Digital tachographs are a compulsory equipment for heavy trucks in the european union. The companies owning these trucks have to download the data at least once every 3 months.
Without dedicated hardware, this was so far not easily possible in linux, but my python script should make it possible to download the data with a serial cable with the right connector.
Ubuntu package
Ubuntu packages are available in my ppa. You can add my ppa with
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:k-2005
and then install loadVu with
sudo apt-get install loadvu
Usage
Start the program with
./loadvu
The data will be saved to a file named after the vehicle and date.
If your serial connection is not /dev/ttyUSB0, you should specify it with the –serial parameter. A possible call would be
./loadvu --serial /dev/ttyUSB1
Extra transfer response parameters
While the commision regulation 1360/2002 defines TREPs 1 to 6
| TRTP/TREP | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Overview |
| 2 | Daily Activity on a specified date |
| 3 | Events and faults |
| 4 | Detailed speed |
| 5 | Technical data |
| 6 | Card download |
At least the digital tachographs from Siemens VDO return data on other requests, too. For example Daimler’s TCO-DKG program requests 17,19 and 20 and saves those to an .add file. The vu also returns data requesting trtp 18. To mimic the behaviour of tco-dkg, type
./loadvu --treps 2,3,4,5 -o mycar.esm ./loadvu --treps 17,19,20 -o mycar.add
Download of card data
It is possible to download the data stored in a driver card inserted into the vehicle unit. However, in the current version the script will add vehicle data to the file, so few programs will be able to read it. The current svn of readesm can, but the last release cannot.
./loadvu --treps 6 -o card.esm
Future versions might handle this with more elegance.
Download Speed
With a digital tachograph from 2007, loadvu tells:
$ ./loadvu Sending 'Request Start Communication Request' Got the expected response Sending 'Request Diagnostic Session' Got the expected response Sending 'Request Request Byte rate 115200' Got the expected response [...] Sending 'Request Stop Communication' Got the expected response data saved to UL-XX YYY 2010-11-09 to 2011-11-18 21.54 (CET).esm Got 222772 Byte in 1789.75275612 seconds. (124.470823827 Byte/s)
It’s slow. Really slow. Considering how many trucks there are, also expensively slow. And it’s not just this script, it’s that slow with any program. Why? Hard to tell. The transfer is slowest when transferring daily activities, where many cryptographic signatures are transferred. However, there is no technical reason why these would have to be generated at every download, as the data really should not change once written.
Enjoy the script.
loadvu-2011.11.tar.gz (4.96 kiB, 2011-11-18)
Do you no any freeware/opensource windows/unix cmdline/gui program for downloading driver card data using the chipcard reader (SCR3311)?
asker: try fahrlinx. Has some bugs, hasn’t had a release in a while, but works with a similar card reader here.
Do you know where can I get that 6-pin connector? Is there any other way than buying an out of the box solution which includes a cable?
asker, you can check IB.TCR for windows – http://tahograf.inter-biz.hr/free or direct donwload link http://tahograf.inter-biz.hr/free/TCRsetup.exe
downloads with any smartcard reader visible by your windows…
currently, new release with digital signing and server upload is being prepared. it will be most probably shareware or commercial. (version given in upper links is free)
Did you try this only on VDO/Siemens equipment? I’ve heard that the VDO tachographs are painfully slow (up to 30 mins), whereas Stoneridge tachos are just slow (about 5 mins). I can’t think of any technical explanation for this, but having seen VDOs PC software “TIS Office”, I strongly suspect incompetence to be the reason.
Hi Matija,
Do you have software for downloading data from VU?
Thank you in advance!
Tomas, unfortunately I don’t have VU download solution.
Had some plans to implement it, but couldn’t get appropriate cable (e.g. usb-to-VU 6pin).
John: Yes, Siemens equipment, > 30 minutes for a full year download, more or less independent of the baud rate. I suspect incompetence is the reason for this as well.
andi, matija: From what i understand from skimming the european regulation, the connector should just be a 5 V-uart interface, so I guess a ft232rl and a couple of connectors would be enough. Unfortunately most off-the-shelf usb converters pair the usb-serial-converter with a rs-232 interface with +-15 V, which won’t help much.
As in my new job I do not have access to trucks or anything else containing a tachograph, I can’t test if it’s really a 5v-serial-interface.
Here they say that tachograph download cable uses “FT232R chip”:
http://www.lisledesign.com/DownloadCables/
Here they have USB-to-tachograph cable for 70eur here http://www.t-m-ingbuero.de/_products/articles.php?node_id=175
There must be other way….FT232RL USB to Serial Download Module costs about 7 eur (dealextreme), don’t know if that works. Anyway, prices for tachograph related devices and software are over the roof because of all this obscurity and non-standard techniques. It would be great to have a cheaper alternative, mainly for small businesses.
Michael: I have several ft232rl lying around, used one in my servo controller ( http://andreas.goelzer.de/usbservo ). At electronics shops like csd electronics they are around 3.50 € plus shipping in small quantities. And you wouldn’t need much more, the chip, a pcb, connectors and a couple of capacitors.
The electrical interface is documented quite well in the regulation, so it would be possible to build one.
However, actually selling electronics is quite difficult, apart from your work and time some expensive lab measurements are needed to be sure you fulfill the EMC requirements, so development costs go up by around 1500 €, so starting by selling some handmade boards is uneconomic.
I’m really wondering why the price for truck-connectors is still this high. The market isn’t that small, the hardware simple, I guess the people considering it are just so frustrated by the abysmal download speeds.
http://www.inelo.pl/Devices03-en#wiecej
Hello Andreas, first of all I want to thank you for this great project!
Hello Andreas, i download the script , but don’t run in ubuntu 14.04.
You know why?
Thanks!
Hi Andreas,
is there a chance that readsm is also usable with Ubuntu 14.04 (64-bit)? After compiling i have no chance to do the make install command. Do you support that software anymore?
Hallo Herr Gölzer,
Ihr loadvu hat mir geholfen, den Download zu verstehen.
Zu den Send/receive Strukturen habe ich doku gefunden.
Ich möchte den Download Ohne im Tacho gesteckte Unternehmenskarte ausführen, finde dazu für die Frontschnittstelle keine Doku. Mit CAN kann ich das schon
mit zugriff per TCP/IP auf einen entfernen Kartenleser.
Haben Sie info darüber oder bessere Idee, danach zu suchen.
Gerne können wir auch telefonieren. 0175/4378904
Mfg
Wendlinger Robert
Hello guys !
Andreas, I’ve been working with your program for years and I’m really grateful to you.
I wish you a good new year party 31/12/2017
hi,
you can use mobilena or tachostore of SOLID softwares to download VU.
there’s softwares can use a serial cable to download data.
you can check in french topic:
https://www.planet-truck.fr/forum/topic.php?id=1670#m27429