Software is the Real Challenge
Are you using a data logger to develop autonomous vehicles or smart machines? In most cases, the biggest challenge is not the hardware – it’s the real-time data logging software. While data logging providers have mastered the art of providing state-of-the-art data logging hardware systems for developing autonomous vehicles and machines, most offer either no software or software with only limited functionalities.
Software for Data Logging Matters Now More Than Ever
With the world gearing up for the next big innovations in autonomy and automation for both vehicles and machines, sensor fusion is increasingly becoming the central pillar.
Essentially, teams involved in development and testing need to:
- Collect high volumes of synchronized data from different types of sensors.
- Ensure that there is accurate time-stamping of the data for postprocessing and analysis purposes.
- Define and execute complicated triggers to avoid recording irrelevant data and hence wastage of expensive storage space.
- Implement new sensors and scale systems into multiple fleets flexibly.
- Avoid loss of data packets during real-time logging.
Open-source, traditional approaches, or custom-built software rarely meet these demands. This applies even more to user-friendliness, modularity, and speed.
Growing Demand for Turnkey Solutions
Still, we see a growing demand and need for offering turnkey data logging solutions. That is, a complete data logging framework that includes the data logging hardware, the software stack that includes a real-time data logging software, and the corresponding interfaces to sensors and I/O devices.
The demand is motivated by the customers´ need to easily configure their data logging devices and deploy data logging campaigns faster. In addition to reduction of the time needed to deploy data logging campaigns, such solutions reduce the efforts and cost required for data logging.
Easy-To-Use Platform for your Data Logger
RTMaps (Real-Time Multisensor applications) is a powerful low-code software platform for high-performance, synchronized data logging, software development, data replay, and deployment. RTMaps is essentially a real-time data logging software. RTMaps was developed by Intempora, which is now part of dSPACE and is trusted globally in the automotive, agricultural, mining, and robotics industries.
Regardless of the data you are logging from lidar, radar, cameras, GPS, IMU, or CAN/Ethernet buses, RTMaps ensures accurate, real-time logging with minimal configuration.
Figure 2: RTMaps ensures accurate synchronized real-time logging with minimal configuration for lidar, radar, cameras, GPS, IMU, or CAN/Ethernet buses, among others.
RTMaps Enhances the Performance of any Data Logger by Equipping it with:
Lightning-Fast Data Throughput
RTMaps has been engineered to facilitate high-bandwidth and ultra-low latency, enabling logging terabytes of data daily – with no loss of data. This is critical for multisensor data collection for critical applications that involve lidar, radar, and camera, in real time.
Smart-Logging and No-Code Development
The ability to drag, drop, and log in RTMaps is enabled by a powerful graphical user interface with over 600 sensor and I/O devices available out of the box. The user-friendliness is unprecedented and allows for the fast setup of data collection campaigns.
What’s more, users can define triggers that define when data should be recorded, hence increasing efficiency, and reducing the cost of data storage and handling.
Accurate Time-Stamping and Synchronization
RTMaps has accurate time-stamping functionalities. Reliable time-stamping allows for the synchronization of data streams from different sensors, which simplifies the compilation and analysis of data post logging.
Scalability
The software is highly adaptable and supports a wide range of sensors, buses, and easy integration with differing hardware platforms. RTMaps supports 600+ sensors, buses, and I/O devices out of the box and has easy integration to ROS, ROS2, MQTT, DDS, and other tools that are indispensable during data logging.
Cross-Platform Support
There are no limitations in the embedded systems used for data logging. RTMaps supports both x86_64 and ARM-based systems. In addition, there is abstraction from the operating system, regardless of whether it is Linux or Windows.
Figure 3. The user interface of RTMaps. The modular development environment allows for comfortable processing of a large variety of multisensor applications.
Real-World Applications
While RTMaps has been used successfully together with dSPACE data logging hardware, other systems that have relied on RTMaps include:
CEESAR
Based in France, CEESAR has used RTMaps to record millions of kilometres of autonomous driving data.
ALADIN
Over the years, the ALADIN rooftop has relied on RTMaps to achieve high-precision hardware time-stamping and synchronized multisensor logging.
KLAS
KLAS data logger users can now set up their sensor stack with minimal time and effort while achieving write speeds of up to 100 Gbps.
Partner with Us
Whether you are working on a data logging campaign or you are offering your clients a data logging solution, we are ready to partner with you. Reach out to us to discuss the various partnership options that are available to you.
