CANBUS Software CANTOP

Link to actual project is missing:
Cantop | Get Cantop at SourceForge.net

That aside, there's very little information regarding what kind of interfaces it is compatible with (Tactrix Cable, etc...)

 

Hey guys,

I actually wrote CANTOP several years ago so let me know if you have any questions. Sorry for the poor quality video--I'm a programmer not a film maker =).

I haven't had time to work on it in quite some time (hence the inactivity) but I'd be more than happy to help people get started tinkering with it (that was my intent all along afterall to provide a sort of swiss-army knife tool for people to toy with).

If I don't respond on the thread feel free to PM me.

Andrew

 

Will it work with ELM chipset interface?

 

Not natively. I designed CANTOP for the CANdapter (Ewert Energy Systems) since it's cheap, simple to use and supported under most all OSes, but the CANTOP software was built to be modular and hackable to work with other interfaces as well with some modifications. Someone asked me about that in the past and I think they were able to get it working with some changes (though they never provided the altered source code to me to upload unfortunately).

Andrew

 

Can I use this in parallel with ScanGauge?

 

I really like the interface. Might be enough to tempt me to install a carputer. Andrew, does it do any data logging? And can I assume it can be used in a non-PHEV Prius?

 

Yes and yes--I don't think I currently have data logging enabled but it wouldn't be hard to enable (the data is already there and calculated, all you'd have to do would be write it out to a file in chronological increments). A more elaborate logging system was something I was hoping to add someday anyway.

It can be used simultaneously with other scantools yes, though you'll need an OBD2 splitter.

Andrew

 

Are you familiar with other programs sued to log performance data such as EvoScan? It has logging "triggers" that can be set as well as some graphing capability. Just some suggestions if you want to improve the software....

 

I assume you mean used and not sued =). Yes, such a logging system would ideally integrate graphing as well, but that's not really the focus of the program. It's more designed to be a real-time feedback utility for the driver while the vehicle is in motion. If there's anyone out there interested in working on adding in this functionality I'd be happy to get them started in the right direction.

Andrew

 

Well, are you making the (erroneous) assumption I'm anywhere near as technically proficient as many of the other folks around here??

Seriously, how would one without programming skills enable logging? If the output is an ASCII text file then I can take it from there, but my hunch is that's not the case.

 

Mmm, fair point I suppose. I was hoping to attract the attention of someone who had at least some programming experience. I wrote it in easy-to-understand languages and tried to keep it relatively simple but yeah it does require some background to understand.

If I find some time I'll try and work it it more.

Andrew

 

OK, thanks. That's understandable and pretty much what I expected.

Meanwhile, I might go ahead and play with it anyway. In lieu of a more permanent installation, I have a netbook I can use. Are you looking for non-technical end-user feedback of any sort?

 

Feedback is of course always welcome, though I realize the project is far from finished. I don't know how much time I'll have to actually make changes at this point but I can at least help work out a todo list / roadmap.

Andrew

 

Hi Hill,

Hmm...well, here's a cheap one that I've used in the past:

VM7000 7" touchscreen

It's cheaper than the Lilliput screens (unless you buy lots of them) and works pretty well. It has VGA and RCA inputs for video in and has a built in touchscreen.

For an actual PC, I've found its easier to use a netbook or similar for a simple interface. A full fledged desktop PC is a little excessive (and plus you have to have it very quickly turn on and off and such--netbooks can just suspend). You just have to worry about freezing temperatures.

Andrew

 

Andrew:
I see the Canbus adapter is the same chip set as the Lawicel Can232 that Attila Vass used. I was looking at your code, but did not see the section where you interface with the Canbus. I have been working with Attila's program, adapting it to a Zaurus SL-5500. I have been stuck getting the Elm commands to work properly. I was about the throw in the towel, and pickup the Lawicel. The Canbus is much less expenscive, but more then the ELM. Right now, my Zaurus's serial port seems to have died, so I am looking for a new device to work with, and am bidding on a netbook to use.
I did not understand the Sourceforge download, why is there a server and client?
It looks like c++ to me, and you used QT, is that correct? Do you have a description of the functions of all the files, and a descrition of the build environment?

Thanks,
Howard

 

Hi Howard,

First, the CANdapter is not actually the same chipset as CAN232 (what Attila uses)--it just uses a similar protocol. They are not completely compatible with each other but the basic command structure is similar enough.

The CANTOP program is split up into two completely separate applications: 1) The server and 2) The client. The server application (written in JAVA) is a background process (it has no GUI or window and runs silently in the background on a computer) and its purpose is to harvest data from the CANdapter (or other CANBUS adapter utilities) and parse that traffic into variables and graphs.

The server then sends this data to the client program via TCP/IP for displaying. The reason I split the program into a server and client was that I'm not an artist (nor do I claim to be) so I wanted to allow people to easily slap a new front end onto the program without having to rewrite the more complicated server backend portion. I hacked the client (graphical GUI window part) together using freely available widgets and UI toolsets. The idea was that the server portion of the application would take care of all the heavy lifting and more graphically gifted people could write their own client application in whatever language they so chose. The included client was more of a proof of concept than a final window layout but it is functional (except the switches--they don't do anything at this point).

For reference, the client was written in C++/QT. Both the server and client are cross platform to all operating systems that support both JAVA and QT/C++ (the CANdapter is also supported by most major operating systems--thus the whole setup should be cross platform).

As for your question about serial interfaces--the CANdapter doesn't use the serial port at all--it's a USB interface similar to CANUSB which is the USB equivalent of CAN232 so that wouldn't be an issue.

I wouldn't use the Zaurus though...netbooks are a good invention as they have a lot more power =).

Hope this helps some,
Andrew

 

Andrew:
I didn't think I was asking a question about the serial port, just stating what happened. Thanks for the description, I will need more time to digest what you did. I am bascially a hardware guy, and just can manage to hack code. I'll have to look a little closer at the command set differences between the CAN232 and the Canadapter. I have been working with a serial port ELM device. Does your prgram run in a Windows environment or Linux?

 

Gotcha.

CANTOP runs under both Windows and Linux (and MacOS should work too, though I lack access to a mac to try it). I have compiling instructions somewhere for various different operating systems if you want to recompile the code.

I used Netbeans for the server (a free JAVA GUI) and qdevelop for the client (a free QT GUI). Both run under windows and linux alike. I'm pretty sure I included the project files for both in the source code distribution (thus, you just have to open the project files in the respective GUIs to edit).

I can help you get setup if you have any questions.

Andrew