Dana Incorporated Dana is a leader in the design and manufacture of highly efficient propulsion and energy-management solutions for all mobility markets across the globe. The company’s conventional and clean-energy solutions support nearly every vehicle manufacturer with drive and motion systems; electrodynamic technologies, including software and controls; and thermal, sealing, and digital solutions.
Based in Maumee, Ohio, USA, the company reported sales of $7.1 billion in 2020 with 38,000 associates in 33 countries across six continents. Founded in 1904, Dana was named one of “America’s Most Responsible Companies 2021” by Newsweek for its emphasis on sustainability and social responsibility. The company is driven by a high-performance culture that focuses on its people, which has earned it global recognition as a top employer, including “World’s Best Employer” from Forbes magazine. Learn more at dana.com.
About Pi Innovo Pi Innovo is an expert partner for the design and development of electronic systems and control software for the automotive, transportation, defense, industrial, and aviation industries. Pi Innovo’s multi-skilled engineering teams can develop vehicle electronic systems from concept to production and have applied this capability in recent years to the challenges of vehicle electrification. OpenECU is Pi Innovo’s range of adaptable, modular, reusable field-ready products that are implemented to volume production standards, and are fully “open” to custom configuration, adaptation, and further development. The OpenECU family includes ECUs, prototyping accessories, electronic circuit libraries, platform base software, model-based control strategies, and application software.
SOURCE Dana Incorporated
Jeff Cole, +1-419-887-3535, jeff.cole@dana.com
Bollinger Motors, a Detroit-based EV company, is building an all-aluminum, all-wheel drive Class 3 electric truck from the ground up. Bollinger Motors has created a new platform that will support their electric SUV and pickup.
In this video a Controls Engineer from Bollinger Motors walks through the recent work they have done, and how they are using the OpenECU M560 controller as their VCU.
Combined Battery Management Unit (BMU) Master & High Voltage Circuitry is an OpenECU BMU rapid control prototyping embedded controller for Battery Management System (BMS). It provides control of the battery pack contactors and monitoring of the pack voltages and current, supports isoSPI cell monitoring unit (CMU) slaves selected by customer to provide a complete battery management solution, and supports customers to develop BMS application using OpenECU Simulink or C API.
Dana has expertise in engineering, test, product cost, component supply chain & global manufacturing supply base, and can provide the resources necessary to manage the project through design, new product introduction and volume production. Our capabilities cover all aspects of managing safety critical ECU production from supplier selection, process validation, PPAP and in-process tool creation and specification. Check out our updated section on VOLUME PRODUCTION for more information on our capabilities and process expertise.
Power-Line Communication (PLC) is used during charging of electric vehicles around the world and is a must-have in today’s electric vehicle (EV) market. PLC allows the charging station (aka electric vehicle supply equipment or EVSE) and the EV to negotiate charging sessions, allowing various charging profiles and potentially to negotiate payment. Dana’s M560 and M580 modules have PLC capability built in.
Formula SAE Team from University of Michigan: Michigan Electric Racing (MER)
About Formula SAE:
“SAE International’s Collegiate Design Series (CDS) competitions take students beyond textbook theory by enabling them to design, build, and test the performance of a real vehicle and then compete with other students from around the globe in exciting and intense competitions.”- SAE
The M130 is a multi-purpose gateway and controller designed for applications that require up to 4x CAN and 2x LIN channels. Intended applications include CAN Gateway Module, CAN to LIN Gateway, CAN I/O Expansion Box, CAN-to-CAN message forwarding, LIN-to-CAN message translation, and sensor-to-CAN data broadcasting. Read More
First Fire OEM Engine Control
Dana has a systematic approach to replace an existing engine controller with an OpenECU, Dana’s M670, that provides flexible control over the engine’s operation. Our “First Fire” exercise is Dana’s proven methodology for when access to the OEM ECU is not available. It starts with a baseline of the OEM ECU, and finishes with the M670 running the engine in the dyno with our OpenECU base software platform and engine control strategies, with documentation and full access to the strategy source code and calibrations. Download Dana‘s Engine Control Strategies presentation for more detail. Download Here
ASIL Capability vs ASIL Reality
The ISO 26262 standard is designed to help ensure functional safety in automotive development. Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) is a risk classification scheme defined by the ISO 26262 and this classification identifies the safety requirements necessary to be in line with the ISO 26262, but assigning an ASIL classification is not the same as an ISO 26262 Certification. Today you will find many vendors marketing their components as “ASIL Capable”. Statements such as these are misleading. Read More
KVASER + Dana
KVASER
Kvaser and Dana have had a close working relationship for a number of years now. Being part of Kvaser’s Technical Associate (TA) network helps us keep tabs on the evolution of the CAN (Controller Area Network), for example the introduction of CAN-FD and what that means for embedded controls development in the transportation field. Working within the TA network also allows us to forge new business relationships, and to identify products and solutions quickly that might complement Dana’s offerings.
