STW to highlight expanding telematics capabilities at CONEXPO

STW, a pioneer in the development of telematics hardware modules, has developed a richly featured set of software tools to augment its hardware and is rapidly adding more functionality to facilitate development of sophisticated information applications for the off-highway vehicle marketplace.

STW’s ESX-TC3 and ESX-TC3G telematics modules offer robust, best-in-class electronic features for networking vehicles through cellular, wired and WiFi networks. The Linux-based system provides the ideal platform for telematics application development. STW has developed a software toolset, the Vehicle Data System (VDS) that provides a rich set of libraries and out-of-the-box applications. 

The first release of the VDS in 2013 included an application framework with the following key components, all of which are configurable or viewable through the web:

• CAN freestyle, J1939 and GPS ‘readers’ that provide a configurable means to read and interpret data from a vehicle or machine
• A library of pre-configured J1939 PGNs/SPNs
• A logger function that allows a user to create and configure logging and assign any of the variable from the readers to be logged
• A diagnostics web function that allows creation of a set of analog and digital gauges and LEDs that can be mapped to any of the reader variables for real-time viewing. Individual diagnostics set-ups, or ‘projects’, can be created and saved for different uses.
• A file upload and download capability for use with data logs and configuration files.
• Web configuration of all readers, the logger and the diagnostics page, as well as system set-up.

All of these components can be accessed programmatically or used as off-the-shelf product capabilities, depending on the needs of the customer.

The next release of the VDS, which will come in Q2 2014, will offer the following additional features:

• ISOBUS, NMEA and CANOpen readers as well as CAN freestyle masking
• Remote or local updates (flashloading) of STW controllers or telematics devices to facilitate continuous innovation in vehicle technology and informatics
• Enhancements to real-time diagnostics to provide charting and other diagnostic tools
• A fully configurable event management system for the logger
• Web configuration of proprietary PGN/SPNs for J1939 readers

STW is working with leading OEMs in the off-highway marketplace to define and specify the next generation of telematics requirements both in hardware and software and expects the ESX-TC4, which should be prototyped in early 2015, to be a quantum leap in telematics technology. 

STW will be at CONExpo 2014, March 4 to 8 at booth 82812 to answer questions about its Telematics Suite, as well as control and measurement solutions.