Erik,

In the original post I tried to include the link to a Jameco serial board that runs at 961kbaud. The link didn't turn out. They are available in 1, 2, 4, and 8 ports. My first thought was to use one of those, however I see this project as an opportunity to use a more standard interface which would be handy for future projects.


J. Guy,

A USB automotive network would certainly be one step closer to the joke of a Microsoft-designed car (crashes every few miles, etc.) The research engine runs in a clean, cool lab on campus so it doesn't have to deal with the issues of real ECU's. I doubt if I could even get USB or ethernet chips that have the full automotive temperature range, unless it was embedded in a microcontroller intended for automotive use.

I plan on using CAN for the controller network. I would prefer to avoid getting an industry-standard CAN-to-whatever interface because then I would have a hard time targetting my ECU for the UT Formula Car. Of course USB wouldn't be any better, but strapping a laptop to the car is always an option ;).

- Lee