The latest beta version of PicoScope is now available for download from Pico Labs. This version includes a totally new CAN Bus decoding function, which can read CAN bus packets at a variety of data rates.
The CAN (Controller Area Network) Bus is widely used in automotive, industrial and medical control systems for reliable signalling between control units in electrically noisy environments. It is a serial protocol, usually with differential signalling although a single-wire version also exists. The PicoScope CAN Bus decoding feature is aimed at vehicle designers, aftermarket equipment designers and advanced troubleshooters, who need to look at more than just fault codes.
Here are some of the highlights:
- Graphical in-view display - the decoded data is displayed directly below the raw waveform, making it possible to see error packets in a long stream of data at the same time as checking for noise and glitches
- Tabular display - lists all the CAN packets in the current view, or the entire waveform buffer, with data columns that can be hidden if not needed
- Filtering - to reduce clutter, PicoScope can list only those packets that match your criteria
- "Start from" - monitors the data stream until a specified packet type occurs, then starts capturing
- Works with standard PicoScopes - there's no need to upgrade your hardware: just download our free software update. Performance and memory capacity will of course depend on the specifications of your scope. We recommend using scopes with deep memory, such as the 4000 and 5000 Series.
- Single-ended and differential modes - choose whether to decode CAN High or CAN Low, useful for single-wire CAN systems, or use two scope channels to decode the full differential CAN signal
- Adjustable data rate - decode any speed of CAN Bus from kilobits to megabits
- Save to file - save a table of CAN data in comma-separated text format
As an added bonus, this release also includes another new feature:
- Zoom overview - when you are zoomed in, a small overview window shows the current display area marked on a picture of the whole waveform. You can drag and resize this area instead of using the zoom tools.
Download PicoScope 6.3.4 beta, free of charge, from Pico Labs now. No registration required.
Please let us know what you think of the new software. You can contact us on the forum.
PicoLog updated
PicoLog is our data logging software for Windows. It works with all our data loggers, and can save data to a file or display it in spreadsheet and graphical formats.
R5.20.8 is the latest maintenance release of PicoLog. Bugs fixed include: "Corruption of .plw files", "repeat immediate mode" and "PicoLog pause button causes program to crash and close".