Kvaser as a company is also a good source of support for CAN based development and expertise. That was demonstrated to great effect as part of an electric vehicle charging demonstration that showed off Dana’s M560 OpenECU controller running CCS (Combined Charging System) software, utilizing a Kvaser DIN rail system with t-scripting to emulate an EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) unit. This was highlighted on Kvaser’s website recently here. Read more on our partnership
The M220-XAU is a unique variation of the M220 controller, specifically designed to be the master controller in applications using the S090 as a slave power driver box. This variation of the M220 provides inputs and outputs unique to motor control to seamlessly interact with the features of the S090 which include drive for both a brushed and brushless DC motor.
The latest release for standard OpenECU hardware targets allows OpenECU developers to use an updated range of embedded development tools and additional features. The OpenECU 2.9 release includes updated tools support for Matlab versions 2019a through 2020a, support for ETAS XETK on M670, and the capability to import dSPACE TargetLink Models into an OpenECU Model.
New features include the capability to configure multiple CAN busses as J1939 nodes and support for the M220-XAU ECU plus S090 BLDC motor controller.
The production code generator TargetLink generates highly efficient C code straight from MathWorks® Simulink®/ Stateflow® and allows early verification through built-in simulation and testing with the TargetLink blockset.
OpenECU, Dana’s product line of offthe-shelf rapid control prototyping ECUs, now supports simple and rapid integration with TargetLink. Users can import TargetLink subsystems into OpenECU Simulink models. Developers and test engineers can evaluate and test algorithms developed with TargetLink on OpenECU hardware for in-vehicle and fleet trials.
Dana discusses how the OpenECU toolchain supports model-based design (MBD). It outlines the reusable, scalable rapid controls prototyping (RCP) platform which provides flexibility for customization needed to meet specific functionality.
In May, Dana hosted a webinar focused on a deep-dive into OpenECU’s architecture addressing both hardware and software development steps for embedded controls development, in both prototyping and production programs. The slides and a recording of this webinar are available here.
In support of the webinar, Dana also recently published a whitepaper discussing engineering solutions with a focus on OpenECU integration into the MBD framework. This describes how the use of off-the-shelf ECU hardware solutions enable a mixed top-down and bottom-up approach to accelerate product development. This whitepaper is available here.
The Automotive Engineering engine research group at Clemson University is using our M670 + S090 toolchain for SparkAssisted Compression Ignition (SACI) combustion strategy research.
“The M670 is highly-capable and the Simulink interface was critical to our decision” according to the Clemson team. The engine is fully operational with a continuously variable valve lift system.
Their research objective is to implement SACI on the M670 toolchain based platform. The goal is to model SACI combustion real-time and develop controls algorithms to optimize combustion phasing and burn duration. Dana wishes the Clemson team every success.
The Iowa State University Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering department has been using M220 toolchain to build ateaching lab for the senior / graduate level course in Electronic System Integration for Agricultural Machinery. The teaching topics for this course are system architecture and design of electronics applied to agricultural machinery and production systems. Emphasis on information technology and system integration for automated agriculture process.
The teaching topics include Design of Controller Area Network communication systems ISO 11783 and SAE J1939, application of technologies for sensing, distributed control, and automation of agricultural machinery with an emphasis in electro-hydraulic systems.
A powerful rapid controls prototyping solution for model based development
Embedded controls development projects have unique challenges and addressing them in an effective and holistic manner is key in today’s market. This webinar OpenECU can be a complete hardware and software solution for your prototyping and production needs, and help you address those challenges.
Some key topics covered in the webinar are as follows:
Role of model-based design (MBD) and rapid control prototyping (RCP) in embedded controls development
How OpenECU can accelerate electronic control unit (ECU) development as an on-target rapid prototyping solution
Evaluation criteria for an RCP tool: hardware and software considerations
OpenECU platform software architecture, modes of operation of an ECU, API available to the application software
Please note that existing customers will need to contact support for an updated license. If you do not have an existing support contract please contact Dana for a quote.
We are pleased to announce a new release of the OpenECU Developer Software. This release is a direct replacement for existing versions of all standard OpenECU targets. (NOTE: the M560/M580 targets have their own ISO 26262 compliant version which is updated separately)
We encourage you to upgrade to this version as soon as possible to take advantage of the new features and fixes therein. Release 2.9.0 includes many new features, fixes and improvements, some of which are briefly described below.
Tool Compatibility Updates
Matlab 2019a through 2020a
ETAS XETK support on M670
Import dSPACE TargetLink Model into an OpenECU Model
Fixes, Improvements, and New Features
Added capability to configure multiple CAN busses as J1939 nodes
Added M220-0AU ECU variant with input capabilities suitable for use with S090 BLDC motor controller (for use on either M220-0AU or M220-XAU hardware)
Fixed quadrature decode issues on M110 and M670
Fixed several issues which could cause missing injections on M670 engine control applications
Fixed issues related to building referenced models with GCC
Fixed several issues in data dictionaries and A2L file generation
Support
Get answers fast: our most frequent support inquiries are now covered by the OpenECU support FAQ at https://support.openecu.com
Dana has expertise in engineering, test, product cost, component supply chain & global manufacturing supply base, and can provide the resources necessary to manage the project through design, new product introduction and volume production. Our capabilities cover all aspects of managing safety critical ECU production from supplier selection, process validation, PPAP and in-process tool creation and specification. Check out our updated section on VOLUME PRODUCTION for more information on our capabilities and process expertise.
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