XY Position on CAN bus

The position of the RT3000 is normally expressed in world co-ordinates (Latitude and Longitude). This is awkward for many applications and a metric grid can be much easier to use. Now the RT3000 can output position measurements on a metric grid over the CAN bus.

The new XY CAN messages work by taking an origin location from the user. This is the Latitude and Longitude of the zero position. Then the RT3000 computes the distance from this zero position. The new XY position outputs are computed using a Z-up frame and the X-axis is normally east, the Y-axis is normally north.

A rotation can also be applied to the data so that the X-axis can be in any direction. This helps if your test track is not aligned north/south or east/west. The X-axis can be rotated so that it is along the main straight and the Y-axis then represents a lateral displacement on the straight.

Knowing the XY position is a great help for people testing vehicles. It allows you to compare the routes taken by different tests. Post-mission it can be hard figuring out why one test gave unusual results; position can be a vital clue in solving abnormalities in the data.