Frequently AskedQuestions

While it is possible to build up a data collection strategy completely from scratch by defining each CAN message, users typically import industry standard files such as .dbc, .mdx, or .a2l files as the starting point for a configuration. The online configuration tools interpret this information and allow you to select the particular messages/values you are interested in and any additional processing you would like to perform. With a completed configuration, all you need is a DAP unit to start receiving data.

The majority of our users are in research, pre-production, development, and testing. We specialize in getting large amounts of data, not just a handful of common parameters. The Innomatix system allows them to monitor the data of interest in real-time, whether the vehicle is around the corner or around the world. We also have a large user base that specializes in tough to characterize customer service issues.

There is no hard limit on the number of signals or channels that you can collect. Typical user configurations will collect between 50 and 500 individual signals, with the frequency of those signals varying between 1 millisecond and 1 second. The Innomatix software framework and DAP hardware work together to provide sufficient computing resources to give you the flexibility you need.

Our standard DAPs can handle data from two CAN channels; with four CAN channel options available.

No. We handle fleets from 1 vehicle to 1000. Each user can divide their view of any fleet into smaller virtual fleets to make monitoring and analysis easier.

Your data lives on our secure redundant servers. At this time, all data must be returned to our servers first. After collecting that data on our servers, we can replicate it onto yours if desired. One of the advantages of our system is that you do not have to maintain your own servers or provide a physical location for data storage.

We provide a configuration tool on our website that allows you to pick and choose what data you need to record. Updates to the configuration can be sent wirelessly, so you never have to be near your DAP to do an update. You never have to restart your DAP in order to update the configuration, saving you valuable time.

The camera families we support are based on a certain set of specific functionality they provide. Your cameras may work with our system. Contact us for a list of supported cameras. If we don’t currently support them, we can check if it may be possible to integrate support for them.

We would be happy to. All we would ask is that you let us know a little bit about the vehicle and type of data you want to collect in advance, so that we can make sure we arrive with the appropriate physical connections for your vehicle type and a good demonstration data set.

In almost all cases, yes. The Innomatix system is designed to make sure we get all the data to the server and stored in a format that’s as flexible as possible. When engineers need the data, they select the format for the download. If you need a format we don’t currently support, let’s talk about it. That is how many of our standard download options initially came to be.

Not to worry, the DAP will store any information locally that can’t be sent to the server immediately and automatically retry when coverage is available. Each DAP comes with enough internal storage to operate for weeks with all collected data stored internally. The communication protocol between the DAP and the server uses a transaction strategy that ensures the DAP will retain any data until it has received confirmation from the server that it has been successfully stored.

While the DAP is a very powerful data collection platform, it is designed to securely and efficiently communicate with the Innomatix servers and provide an unequalled real-time capability. To ensure this level of performance, all DAP units must currently communicate with the Innomatix servers.

The terms “data cloud” and “telematics” get lots of buzz in the press lately. We’ve been doing real-time vehicle telematics for major automotive clients since 2004. We’ve been sending data to the cloud since before there was a cloud.

Shortened development cycles make real-time critical. Real-time monitoring of the data being collected allows engineers to instantly validate that the appropriate data is being collected. Combine this with the ability to make over-the-air updates to the DAP configuration and you can immediately reconfigure the unit to collect different information should changes be needed. Real-time also allows near-instant email notifications of important events, such as a threshold being exceeded or a diagnostic trouble code occurring.

There is a long list of modems and carriers that we support and it is likely we can support your preference. If you want to compare the modems we use at Innomatix, call us for a list of options. We can also check a certain modem you would like to use that is not on our list, to see if it is compatible. Depending on your situation, you may opt to use Wi-Fi instead of a cellular connection, and we can also discuss this option with you.

In short- we customize your data storage plan to you and the requirements your company may have.

Data storage is included in your service contract. Generally, we archive data after an amount of time specified by the customer, which may be a window of a few years. This means the user could contact us to get access to the archived data again in the future, but it is not immediately available. However, the last few years’ data is immediately available.

If you want your own back-up copy of the data, we can work with you on a solution to make that happen, but it is not necessary. This would be a back-up hosted on your own servers; we have our own back-ups for your data.

We can do some data analysis for you, but our priority is storing data and getting it into a format to make it easier for you to do the analysis yourself, using the analysis tools you already know. This means you do not have to take the time and effort to learn a new data analysis tool when you are happy with the one you have.

We support industry-standard download formats, and we can work with you to develop reports and ensure the system supports the download file formats you need. Depending how much you share with us about your report formats and data needs, we can put algorithms on the server or on the DAP to help do some very basic analysis. You can also utilize the programmable coprocessor to do some preliminary analysis yourself. Please contact us with specific requests, so we can let you know if it is in the scope of what we do.

It does not correspond to the number of DAPs you have. We work with you to get as many as you need. We recommend that you limit it to only members of your company that truly need access. Some groups want as few as one login which is used by all members, while other groups have a team member act as their fleet administrator, who can add more users themselves. It all depends on how you plan to use our website.

If there is a chance of significant water, we recommend using our environmental case, which fits our DAP-III. Check out our products section for a detailed description.

The DAP-IV is set to be released in late 2017. Please check back on our website regularly for more information on the release.

We will continue to support the DAP-II and other legacy systems after the release.

They are fairly similar. If you have size issues or want a system with less current draw, the DAP-III is the best choice. They both work in relatively the same way. If you are interested in greater detail on the differences, please contact us for the specifications. You can compare for yourself and see which one better fits your standards or discuss the option with us.

The Innomatix system has been designed from the ground up with security in mind. All communications between the DAP and the server are initiated by the DAP to avoid the need for persistent IP addresses that can be vulnerable to attack. All data is transmitted using 256 bit encryption and digitally signed to detect any attempt to tamper with the information inside.

Both. Typically, users will pick the specific signals of interest and have them sent back to the server in appropriate engineering units (degrees, kPa, volts, etc.). This makes it easier to immediately analyze the information as it appears in real-time. However, the DAP is monitoring every CAN message and can log them directly to a file and send that file back to the server, either continuously or in response to a user-defined trigger event.

Most of our work in the past was done directly with our client’s research groups. As a result, we couldn’t talk about much of what we did and our customer base grew strictly by word-of-mouth. We now have some exciting new products that will allow us to bring these same capabilities to a much wider audience. With the release of these new products, we are undertaking a new marketing initiative.

While the majority of the data our systems collect is CAN-based, the power of the Innomatix system is that it can collect and index virtually any type of information. Our systems are used to collect anything from discrete values, such as engine RPM or oil pressure to larger, more complex items such as image and video data.

Yes. As long as your vehicle has a valid VIN, the DAP will recognize the change and the server will automatically associate the collected data with the new vehicle. Even if your vehicle does not have a valid VIN, the web site will let you partition the data according to when the DAP was moved.