CalTool

Calibration, measurement, bus analysis and diagnostics in one tool

CalTool connects to several ECUs over XCP on CAN, CAN FD or Ethernet, or over CCP, and to CAN buses through their DBC files, in one workspace. Calibrate while the ECU runs, log into MDF4, analyse the recording in place, and flash and diagnose the same units — all in one window. An AI assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT can join the same session to analyse logs and help calibrate, with you in control of every change.

Request a licence User guide (PDF)

Calibration, bus analysis, diagnostics and flashing in one tool
Live calibration with the ECU’s working point on the table
DAQ logging into MDF4 with CAN traffic and video, analysed in place
Works with your AI assistant: Claude, ChatGPT and any MCP client

What it is

One workspace for the whole bench

Pages of cards — tables, charts, readouts, plots — laid out for the job: a calibration page for the dyno, a logging page for the road. A workspace saves as one file with the A2L, DBC and image files it uses, so a setup moves between computers intact.

Explorer

Every measurement and characteristic of every device, searched and dragged onto a page.

Cards

Readout lists, calibration tables and plots that snap together, resize and maximise.

Devices

Several ECUs and CAN buses at once, each with its own connection.

All in one

Six tools in one window

A calibration bench usually runs a calibration tool, a bus analyser, a diagnostic tester, a flash tool, a data-analysis package and something to compare calibration files — each with its own licence, its own interface driver and its own file formats. CalTool is all of them, sharing one workspace, one timeline and the same CAN interfaces.

Calibration and measurement

A2L-driven, over XCP on CAN, CAN FD or Ethernet. Tables, curves and maps edited live, with the working point on them.

Bus analyser

Trace, decode, filter and log several CAN and CAN FD buses. Transmit, replay logs and script a rest-bus simulation with counters and E2E checksums.

Diagnostic tester

UDS and KWP2000: fault codes with their texts, data identifiers, routines and actuator tests, security access, memory reads, all described in one readable file per ECU.

Flash tool

Reprogram over XCP or a UDS bootloader, every segment verified before the reset, or hand over to a Vector VX tool.

Data analysis

Plots with cursors and statistics, scripted computed channels, markers, comparison runs, video and GPS on the same timeline. Export to MATLAB or CSV.

Calibration data management

CDFX, DCM and memory images compared side by side, values copied across and patched into the image that gets flashed.

One licence, one install

No separate seats to buy, renew and keep compatible.

One interface, shared

The trace, the tester and the calibration session use the same CAN interface at the same time.

One timeline

ECU measurements, bus traffic, video and markers land in the same MDF4 file, already in sync.

No conversions

What one part produces, the next part reads: a log straight into analysis, an edited calibration straight into the flash.

AI integration

Works with your AI assistant

An AI assistant connects to the CalTool session you have open and works in it with you: it reads the devices, signals, logs and calibration you have loaded, finds events in a recording, writes and tests computed channels, marks its findings on the timeline and opens the plots that show them. With your permission it also proposes calibration changes — and nothing reaches a running ECU until you have confirmed it, old value against new.

Supported assistants

Claude CodeTerminal and VS Code
Claude DesktopBridge included, nothing to install
ChatGPTCustom connector
CursorMCP configuration
VS CodeMCP configuration
Gemini CLIMCP configuration
Any MCP clientOpen standard

The CalTool AI access dialog: the switch, the three permissions, the client picker with its connection text, and the list of the assistant’s requests

You stay in control

Reading is all an assistant may do until you allow more: workspace changes, calibration on the desktop and writes to an online ECU are three separate switches.

Every ECU write confirmed

Changes for a running ECU are shown in a dialog with old and new values and the assistant’s reason. Values outside the A2L limits are refused before you see them.

Nothing hidden

The assistant works in your window, a status-bar chip lights on every request, and every call is listed with what it did or why it was refused.

CalTool speaks the Model Context Protocol (MCP), the open standard AI tools use to connect to applications, so any MCP-capable assistant works. The connection stays on your computer and is protected by a token. Using another AI platform, or your company’s own model? We integrate it on request. Contact us.

What it does

From the first measurement to the flashed calibration

Every screen is CalTool on its built-in simulated ECU, the channel a new user starts on.

Calibrate while the engine runs

Values, curves, maps and arrays as tables, 2D charts or 3D surfaces. Every edit goes straight to the ECU, and its live working point is marked on the table.

Working and reference pages; store the working page to flash
Changed cells marked against the loaded image, and reverted in one click
Step and factor arithmetic, spreadsheet navigation, hex and binary views

Measure and log several units at once

Each signal is assigned to a DAQ raster of its ECU, CAN signals are decoded through their DBC, and everything lands in one recording that streams to disk.

XCP DAQ over CAN, CAN FD or Ethernet, and CCP, timed by the ECU’s own clock
Readouts as numbers, bars and dials, with alarm limits
Passive CAN devices: add a DBC and its signals log like measurements
A lost ECU reconnects into the same recording, the gap marked

Analyse where the data was taken

Stop the recording and every plot, readout and working point follows one cursor through it. Each signal has its own Y axis, a compare cursor shows deltas, minimum, maximum and average, and a second run can be laid over the first.

Computed channels scripted in JavaScript, live or over a saved log
Markers, subplots, X-Y plots and comparison runs on one timeline
Video and GoPro GPS synced to the log, with a map of the track
A browsable log library with editable measurement comments
Opens MDF4, MATLAB and CSV; exports MATLAB and CSV

Keep calibration data under control

Import and export CDFX and DCM files and memory images, and compare any number of calibration files side by side with every differing cell marked. Copy values across and save them into the image that will be flashed.

