CAN Bus Hardware Recommendations?

Status
Not open for further replies.
PaulStoffregen

PaulStoffregen

Well-known member
Sometime "soon" I want to work on the FlexCAN library. But other than Teensy and Arduino Due, I don't have any hardware which actually speaks CAN protocol. My car is too old, and also not conveniently sized for use on my workbench.

Can anyone recommend CAN bus hardware that isn't just other microcontrollers, but some actual piece of real hardware that speaks CAN protocol, which I could buy for testing? I'd like to find something that sends messages automatically and also responds to commands. Ideally, it'd be small enough to fit inside a 8 x 4 x 2.5 inch box for storage.
 
Paul, at the moment I have a Microsquirt automotive controller that speaks a proprietary CAN protocol. I'd be more than happy to loan it to you for however long you need.

Here are links to info on the unit and the CAN documentation.

The hardware manual for the unit itself http://www.msextra.com/doc/pdf/html/Microsquirt_Hardware-3.4.pdf/Microsquirt_Hardware-3.4.html

The unit's CAN info http://www.msextra.com/doc/pdf/Megasquirt_CAN_Broadcast.pdf

Mega/Microsquirt's CAN protocol info http://www.msextra.com/doc/pdf/Megasquirt_29bit_CAN_Protocol-2015-01-20.pdf

I was going to use this as a transmission controller, this unit would talk over CAN to the main Megasquirt unit that is managing my engine. I have since decided to use another type of trans controller. So I have this set aside as an additional "I/O" box should I need extra sensors or something.

On Edit: I meant to add, several of you guys helped me set up a simple CAN display using a Teensy, CAN Transceiver talking to this Microsquirt.
 
Last edited:
I would recommend buying a CAN bus analyser. The one I've been using for a few years is the Komodo CAN Duo from Totalphase.
http://www.totalphase.com/products/komodo-canduo/

Apart being an analyser you can also write scripts to output messages.

I'm happy to test the new FlexCAN library when it is available.

Another CAN-Bus interface I've is the PCAN-USB Pro FD from Peak System. This unit also does CAN-FD which might be useful for future products.

Sukkin

www.skpang.co.uk

Teensy CAN project. I use this Teensy to test my PiCAN2 board.
IMG_9953.jpg
 
Last edited:
Paul, would an instrument cluster from a car serve your purpose?
According to this, they can be found for as little as £15 on ebay:

https://www.cantanko.com/rx-8/reverse-engineering-the-rx-8s-instrument-cluster-part-one/

and here is a page full of links with related info:

https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/canbus-how-to-drive-a-mercedes-a-class-w176-cluster.7409/

the more advanced clusters may cross the line from "cheap and cheerful test device" into "major reverse engineering headache" ;)
 
Raymond_B said:
Paul, at the moment I have a Microsquirt automotive controller that speaks a proprietary CAN protocol. I'd be more than happy to loan it to you for however long you need.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I might take you up on that later. First I'll fiddle with board-to-board and the RX8 cluster.
 
PaulStoffregen said:
Thanks. I might take you up on that later. First I'll fiddle with board-to-board and the RX8 cluster.
Click to expand...

OK, no problem.

Now that two CAN ports are available would it be possible to take CAN information in on one port (say the proprietary CAN info from the Megasquirt) and output CAN using another protocol on the other? In that situation the Teensy could basically facilitate communication between two CAN buses that use different protocols.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top