Analogger

Page Last Modified On: October 28, 2021

Analogger Introduction

The Cycle Analogger is our device used to facilitate saving and recording data from a Cycle Analyst for post trip analysis. Every CA since version 2.1 has a serial output stream transmitting the volts, amps, speed etc. at regular intervals. However, this data is not stored onboard the CA, so unless it is captured while you are riding then the full trip details are lost. While it is possible to have a computer or laptop plugged into the CA to record the transmission, this is not very convenient while riding on a bike. The Cycle Analogger was designed as a portable device to take this information stream and save it to a flash memory card, allowing you to log 1000’s of hours of trip data and then transfer it to a computer at your leisure.

Models

There are two versions of Analogger available, a standard and GPS mode. The standard Analogger records only the Cycle Analyst data stream. The GPS Analogger has an onboard GPS receiver as well, and will save your trip position data along with the electrical stats from the CA. Both models also have the ability to save up to two additional analog voltage signals with some extra wiring. The data in all cases is saved as tab separated text files, allowing you to easily preview and analyze the results a text viewer, spreadsheet, or similar application.

Uses

Video Overlay:

There are several 3rd party applications that let you take the Analogger data and use it to generate a dashboard of gauges and readouts in a video overlay. This way you can greatly enhance the appearance of video clips of your ebike adventures. You can choose which data you want the viewer to see and how it is presented, without trying to point the camera downwards to capture the actual CA screen.

Trip Visualization:

The combined CA and GPS data files can be used with our online trip analyzer software to produce and share graphs of your ebike trips, allowing you to visualize how your energy usage varied along the terrain. You can see how different grade hills affect your power usage or regenerative braking current. You can see how many amp-hours are used on different legs of the trip, and with a V3 CA and a torque sensor you can see all your human power and cadence details too.

Battery Analysis:

Another useful application of the analogger involves recording and logging discharge curves of battery packs. A simple XY plot of the battery voltage versus amp-hours is an invaluable tool to quantify and characterize the state of a battery, be it for warranty purposes, initial pack evaluation, life cycle degradation studies etc. Typically for this purpose the battery can be discharged into a resistive load.

Vehicle Performance Modeling

For anyone doing more analytic work in electric vehicle R&D, the 5Hz data mode allows you to capture entire vehicle dynamics and make truly objective comparisons between systems and options. You can see just how many watt-hours are used to get from 0 to XX kph with different levels of acceleration. With an accurate motor model, you can deduce the mechanical output power and extrapolate vehicle parameter models such as CdA and rolling resistance.

 

Documentation and Firmware

The Cycle Analogger User Manual

The Analogger firmware has not changed since 2011, but if you have an earlier device from 2010-2011 that you want to update to the current V12.0 firmware then please download the following update kit and follow the instructions.
Cycle Analogger Firmware Updating Package for Windows
Cycle Analogger Firmware Updating Package for Linux

The Analogger can also be hardware modified by the user (not done at Grin) to transmit the GPS data to be displayed by some select CA3 firmwares. The instruction set is here and the firmware can be obtained by emailing us.

Cycle Analogger GPS Mod Rev1

Where to Order