Autonomous Test System for CAN-based Automotive Instrument Cluster

Abstract

Automotive Instrument cluster (AIC) is an important electronic instrumentation device on a vehicle that relays the current condition of the vehicle in all aspects to the driver. Therefore, it should be tested during development and engineering process to ensure that there is no error occur after it is installed on the vehicle. This project will focus on building an autonomous test system (ATS) for controller area network (CAN)-based AIC. Each of the AIC component is controlled by sending a CAN message with the appropriate CAN Identifier (ID) and data. The test system will follow a series of instruction written in Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to send certain CAN messages in a sequence. The designed ATS will have two modes which are autonomous mode and manual mode. An inspection list is designed for each of the modes so that users can understand the operation of the ATS. A graphical user interface (GUI) is designed for human-machine interaction (HMI) to suit for test engineer convenience. The output of the generated responses were observed and verified with the encoded test instructions sent in CAN messages from ATS. The AIC also responses appropriately with the manipulation of the designed GUI. The developed ATS have shown a promising result in the pursuit to create an automated test system for CAN-based AIC which requires minimal human supervision.