Model-Based Software Architecture Design for Tractor ECU and Body Control Module Implementation

 
Customer:

Having developed trust in the quality-driven delivery processes and industry-proven our solutions; customer decided to partner with us for this Model Based Development (MBD) project.

Business Challenge:

Our customer undertook an ambitious initiative to develop and integrate a tractor Electronic Control Unit (ECU) and a Body Control Module (BCM) with the agricultural vehicle.

The product roadmap aimed to make the tractors future-ready and deliver an advanced farming solution.

The challenge here was to design the software architecture based on which the tractor ECU and body control module will be implemented in the agricultural vehicles. Our customer was looking for a vendor to help them define software architecture requirements for the electronic system of the tractor. The software architecture was required to be designed with respect to MATLAB model.

Some of the requisites of the project were:

• A MATLAB model-based system architecture definition that would serve as the reference for designing the application software for the ECUs and how different components will work together.
• A method for designing an information system in terms of hardware and software (building blocks) and for showing how these building blocks fit together.

While designing the software architecture, we also had to keep this points under consideration.

• The ECUs should be able to efficiently manage the electrical loads of the vehicle.
• The amount of wiring harness had to be reduced.
• Diagnosis of electric loads to be made easy.

Also, there were different sub-networks with variable data transfer speed. Hence, a gateway also had to be included in the design to ensure smooth data transfer between subnets.
 




Source: Element14 Community

Embitel’s Solution:

Our solution aimed to create a software architecture that could give them a clear picture of how the tractor ECU and the body control unit will work together. We also designed different subsystems and the gateway with respect to the MATLAB model.

An overview of the software architecture design we provided:

• The Body Control Module is connected to the differential lock, seat, brake and other such components in the tractor.
• 3 CANS subnets are designed each for inter-ECU and ECU-cluster communication, telematics communication and ISOBUS configuration.
• A gateway to streamline the data transfer from different subnets at different rates.
• Connectivity of the tractor ECU and BCM to the lighting load, solenoids, and relays.
• Diagnostic stacks like SAE J1939 and UDS are also a part of the system.

Tools and Technologies

• Enterprise Architecture Tool: This tool is used to create high-level system architecture and MATLAB based application layer of an embedded system.
• MATLAB:  MATLAB is a software development environment used for numerical computing across several industries, especially Embedded Systems.