On the occasion of our participation at the engineering fair AMPER 2016 we have decided to please all of our USB2CAN users by releasing a free app on Google Play for basic work with USB2CAN converter on Android OS. By using OTG cable it is now possible to connect and use the converter with Android tablets or phones.
What is this app for ? It's not uncommon that users of our devices are installing them on the go where they usually don't take their laptop. If any problem occurs, for its identification it is often necessary to create log of CAN communication. Until now that wasn't without laptop and USB2CAN converter possible. Because a large portion of smartphones is using Android OS we have created for this platform this free app. Now it is finally possible to make communication log from the CAN bus just by using a smartphone/tablet and USB2CAN converter. The app as well offers features as checking available data nad their values, view the raw data or send data back to the CAN bus.
- OTG cable is mandatory for the connection - USB->micro USB reduction
- App displays both sent and received messages
- Menu allows to change the display format of data and IDs: decadic/hexadecimal, extended format 11+18/29 bits
- Messages in sent and received log can be copied to clipboard by long-pressing desired row.
- Data in clipboard can be used to fill in the send message form.
- Another type of display is Grid Log, which displays only the latest data for each ID received. The changes since last message received are highlighted by red color, same data is black.
- Data can also be plotted in a Graph View. Data can be assigned to one of independent Y-axis.
- Graph settings are available after loading an .EYE file which can be created and edited on PC in PP2CAN software. This software as well supports importing and converting DBC (Vector) into the EYE format.
- Another form of visualisation is Signal Receiver tool configured by the EYE file as well.
- For faster workflow a "Load latest EYE file" option is available from the menu. The app remembers choice of EYE file for Graph View and Signal Receiver separately.
- The app saves communication logs in PP2CAN compatible format. It is possible to save both received and sent messages in separate files. Because entries in the log window have limited amount (oldest are being removed once hard limit is reached) for logging an extended period of time "File logging" option is available from the menu which continuosly saves all messages.
- The app supports "Listen only" mode as well as array of standard CAN speeds.
- On phone only landscape view is supported, tablets as well support portrait mode
- Android OS version required: 4.1+.
Connecting to converter:
- Connect the converter by using OTG cable.
- Open the app.
- Choose CAN Speed, optionally activate Listen only mode.
- In the menu on the top right side (three dots) choose "Connect"
- A list of available devices is shown if no available devices are displayed press the button labeled "Refresh".