Kanardia Boxi II User manual

Boxi II — Manual
© Kanardia d.o.o.
February 2022
Revision 2.1

Boxi II – Manual
Contact Information
Publisher and producer:
Kanardia d.o.o.
Lopata 24a
SI-3000
Slovenia
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
A lot of useful and recent information can be also found on the Internet. See
http://www.kanardia.eu for more details.
Copyright
This document is published under the Creative Commons, Attribution - Share-
Alike 3.0 Unported licence. The license is available on http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode web page and a bit more human read-
able summary is given on http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/
3.0/. In short, the license gives you right to copy, reproduce and modify this
document if:
 you cite Kanardia d.o.o. as the author of the original work,
 you distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license
to this one.
Credits
This document was written using TeTeX (L
A
T
E
X) based document creation
system using Kile running on Linux operating system. Most of the figures were
drawn using Libre Office Draw and Inkscape applications. Photos and scanned
material was processed using Gimp. All document sources are freely available
on request under the licence mentioned above and can be obtained by email.
Please send requests to [e-mail].
2 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual
Revision History
The following table shows the revision history of this document.
Rev. Date Description
2.0 April 2021 Initial release
2.1 February 2022 Added configuration section,
corrected relay connections.
3 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual CONTENTS
Contents
1 Introduction 6
1.1 General Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2 Technical Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2 Functional Description 6
2.1 ControlLogic............................ 7
2.2 CANBusInterface......................... 7
2.3 AnalogInput ............................ 8
2.4 OutputStage............................ 8
2.4.1 Ptt1andPtt2........................ 8
2.4.2 Trim 1 and Trim 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3 Installation & Maintenance 10
3.1 Mounting Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.2 Maintenance ............................ 10
4 Connections 11
4.1 Power ................................ 11
4.2 CAN................................. 12
4.2.1 BLU............................. 12
4.2.2 Joyu 1 and Joyu 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.3 Ptt1andPtt2........................... 13
4.3.1 One Microphone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.3.2 Two Microphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.3.3 PTT as Auxiliar Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.4 Trim1andTrim2 ......................... 14
4.4.1 High current motor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.5 PositionInput............................ 16
4.5.1 Internal Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.5.2 External Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.5.3 NoReference ........................ 18
4.6 Ray Allen T2/T3 Trim Motor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual CONTENTS
5 Configuration 19
5.1 Overview .............................. 19
5.2 Outputs............................... 20
5.2.1 Pwm............................. 20
5.2.2 Split............................. 20
5.3 Inputs ................................ 21
5.3.1 Edit ............................. 21
5.3.2 Min/Max .......................... 22
5.4 Status ................................ 23
5.5 RayAllen .............................. 23
5.5.1 Input ............................ 23
5.5.2 Output ........................... 23
6 Repair 24
7 Limited Conditions 25
7.1 Warranty .............................. 25
7.2 TSOInformation.......................... 27
5 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual 1. Introduction
1 Introduction
First of all, we would like to thank you for purchasing our device.
This manual describes the technical description of the unit, installation and
operation. There are two hardware versions of Boxi device: Boxi and BoxiII.
This manual is for Boxi II version only. Boxi II units are shipped from May
2021.
1.1 General Description
Boxi is an electrical actuator control box. It allows pilot to control airborne
electrical actuators such as pitch and roll trims, landing gear actuators, flaps,
radio transmission, electronic throttle, etc. with Joyu flight control stick.
Other devices communicate with Boxi device via CAN bus. Boxi listens to
incomming CAN messages and based on their content, controlls its outputs.
Boxi has implemented several fail-safe mechanisms which sets the outputs in
predefined state in case of disrupted CAN communication. Boxi also monitors
the health of all outputs and is able to monitor two external analog inputs.
Due to safety reasons the electronics has implemented two isolated CAN buses:
main CAN bus and Joyu CAN bus. This feature also allows Boxi to be used
as a communication switch between two isolated CAN buses.
Boxi unit is powered over separated power connector. The electronics will
operate correctly even if the main CAN bus is not active or is in error state.