Intel HEX and Motorola S-record images patched in place
Load a single map or value from any calibration file
CDFX from other tools read and written without loss
Compare exact or as displayed; show only differences or only matches

Two calibration files compared as tables, with the cells that differ highlighted

A complete CAN bus analyser

Trace several interfaces into one timeline, decode every frame with the bus DBC, and see load and error frames per bus. Transmit messages built from DBC signals, single-shot or cyclic, replay recorded logs, and script whole rest-bus simulations. Classic CAN and CAN FD.

Fixed-ID and scrolling views, filters, multiplexed signals decoded
JavaScript scripts react to received frames, gateway and simulate ECUs
Counters and CRC/AUTOSAR E2E checksums filled in on every send
Replay a recorded log onto the bus with its original timing
Logging to MDF4, Vector BLF and text, and conversion between them

A full diagnostic tester

UDS (ISO 14229) and KWP2000 over CAN. Read and clear fault codes, explained from the standard code list and your own manufacturer texts; read data identifiers decoded to physical values; run routines and actuator tests; unlock with the vendor’s seed & key; read memory. Each ECU is described in one readable text file — the same file holds its reflash sequence.

Every common ISO 14229 service as a named step; KWP2000 for older ECUs
Actions that stop and ask the operator before the next step, the session kept alive
Flash over XCP or the UDS bootloader, every segment verified before the reset
Vendor seed & key DLLs, 32- or 64-bit
Hand-off to the Vector VX flash tool where a VX probe is used

The Diagnostics pane connected to the simulated ECU: fault codes with their descriptions and status, data identifiers decoded, and the ECU’s actions

Video and GPS on the log’s timeline

A dash-cam, a GoPro or a camera on the PC is recorded with the measurements, or added afterwards and synced. The plot cursor drives the video and the map: scrub through a drive and see the road, the position and every signal at the same moment.

GoPro control, with its GPS, accelerometer and gyro as signals
Map card from any latitude/longitude pair; click the track to jump there
Videos saved with the MDF4 log, in sync when it is reopened
Maps kept for offline use at the test track

Dash-cam footage: Gnangarra, CC BY 2.5 AU, via Wikimedia Commons. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

A drive log with its dash-cam video and GPS track: speed, engine speed, throttle and lateral acceleration at the plot cursor, the video frame and the position on the map at the same moment

Integration

Your ECU, your protocol

CalTool is built on the open standards, but real benches are not only standards. If your ECUs speak a proprietary or legacy protocol — a vendor calibration protocol, a manufacturer’s diagnostic dialect, another bus or interface — we integrate it into CalTool to your needs, so those units are calibrated, logged and diagnosed in the same workspace as the rest.

Talk to us about your ECU

Screens

The whole window

The panes as they appear on a bench, each with the demo ECU online. Click to enlarge.

CalTool on a calibration page — Calibration page: map, curve, 3D array, and live readouts as a dial and bars with alarm limits

CalTool on a logging page — Logging page: a recording with pinned axes and both cursors, the curve and readouts at the cursor

CalTool with a drive log, its video and its GPS track — Video and GPS: a drive log, its dash-cam video and the route on a map, all at the plot cursor. Footage: Gnangarra, CC BY 2.5 AU, Wikimedia Commons; map © OpenStreetMap contributors

CalTool comparing two runs — Two runs on one timeline: the second drawn dashed, its values and differences in the legend

The CalTool CAN trace — Bus analyser: one row per message, a message decoded to its signals, and a DBC message sent cyclically

The CalTool CAN trace with two buses and a script — Rest-bus simulation: two buses, with a gateway script translating messages from one to the other

The CalTool Diagnostics pane — Diagnostic tester: fault codes with their texts, data identifiers decoded, and the ECU’s routines

The CalTool Logs pane — Log library: a folder of recordings with their measurement comments, sortable and filterable

Licensing

Included with Altech hardware, available on its own

With an Altech control unit

Every Altech unit ships with its A2L file and XCP slave, and a CalTool licence is included.

Standalone licence

For any ECU with an XCP or CCP slave and an A2L file. Licensed per computer for a fixed period, and moved between computers by releasing and re-activating the key.

Trial licence

Try CalTool on your own ECU before buying. Ask for a time-limited trial key and run it on your bench with your A2L and CAN interface.

Customer adaptations

A proprietary or legacy ECU protocol, a bus or interface we do not support yet, your own AI platform, a feature your bench relies on: we integrate it on request.

CalTool is a product of its own: a standalone licence runs against any ECU with an XCP or CCP slave and an A2L file. Contact us for a licence, a trial key or an adaptation.

Formats and protocols

ASAM MCD-2 MC (A2L)
ASAM MCD-1 XCP on CAN, CAN FD and Ethernet
ASAM MCD-1 CCP 2.1
ASAM MDF4, including bus logging
ASAM CDF (.cdfx) and DAMOS DCM
Intel HEX and Motorola S-record
Vector DBC and BLF
ETAS .lab label lists and .ee experiments
ISO 14229 UDS and ISO 14230 KWP2000 over ISO 15765
AUTOSAR E2E profiles 1, 2, 5 and 11
MATLAB .mat and CSV
Model Context Protocol (MCP) for AI assistants

System requirements

Requirements

Operating system: Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
CAN interface: Vector, Kvaser or PEAK with the vendor driver, classic CAN or CAN FD. Not needed for XCP on Ethernet or log analysis.
Ethernet: XCP on TCP or UDP, including Vector VX1000 hardware.
Licence: Internet to activate, and once every 30 days after that. Everything else works offline.

Downloads

CalTool User GuidePDF · 8 MB · Rev 00.06

Get in touch

Want to try CalTool on your ECU?

Request a trial