redpesk demo-n2k plugin usage

This part will introduce you how you can start the demo that takes place late 2020 for the redpesk showcase, either with the plugin coming from your package manager, or the demo-n2k plugin you just build from source.

Prerequisites

First of all you need to set up your CAN connection in order to get access to the CAN frame within your environment. Let’s assume you use usb2can wire to plug your sensor in. Once plugged in you should see that a CAN interface has been created.

ip -br a
lo               UNKNOWN        127.0.0.1/8 ::1/128
can0             DOWN

The sensor used during the demo is the Wired Wind WS310, which has a 250000 baud rate. In order to correctly set up the CAN interface, run the following commands:

sudo ip link set can0 type can bitrate 250000
sudo ip link set up can0

Then you should see the following state for your interface:

ip -br a
lo               UNKNOWN        127.0.0.1/8 ::1/128
can0             UP

Virtual CAN interface

⚠️⚠️ Only if you do not have a “real” sensor ⚠️⚠️

Don’t worry, the demo-n2k plugin install a CAN frame log file.

It should be located in: /var/local/lib/afm/applications/signal-composer-binding/var/WS310.log.

Then install can-utils (that provides among others canplayer):

sudo dnf install can-utils

Set up the CAN interface:

sudo ip link add dev can0 type vcan
sudo ip link set up can0

Play the logfile:

export PATH_TO_THE_WS310_LOGS=/var/local/lib/afm/applications/signal-composer-binding/var/WS310.log
canplayer -li -I ${PATH_TO_THE_WS310_LOGS} can0=can0

Check can data reception

You can check your sensor is correctly working by reading the frame it sends thanks to the can-utils package.

# install can-utils that provides among others candump
sudo dnf install can-utils

# listen and dump data on can0 interface
candump can0
can0  09FD0202   [8]  86 D3 00 F2 C3 FA FF FF
can0  09FD0202   [8]  87 CF 00 ED CD FA FF FF
can0  09FD0202   [8]  88 CB 00 6C D7 FA FF FF
can0  09FD0202   [8]  89 C8 00 64 E0 FA FF FF
...

Don’t forget that you need the can_j1939 kernel module loaded in your execution environment (Target/Host)

Execution

Depending on your build method and the execution environment steps will defer. So use the right chapter below that fit your needs.

Target - execution on target

If it is not already done, boot your board with the latest redpesk image. Then do not forget to add your project package repository list as mentioned in the package manager section.

Then connect to the board, for example over ssh using ssh root@<ip_board> command and refresh your package manager metadata:

Log in on board

ssh root@<ip_board>

Update packages definition on board

dnf update --refresh

Then install the demo-n2k you have built. In this case we call it signal-composer-plugins-demo-n2k. (See application’s package name or the specfile’s Name)

dnf install signal-composer-plugins-demo-n2k

Then start the demo services thanks to the afm-util tool:

afm-util start canbus-binding
afm-util start redis-tsdb-binding
afm-util start signal-composer-plugins-demo-n2k

Host - native execution on your host

First install the demo-n2k plugin runtime dependencies :

Fedora/OpenSuse:

sudo dnf install canbus-binding redis-tsdb-binding signal-composer-binding

Ubuntu:

sudo apt install canbus-binding-bin redis-tsdb-binding-bin signal-composer-binding-bin

Install

Once the plugin and its dependencies are installed, you need to start the redis service. To do so, simply run:

sudo systemctl start redis

The bindings should be located in /var/local/lib/afm/applications if not, find them on your machine and export it as AFM_APP_PATH using following command:

export AFM_APP_PATH=/var/local/lib/afm/applications

Start the demo services thanks to the afb-binder tool:

• canbus

afb-binder --name=afb-canbus-binding --workdir=${AFM_APP_PATH}/canbus-binding --binding=lib/afb-canbus-binding.so --port=9997 --ws-server unix://tmp/canbus

• redis-tsdb-binding

afb-binder --name=afbd-redis-tsdb-binding --workdir=${AFM_APP_PATH}/redis-tsdb-binding --binding=lib/redis-binding.so --port=9998 --ws-server unix:/tmp/redis

• signal-composer-binding

afb-binder --name=afbd-signal-composer-binding --workdir=${AFM_APP_PATH}/signal-composer-binding --binding=lib/afb-signal-composer-binding.so --port=9999 --ws-client=unix:/tmp/canbus --ws-client=unix:/tmp/redis

Access

Then thanks to the redis client you can access to the data that are stored in your local redis database

devel@redpesk: ~ redis-cli -c TS.MGET FILTER class=WIRED_WIND_WS310
1) 1) "WIRED_WIND_WS310.angle.unit"
   2) (empty list or set)
   3) 1) (integer) 1607986220
      2) "rad"
2) 1) "WIRED_WIND_WS310.angle.value"
   2) (empty list or set)
   3) 1) (integer) 1607986220
      2) 4.127632
3) 1) "WIRED_WIND_WS310.speed.unit"
   2) (empty list or set)
   3) 1) (integer) 1607986220
      2) "m/s"
4) 1) "WIRED_WIND_WS310.speed.value"
   2) (empty list or set)
   3) 1) (integer) 1607986220
      2) 1.574502

Monitoring

Thanks to Binder Devtool, you can have a user friendly control of what is going on in your plugin. You have access to basic signal-composer utilities such as the signals list, the config of your signal, and for the demo-n2k plugin, the data coming from the canbus-binding.