One of the key advantages is the ease of installation. Boxi shall be installed close
to power actuators. This reduces system weight and electrical interferences.
1.2 Technical Specification
Table 1 shows some basic technical specification of Boxi.
2 Functional Description
Boxi electronics consists of: CAN interface, control logic, power output and
analog input. Boxi electronic is isolated from the main CAN bus to eliminate
stray currents between power electronics and main communication bus.
1Electronics only, without outputs.
6 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual 2.1 Control Logic
Description Value
Weight 93 g
Size 100 x 76 x 21 mm
Operational voltage 6 to 36 V
Power consumption 0.45 W 1
Current 36 mA @ 12 V 1
PTT Outputs Solid-State relay, max. 50V/0.5A
Motor Outputs MOSFET full-bridge, max 36V/1.5A
Operating temperature -20 ◦Cto +85 ◦C
Humidity 30 % to 90 %, non condensing
Communication CAN bus, 29 bit header, 500 kbit,
Kanardia protocol
Table 1: Basic technical specifications.
2.1 Control Logic
The heart of the unit is a microprocessor which has two primary functions: for-
warding CAN messages between both CAN buses and controlling the outputs.
It also implements several fail-safe mechanisms which defines output states
in case of disrupted CAN communication or system failure. Control logic is
powered from a separate power supply connector.
Beside controlling the outputs the microprocessor is also monitoring the status
of the outputs. In case of any problem detected it reports the error state to
the main bus.
2.2 CAN Bus Interface
System consists of two isolated CAN interfaces: primary CAN bus and Joyu
CAN bus. All CAN messages from one bus are forwarded to the other bus.
The main purpose of implementing isolated Joyu CAN bus is eliminating CAN
bus topology problems and to minimize the possibility for Joyu CAN bus mal-
function.
Due to the topology used the Boxi and Joyu units will operate even in the case
of severe problems on the main bus, or if there is no device connected to the
main bus at all.
7 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual 2.3 Analog Input
2.3 Analog Input
Analog input consist of two analog inputs and a reference voltage input/output.
It is able to measure voltage from various sensors used for detecting trim and/or
flap position.
Boxi outputs a weak reference voltage to be used with simple resistor divider
sensors (potentiometer). However in the case of voltage divider powered by
external source the reference voltage could be overridden by external reference
voltage. The sensor voltage can therefore depend on internal reference, external
reference or absolute voltage between Vref −and Vin inputs.
Input specifications are listed in table 2
Description Value
Min voltage on any input -3 V
Max voltage on any input 18 V
Reference output 3 V
Reference output resistance 2 kOhm
Input resistance min. 100 kOhm
Table 2: Input characteristics.
2.4 Output Stage
Output stage consists of two pairs of output modules: Ptt and Motor.
2.4.1 Ptt1 and Ptt2
Ptt (Radio) outputs are mostly used to control radio transceiver push-to-talk
input. Output is realized using electrically isolated solid-state relay. Its output
terminals are routed directly to output terminals 1/2 and 3/4 respectively.
Default output state is open (NO, normally open). Press on the PTT button
shorts terminals 1, 2 or 3, 4 respectively.2Table 3 shows basic characteristics
of solid-state relay used.
Beside standard configuration this outputs could be used for any other digital
output function.
2Default configuration.
8 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual 2.4 Output Stage
Description Value
Maximum switch voltage 50 V
Maximum current 0.5 A
Switch resistance 2.5 Ohm
Table 3: PTT output characteristics.
2.4.2 Trim 1 and Trim 2
Motor output stage is used to control DC motors. It consists of MOSFET
switch driver with integrated short-circuit and over-temperature protection. It
also provides open load detection on the output stage.
Output stage can be configured either as two split push-pull outputs or one
full-bridge2with PWM output. Full-bridge (motor) configuration is used for
bidirectional driving of DC-motors (trim actuators, etc.), while the split mode
allows controlling up to two loads (unidirectional motors, lights, relays, etc.).
