Programming and integration of the Innovate Motorsports LM-2 Analog input and the SuperFlow AD30

WRR — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:03:00 GMT

By: Steve Estrada

WR Racing

I have been working with Superflow products for over 10 years now and enjoy the superior accuracy and quality of their products.

I recently purchased the Innovate Motorsports LM2 to replace an LM1 device that was originally integrated with the AutoDyn 30.

While researching the integration process, I found the analog connections had changed. Superflow originally sold and supported Innovate products when this dyno was purchased and the LM-1 came with the system.

The LM-2 analog cable P/N 3811 is a cable that comes with a Molex 14 pin connector on one side and raw cable on the other, giving you choice of connector.

Superflow Customer Service (719-471-1746), provided excellent support regarding connectors and pins I needed to make a new cable.

I completed the cable and plugged the LM-2 into the AD 30’s sensor box. I ran a quick test just to see what would happen and found the scaling between the units was off by quite a bit.

Downloading the Logworks software from the Innovate web-site was quick and installation was trouble free. After communication was established, I experienced difficulty in getting the LM-2 to sync up with Logworks on a consistent basis. This was tested with Windows 7 and XP with all updates. It seems that plugging and unplugging is part of the normal process, a minor annoyance. There were no problems like this in either, stand alone or integrated use with the data acquisition.

Logworks allows you to program the LM2’s analog inputs and outputs so you can log or integrate other 0-5v signals.

Let’s say you wanted to control a methanol injection system using the Lambda output. You could use a solenoid to open a valve at a certain lambda voltage providing control, safety and logging capability for a boosted power plant. There are many possibilities.

Analog output 1 is what I chose for this system. I had to calculate scaling so I went into the Superflow WinDyn configuration editor to look at the way lambda voltage was processed.

The Lambda Voltage channel (104) was set for Lambda volt * 2 + 9= Air Fuel Ratio. This means the lowest AFR Windyn could read would be 9 and the highest would be 19 given a scale of 0-5 volts. I checked the “use air-fuel ratio” button in the Logworks software and programmed the LM-2 to output 0v at an AFR of 9 and 5v at an AFR of 19. I re-calibrated the sensor and conducted some tests. I was delighted to see the dyno’s data acquisition and the LM-2 display were always within .05A/F. The difference in sampling frequency was the likely reason for this and I did not feel it was worth changing.

I tested another car and the air-fuel reading was way off. I started checking out the car’s electrical system with a voltmeter and quickly found the car’s weak ground loop. After ground was re-established, the voltage difference was then corrected.

This condition is caused by differential voltage. In other words, the AC grounded Superflow and the poorly grounded DC car caused an offset in what the LM-2 and WinDyn saw as the 0v reference.

This was a nice little refresher course for future troubleshooting.

Overall, I felt the integration was easy and basically trouble free. I think it’s great that we can marry high tech pieces of equipment in such an easy manner. It seems that todays devices are really only limited by ideas not yet born.

Steve Estrada

WR Racing

* some images from Innovate LM2 Manual

Welcome to WR Racing's Blog

WRR — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 07:15:00 GMT

Welcome to my blog. Please check back soon for new entries.

BLOG.WRROADRACE.COM

Programming and integration of the Innovate Motorsports LM-2 Analog input and the SuperFlow AD30

Welcome to WR Racing's Blog