Measurement Computing DBK70 - Manual (Page 7)

DBK70 User’s Manual 946898 Introduction 2-1
Introduction 2
The DBK70 is an electronic module that can be quickly configured to generate analog output signals that
are proportional to many typical vehicle characteristics based on a single connection to the vehicle’s
diagnostic connector. The DBK70 provides sensor module signals of vehicle characteristics from data
acquired from a vehicle’s data bus (e.g., J1850, J1850 VPW, J1850 PWM, Class 2, SCP, CAN, etc.).
Once configured using the included software, the DBK70 will capture the selected vehicle network
message and convert the imbedded data into a proportional analog output suitable for measurement with
any IOtech data acquisition product or equivalent.
Monitoring the messages transmitted on the network eliminate the need to outfit the vehicle under test with
transducers and wiring that would be redundant with the vehicle’s existing transducers and wiring. Where
the data rate available from a vehicle’s data bus is satisfactory, the DBK70 can create output waveforms
comparable to direct transducer measurement.
Depending on availability through the data bus, the DBK70 is also able to generate signals proportional to
data internal to a vehicle’s electronic modules, which is typically inaccessible for monitoring or recording.
Through the vehicle data bus, the DBK70 can obtain such data from any vehicle module accessible through
the same vehicle data bus that is used for vehicle diagnostics.
Through the DBK70, vehicle data contained in normally occurring messages used for the operation of the
vehicle and/or available through diagnostic protocols can be monitored and used to generate scaled, analog
output. Every DBK70 analog output channel is independently configured. Each data received and
processed has two independent sets of scaling parameters, one to control the output signal and the other to
format the data for real time display on a PC.