Table 4 shows characteristics of MOSFET motor driver.
Description Value
Voltage 6 - 36 V
Current 1.5 A (max)
Switch resistance 250 mOhm
PWM frequency 12 kHz
Table 4: Motor driver characteristics.
In the motor mode the PWM switching also is implemented. Therefore it is
possible to configure soft-start or to limit the maximum power of the motor.
The user must configure start and finish PWM duty cycle and time to transit
from start to finish value.
PWM mode works like quick switching the output to on and off. The duty
cycle between on and off state can be changed. This way the power delivered
to the load is reduced. The switching is fast and at fixed frequency.
With change of PWM duty cycle the soft start of motor is realized in Boxi II.
On figure 1 the idea of soft start is presented. On keypress on Joyu the Trim
output starts switching with cycle period. On the first PWM cycle the Start
PWM duty cycle is used. On consecutive cycles the duty cycle is increased until
9 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual 3. Installation & Maintenance
it reaches the Max PWM. The transition time from Start to max is marked as
Time To Max.
On figure 1 the Start PWM is 30%, the Max PWM is 100%.
Time
Key Press
PWM
Cycle
Time To Max
Figure 1: Pwm mode switching description.
3 Installation & Maintenance
The device shall be installed away from:
 Any heat source.
 Radio, transponder, antennas and antenna cables.
When installing it in a location where it will be exposed to fluids or moisture,
it shall be installed in a waterproof enclosure.
3.1 Mounting Dimensions
The device is mounted using four screws type M4. It is highly recommended
that the device is mounted using rubber shocks (rubber washers), which reduce
the vibrations. Figure 2 illustrates mounting dimensions for the device.
3.2 Maintenance
No special maintenance is required.
10 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual 4. Connections
Figure 2: Device mounting dimensions. Note: Figure is not in scale.
4 Connections
Boxi connects different devices together to ease the installation. Figure 3 illus-
trates connection of standard devices to Boxi.
4.1 Power
Boxi shall be connected to the aircraft power supply. Because Boxi controls
essential devices like PTT for the radio it should get a power supply as soon
as the master switch of the aircraft is turned on. In this case it will be able to
control outputs before any other avionics is switched on.
11 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual 4.2 CAN
5
GND
MASTER
TO RADIO
To Nesis
To Next Device
GND
PITCH TRIM
ROLL TRIM
12 11 10 6
9875 4 3 21
Figure 3: Default connection.
Boxi power supply shall be protected with a fuse of a proper rating. The
recommended current rating of the fuse is 5A.
4.2 CAN
Boxi must be connected to primary CAN bus in order to control any supported
Kanardia device via Joyu (refer to Figure 3). Use standard RJ45 ethernet cable
to connect it with other Kanardia devices.
Two identical CAN ports are present on the Boxi device. If the Boxi is the
first or last device on the bus use termination plug on the remaining port.
4.2.1 BLU
If there are no devices present and you want to configure Boxi and Joyu devices
with BLU (Bluetooth CAN interface) you shall use a special RJ45 power cable
for powering the BLU device. The cable connects to one of Boxi CAN ports
12 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual 4.3 Ptt 1 and Ptt 2
and the other end of cable must be connected to aircraft electrical supply (blue
to GND and red to +12 V). This cable shall be used only if BLU is used and
no other device is powering the main CAN bus. The cable also includes the
CAN bus termination resistor.
4.2.2 Joyu 1 and Joyu 2
One or two Joyu units shall be connected to 4-pin RJ connectors. Refer to Fig-
ure 3 for proper connection. Both outputs are short circuit protected. Failure
of one Joyu device does not influence operation of Boxi and other Joyu. If any
problem is detected by the Boxi it is reported to the user.
4.3 Ptt 1 and Ptt 2
Ptt 1 and Ptt 2 are two separated and completely isolated switches. Both +
and - teminals shall be connected. In this section we will explain most common
connections for Ptt outputs.
4.3.1 One Microphone
Ptt output acts as a switch between terminal 1 and 2 of the output connector.
