Prototypical implementation and validation of a simulator for the ISOBUS Tractor Implement Management

Tractor Implement Management is a new cross-manufacturer protocol in development for ISOBUS networks of agricultural machinery systems. It permits the implement oriented control of tractor functionalities such as speed and steering. It will be one of the standardized ISOBUS functionalities with the objective to optimize the agricultural implements operation in order to achieve higher levels of productivity with less operator fatigue. Functional safety is an important topic in an inter-manufacturer system. Who is liable in case of problems must be clearly defined and agreed. The main focus of the system is an authentication procedure between two or more devices in communication to ensure overall liability. Succeeding in the conformance test performed by an authorized testlab a product obtains public key certificates for the authentication. For security and safety reasons the automation can start only after the authentication of the devices which guarantees the conformity of both communication partners. The protocol is developed by the collaboration of agricultural machinery manufacturers in an international organization. During its development the manufacturers test their prototypical implementations in inter-manufacturer events called Plugfests. For the development and integration of this new feature in existing embedded systems is necessary to use a computer simulation of the protocol. The objective of this work is the creation of a simulator that embeds the functionalities of the ISOBUS and runs the complete Tractor Implement Management (TIM) system. It is a desktop application, interfaced to the Controller Area Network (CAN) bus with adapters, that simulates the behavior of a real embedded device. The structure of the simulator is thought to be expanded to play as simulated counterpart for the conformance test of TIM devices. The developed TIM simulator has been successfully validated during a Plugfest with the embedded and simulated implementations of seven European manufacturers.

Sviluppo e validazione di un simulatore per il protocollo ISOBUS Tractor Implement Management