New Dana M670 ECU cuts development costs and provides ideal niche production platform
Dana is today launching its innovative new M670 rapid prototyping engine control unit (ECU) at Engine Expo 2015, Messe Stuttgart. The unit is a significant step forward, allowing customization of production level hardware accelerating speed to market for mainstream automotive development – while also providing a robust platform for niche volume production projects from specialty vehicles to large engines and off-highway equipment.
The latest in Dana’s OpenECU® family of rapid prototyping ECUs, the M670 breaks new ground in functionality, robustness, customization and performance, providing an ideal architecture for OEMs to develop the next generation of advanced engines and vehicles.
“We have designed the new M670 with the customer firmly in mind,” explains Dana CEO Walter Lucking. “This product builds upon and extends our well-proven OpenECU architecture of modular, reusable ECU rapid prototyping technology; it is implemented to production standards and ‘open’ to custom configuration, adaptation and application-specific development. We believe that it represents perhaps one of the most cost-effective and versatile single box platforms available for the development of the next generation of ultra-fuel efficient and low emissions diesel, gasoline, and alternative fuel engines.”
The new Dana M670 provides extreme power as well as versatility. In its standard configuration with its advanced Freescale microprocessor, it supports engines of up to eight cylinders and provides 120w of internal boost power for fuel injectors, accommodating multiple overlapping injections per stroke. A total of 96 of 154 I/O circuits can be modified to meet specific vehicle application requirements and the unit’s smart software is fully adjustable to control a wide range of injectors for maximum flexibility.
An integrated tool-chain
The new M670 forms part of an integrated tool-chain from concept to production. As with all Dana OpenECU products, it provides a mature and truly open application-independent Simulink® development environment to streamline the development process for production ECU code. Customers are therefore able to progress more quickly to a production solution, saving product development time and cost.
It can be used with a wide range of industry-standard calibration tools including ATI Vision, ETAS INCA and Vector CANape via CCP – as well as Dana’s own calibration tool, Pi Snoop.
Robustness and flexibility
Like all members of the OpenECU product family, the M670 has been engineered for flexibility and robustness, suitable for use in the under-hood environment. This robustness together with its large amount of customizable I/O enables the M670 to be reused across successive vehicle product development projects, saving considerable cost in prototype hardware. Similarly, for niche or low volume (<10,000) vehicle applications, it can be customized for production use as an alternative to more costly bespoke ECU development.
“The M670 fits seamlessly into the toolchain for ECU development from concept to production,” continues Lucking. “Customers wishing to use this in their own development projects will find it integrates well with a wide range of industry leading development and calibration tools, as well as those available from Dana. For those requiring a truly off-the-shelf solution or requiring additional calibration support, we can offer a comprehensive development service alongside hardware supply. For low volume applications, the new M670 product offers a unique capability to be customized and adapted for production use. Given its extensive customizable I/O, we believe there will be many applications where the functions of multiple electronics boxes will be combined into one M670.”
Ends
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Notes to editors
Dana is a world leader in the development and manufacture of electronics for the automotive, transportation, military and industrial markets. Using its OpenECU® platform, the same proven, robust, reliable and reusable ECU hardware can be applied in successive rapid prototyping development projects and fleet trials, or in niche production vehicles. Because all OpenECU modules are designed and manufactured by Dana, the company can meet individual customer’s needs by creating custom variants from prototyping to production applications. For more information visit: openecu.com/.
Media contact:
Anthony Smith
Tel: +44 (0)1273 382 710
E-mail: avsmith@mediatechnical.com
Twitter: @MediaTechnical
Dana business contacts:
EngineExpo 2015, Messe Stuttgart, June 16-18, visit us at booth No.3020
Alternatively contact one of the regional business development contacts:
China
Nicky Zhao – Sales Manager
Dana China Office/ Michigan China Center
Suite A409, Tomorrow Square,
No. 399 West Nanjing Road
Shanghai, China 200003
Telephone: +86 (138)1866 9070
Email: Nicky.Zhao@openecu.com
United Kingdom
Tom Robinson – Business Development Director
Dana Ltd
Suite 1, The Old Granary
Westwick, Oakington, Cambridge
CB24 3AR
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)1223 441 434
Email: Tom.Robinson@openecu.com
United States
Dwight Hansell – VP Business Development
Dana LLC
47023 W. Five Mile Road
Plymouth, MI 48170-3765
United States of America
Telephone: +1 734 656 0140
Email: Dwight.Hansell@openecu.com
ABOUT Dana
Dana LLC has been in the United States since 1990. The OpenECU product family (Model-Based development Software Platform) is Dana’s signature product family and by 2019 there were more than 40,000 OpenECU based ECUs on the road in production vehicle applications.
Information about Dana and its products in the USA is available to journalists online at https://openecu.com.
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