Figure 4 illustrates wiring example for KRT-2 VHF radio. Please refer to your
radio user manual for proper connection. Note: some transceivers requires an
external pull-up resistor on PTT control line (refer to radio user manual).
KRT-2 VHF Transciever
18
915
GND
PTT
-
PTT1
+
7
8
9
10
11
12
1
2
3
4
5
6
VREF
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
PTT2
IN1
IN2
TRIM2
TRIM1
MOTOR INPUT RADIO
Figure 4: Connection example for controlling PTT on KRT-2 VHF radio with
one microphone connected.
13 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual 4.4 Trim 1 and Trim 2
4.3.2 Two Microphones
When two microphones are connected to the radio, the radio must distinguish
between microphone in use. Radio will open microphone for which the button
is pressed and suppressed the other one. So, two switches are needed in Boxi,
Ptt1 and Ptt2.
Figure 5 illustrates wiring example for KRT-2 VHF radio for two microphones.
Please refer to your radio user manual for proper connection. Note: some
transceivers require an external pull-up resistor on PTT control line (refer to
radio user manual).
Figure 5: Connection example for controlling PTT-1 and PTT-2 on KRT-2
VHF radio with two microphones connected.
4.3.3 PTT as Auxiliar Output
Ptt output can also act as auxiliar switch for triggering some external device.
Figure 6 illustrates wiring example for connecting external power relay to Ptt2
output terminals. A1 terminal of power relay is connected to positive battery
lead, A2 is connected to terminal 3 of output connector and terminal 4 of
output connector is connected to negative (GND) battery lead.
In case of inductive loads (relays, small motors) user shall install freewheel-
ing diode in parallel to inductive load. Also please make sure that maximum
voltage and current are not exceeded.
4.4 Trim 1 and Trim 2
Each motor output can be configured either as a bidirectional DC motor driver
or as two independent push-pull drivers. Figure 7a illustrates an example
14 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual 4.4 Trim 1 and Trim 2
GND
A1
A2
VCC
-
PTT1
+
7
8
9
10
11
12
1
2
3
4
5
6
VREF
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
PTT2
IN1
IN2
TRIM2
TRIM1
MOTOR INPUT RADIO
Figure 6: Connection example for controlling external relay.
of connecting DC-motor (trim actuator), figure 7b illustrates an example of
connecting two light bulbs.
M
-
PTT1
+
7
8
9
10
11
12
1
2
3
4
5
6
VREF
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
PTT2
IN1
IN2
TRIM2
TRIM1
MOTOR INPUT RADIO
(a) Bidirectional DC motor.
GND
-
PTT1
+
7
8
9
10
11
12
1
2
3
4
5
6
VREF
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
PTT2
IN1
IN2
TRIM2
TRIM1
MOTOR INPUT RADIO
(b) Two independent loads.
Figure 7: Connection examples for motor output.
The Output stage will output VCC to the selected output pin according to
Boxi configuration. If function Trim X+ is selected then the output Trim X+
will go high and Trim X- will remain low. If function trim X- voltage is selected
output Trim X- will go high and Trim X+ will remain low. This enables user
to use Boxi output for controlling DC motor or it can be used as a two channel
independent driver.
4.4.1 High current motor
Sometimes the power output of Boxi is not adequate to handle big DC motors.
In this case we propose solution with two external relays.
Figure 8 illustrates how to connect one SPST and one DPDT relays (double
pole, double throw) to drive high current DC motor in both directions. This
15 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual 4.5 Position Input
connection guarantees that no shortcut can occur even if both relays are en-
gaged at the same time in the case of Boxi malfunction.
Make sure that relays can handle enough current for motor operation
under full load.
-
PTT1
+
7
8
9
10
11
12
1
2
3
4
5
6
VREF
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
PTT2
IN1
IN2
TRIM2
TRIM1
MOTOR INPUT RADIO
M
GND
R1
R2
VCC
Figure 8: Connection of external relay for driving high current motor.
