Firmware Utility Diagnostic
Developing a diagnostic solution for troubleshooting process in an embedded system
Diagnostic tools are essential for optimising the performance, reliability, and longevity of embedded systems, ensuring their smooth operation in diverse applications such as automotive, industrial automation, healthcare, and more.
They enable proactive identification and resolution of issues, minimising downtime and preventing potential system failures. In embedded systems where reliability is paramount, diagnostic tools provide real-time insights into the system's performance, allowing for efficient troubleshooting and rapid resolution of problems.These tools enhance the overall maintenance process by facilitating the identification of faulty components or irregularities in the system's behaviour contributing to cost-effectiveness by reducing the need for extensive manual inspection and helping in preventive maintenance.
Challenge
Our client's product lacked a mechanism to extract diagnostic information during fault occurrences. With three independent microcontrollers on the control board, there was a need for a unified diagnostic protocol. Our challenge was to implement this protocol, facilitating the streaming of diagnostic data to a connected PC.
Project Overview
We successfully developed a diagnostic solution improving the troubleshooting process for faulty units within an existing embedded system.
Action
Without existing documentation for the firmware design, our initial task was to carefully map out how the firmware flows and the connections between the microcontrollers.
We used the communication interfaces available in the microcontrollers to create a route for diagnostic data to move from the system to the connected PC. Working closely with the client, we pinpointed and included crucial diagnostic events. Afterwards, we crafted and put into action a custom diagnostics protocol, paired with a user-friendly PC application. This application can easily receive, understand, display, and log diagnostic data.
OUTCOME
The implemented diagnostic solution seamlessly integrated into the existing system, providing our client with an intuitive means to monitor and troubleshoot any system.The setup process for the diagnostic PC software application has been simplified for end users, as it only requires a readily available USB-to-UART cable to connect to each system.
- PIC Microcontroller
- Embedded Firmware (C)
- Windows PC Software (C#)
- Multi-device serial communication
- Virtual COM Ports
Software, Industrial
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