The Design of Telemetry Acquisition and Analysis Vans for Testing Construction and Mining Equipment

Abstract

Caterpillar Inc. has over 25 years of experience using instrument vans equipped with telemetry to support product testing. These vans provide the capability to instrument the product, to acquire telemetered data, and to analyze the data. They are being used in tests performed on construction and mining equipment at Caterpillar's proving grounds and at customer job sites throughout North America. This paper presents a design summary of the newest generation vans. It starts with an overview of the major subsystems and concentrates on the Caterpillar developed software that tightly integrates the various hardware and software components. This software greatly enhances the productivity of the system and makes it possible for the van to perform a large variety and quantity of tests required by our internal customers.