4.5 Position Input
The Boxi II includes also two analog inputs for position sensors. Most of the
position sensors are simply variable resistors - potentiometers, which work as
a voltage divider. The voltage divider must be connected to a voltage source
which we will refer to as a reference voltage. Boxi is able to handle different
types of connections which will be described in this section.
The connection used must be selected in a way that simplifies the installation.
Please note that Input 1 and Input 2 can be configured in a different way,
however not every possible combination is possible. The reason for this is that
only one Vref input is present.
4.5.1 Internal Reference
This is simplest way of connecting the position sensor to the Boxi. The installer
shall connect three wires from position sensor directly to the Boxi. Please refer
16 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual 4.5 Position Input
to figure 9 for detailed connection example.
-
PTT1
+
7
8
9
10
11
12
1
2
3
4
5
6
VREF
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
PTT2
IN1
IN2
TRIM2
TRIM1
MOTOR INPUT RADIO
min 10 kOhm
Figure 9: Position sensor with internal reference.
However with this connection it is not possible to connect any external position
display to the same sensor.
4.5.2 External Reference
External reference connection is using external voltage applied to the Vref in-
put. Installer shall connect external reference to Vref input and to the position
sensor.
-
PTT1
+
7
8
9
10
11
12
1
2
3
4
5
6
VREF
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
PTT2
IN1
IN2
TRIM2
TRIM1
MOTOR INPUT RADIO
GND
5÷14V
External display
Figure 10: Position sensor with external reference.
This voltage can be stabilised or not. In the case the voltage is stable the please
see next section. In the case of unstablized reference voltage the relative ratio
must be chosen during configuration.
17 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual 4.6 Ray Allen T2/T3 Trim Motor
4.5.3 No Reference
If the voltage on the position sensor is stabilised via some sort of voltage regu-
lator it is not necessary to connect Vref + input. However Vref −must still be
connected. In this way the Boxi measures absolute voltage on input. The user
must define maximum and negative values in volts, rather in relative ratio.
-
PTT1
+
7
8
9
10
11
12
1
2
3
4
5
6
VREF
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
PTT2
IN1
IN2
TRIM2
TRIM1
MOTOR INPUT RADIO
GND
+5V
External display
Optional
Figure 11: Position sensor with stabilised outside voltage source.
4.6 Ray Allen T2/T3 Trim Motor
Ray Allen T2 and T3 servo motors are very popular. These servos behave as
bidirectional DC motors.
In this section we are using color codes from the Ray Allen Installation Instruc-
tions for T2/T3 Trim Systems manual. Please double check that color coding
of your Ray Allen servo matches the coding from the manual.
Do not connect the Ray Allen RS2 rocker switch in parallel to Boxi!
This may create a shortcut and may cause severe damage to the wiring
and the system.
Figure 12 illustrates how to connect a Ray Allen servo as motor 1. Connect
white leads to ports Trim+ and Trim- respectively. The same principles apply
also for connection to motor 2 position.
Test the servo and make sure that it runs in proper direction. If direction is
wrong, white leads shall be reversed. It is also possible to reverse the direction
in software configuration.
18 © Kanardia 2006-2021

Boxi II – Manual 5. Configuration
WHITE
WHITE
Ray Allen
T2/T3
BLUE
ORANGE
GREEN
-
PTT1
+
7
8
9
10
11
12
1
2
3
4
5
6
VREF
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
PTT2
IN1
IN2
TRIM2
TRIM1
MOTOR INPUT RADIO
Figure 12: Connection of Ray Allen T2/T3 servo as Trim 1.
5 Configuration
The Boxi device can be easily configured with any Nesis/Aetos type of device
with at least software version 3.8.5.
5.1 Overview
For Boxi configuration the dialog in Figure 13 is used. With the use of menu
on the left side of the dialog it is possible to configure both Boxi output and
both input channels. On the right side of dialog current state of boxi outputs
and inputs are shown in raw format. Also the power consumption of both Joyu
units can be monitored.
Figure 13: Boxi configuration dialog with status information.
19 © Kanardia 2006-2021