Signal integrity
Low-level sensor signals had to remain useful in noisy electrical and mechanical environments.
Precise Technology
Automotive Test Systems
Embedded data-acquisition systems for automobile durability testing, structural analysis, and dependable engineering measurement.
Embedded CCANSensorsADCSignal ConditioningData Logger
Case Study
Overview
The systems acquired synchronized sensor and vehicle data during durability and structural tests in demanding environments.
Engineering priorities included signal integrity, deterministic sampling, rugged operation, and usable field diagnostics.
- Domain
- Automotive Testing
- Platform
- Embedded DAQ
- Focus
- Measurement Integrity
- Lifecycle
- Custom Product Delivery
Context
Problem Statement
Capture trustworthy multi-channel measurements under vibration, electrical noise, and long-duration test conditions.
Synchronize sensor and vehicle-bus data while giving test engineers practical setup and diagnostic tools.
Leadership
My Role
- Designed embedded electronics, firmware, and system integration.
- Translated test-engineering needs into acquisition and storage requirements.
- Led prototyping, calibration, field validation, and customer delivery.
- Supported diagnostics and iterative improvements from real test campaigns.
Platform
Technology Stack
Core technologies and engineering disciplines used across the product.
- Embedded C
- CAN
- Sensors
- ADC
- Signal Conditioning
- Data Logger
- Time Synchronization
- Calibration
System Design
Architecture
Sensor and CAN inputs are timestamped through deterministic acquisition services, validated, buffered, and committed to durable storage for later analysis.
Architecture overview
- Sensors
- Signal Conditioning
- Synchronized Sampling
- CAN Acquisition
- Data Buffering
- Storage & Export
Execution
Engineering Challenges
Synchronization
Independent acquisition sources needed consistent timestamps for engineering analysis.
Long-duration reliability
Power events, storage limits, and transient faults could not invalidate an expensive test run.
Trade-offs
Key Decisions
Deterministic acquisition path
Separated time-critical sampling from storage and user-interface workloads.
Buffered durable logging
Used bounded buffers and recoverable file structures to reduce data loss during faults.
Built-in calibration
Made channel configuration and calibration metadata part of each recorded dataset.
Impact
Results
- Delivered dependable data acquisition for demanding automotive test workflows.
- Improved correlation between sensor and vehicle-bus measurements.
- Reduced setup ambiguity by preserving configuration and calibration context.
- Made field issues easier to diagnose without specialized firmware tools.
Reflection
Lessons Learned
- Measurement metadata is as important as the raw measurement.
- Recoverability should be designed for every boundary where data can be lost.
- Field usability strongly influences the value of technically accurate instrumentation.