ISOBus

[FluidPowerTom]

I've got a prospective customer with a machine that has ISOBus on it.  I have never yet dealt with ISOBus.  After some research it looks to me like it runs on a CAN bus operating at 250k, so that's nice.  I see that the Virtual Terminal functionality is a big deal for displays, but I don't know that I care about that. 

I'm wondering if I can just connect to the bus and read process data from some messages without too much fuss.  Has anyone done this with a PLUS1?  Is it just a CAN ID and up to 8 bytes of data like any other protocol?

[Nilla]

Hi Tom!

Sent you a response on your email to PLUS+1 Helpdesk.

For all of you others;

We currently don't have any controller supporting ISOBUS. ISOBUS is a communication protocol for the agriculture industry based on the SAE J1939 protocol (which includes CANbus). Currently I'm not aware of any customers using our controllers for this becuase it's not that simple to implement this other communication protocol.

Best regards
Nilla
PLUS+1 Helpdesk team

[F.M.Elettromeccanica]

Hallo Nilla,
i've got the same request, nothing is changed about ISOBus? We should to develop a solution on a tractor using this standard of comunication.
thanks in advance

[FluidPowerTom]

I still haven't had to implement it on a system yet, but I did some studying.  It sounds like the display (they have a special name for it) is central to many ISOBus systems since it allows them to do the configuration necessary.  The display program itself is not custom; it's a more or less standardized ISOBus program.  It might not be a terrible idea for Danfoss to look into this. 

It sounds like if you just need to monitor something on the bus then it's not all that different from monitoring a proprietary B J1939 message.  That's about all I know.

[joaoivo]

Hi friends, wish a prosperous 2021 foryou all.

Do you know if there is any news about ISOBus libraries for PLUS+1 controllers?

Best regards,
João Ivo

[Tor]

Hi joaoivo,

I also wish you a great 2021. Hopefully we can get rid of this pandemic.

About the ISOBus question.
As far as I know there is no plan for any specific ISOBus blocks for the PLUS+1 right now.
I'm Sorry that I don't have more information for you.

Have a nice day

[joaoivo]

Hi Tor, thank you for the update.

Best regards,
João Ivo

[flno]

Well if someone is still reading this thread, I can tell you that we have successfully implemented ISOBUS on an application with a Plus+1 controller. But for now we are only reading messages from the BUS, the so called TECU messages. (Tractor ECU). You can find a lot of help via the following database: https://www.isobus.net/isobus/

Implementing VT (Virtuel Terminal) is a whole nother story, and I do not know if that is possible via Plus1 Guide.

[FluidPowerTom]

That's great to know that is possible.  Coincidentally, I just got a call yesterday from an old customer who's looking to send some custom data they have to an ISOBUS VT.  I'm not sure how to do that or if it's possible. What I have seen is that the ISOBUS VT is really like its own display program, so some brands offer displays that come with the ISOBUS VT on it.

[flno]

The main display in a tractor ex. often have a menu intended for ISOBUS. The idea is that an implement controller, can upload a screenpage to the tractor display, hence the name Virtual Display (VT). Since the only communication available is Can-Bus, then theoretically It should be possible to do this via a Plus+1 controller, but I think that will be mayor task.

An ISOBUS gateway between the Plus+1 Controller, and the VT is off course the easiest solution: https://www.b-plus.com/en/products-and-services/isobus