For projects involving CAN Interface, CANFDuino is the finest platform available in the market.
In addition to being an Arduino-compatible platform, it can be used for both prototype development and deployment in the field, thanks to its durable Aluminum Enclosure, two DB9 connectors for CAN connections, and an IO terminal block.
CANFDuino can also be used for testing.
It’s a “ready-to-modify” package created for the real world that includes a number of crucial features.
- It has an SD card slot
- dual CAN/CANFD interfaces
- analogue and digital I/O interfaces
- Prototyping area for SMT and through-hole components
- an aluminum enclosure
CANFDunio supports CANFD, the latest CAN-bus standard, which can transmit data at speeds of up to 5 Mbps.
In an enclosure that is ready to be placed on your car or fitted in your autonomous project, it features two native ports with DB9 connections. If you’re searching for a ready-to-go CAN-bus solution that doesn’t involve a lot of hardware assembly, this is the platform you’re looking for.
In the past, open source CAN-bus solutions required many shields, breakout baords, hand wiring, soldering, and the merging of code libraries, etc.
This is no longer the case with CANFDuino.
To ensure the safety of your finished product, you must design and build an enclosure of your own. You don’t need any additional hardware to get started using CANFDuino.
It provides you with a prototyping area, simplifies the inclusion of Arduino IDE software libraries, and comes with a protective case.
Technical Specification / Features of CANFDuino
- Two native (fast) CAN/FD ports based on Microchip ATSAMC21G18A2
- 10x Analogue inputs
- 1x SD card interface
- 14x PWM and up to 24 digital IO
- UART (+1 USB)
- 1x I2C (2wire)
- 1x SPI
- 3 V and 5 V Power Supply
- A metal box with DB9 CAN connectors built in.
- Prototyping area for through-hole and SMT footprints on a slide-out PCB
- Input/output 12-way Screw terminal
What all you can do with CANFDuino?
It is possible to hack and spoof vehicles using CANFDuino without the need for a PC. It can also be used to automate and modify automobiles like lights, bespoke switches, etc. with CAN/FD messaging.
It has no trouble combining ECU data and driving IO using CAN/FD.
It can also be used to record and send data from sensors and the vehicle via actuators, motors, and LEDs.
Inputs to the CAN/FD bus can be analogue, digital, PWM, or both. Outputs can be either CAN/FD inputs or CAN/FD outputs.
The CAN/FD bus can be used for both local and remote telemetry.
So, the possibilities are huge with the platform.
Documentation and Support (GitHub)
Installing and testing CANFDuino support for Arduino IDE—as well as running and testing your first CAN sketch—can be found at GitHub.
- Two-port bus sniffing scripts
- CAN-message gateway
- OBD2 logging to an SD card
- analog-to-CAN
- CAN to PWM scripts, as well as I2C, UART and SPI scripts are all supplied as examples.
From where to buy CANFDuino?
The project is live on crowdfunding portal CrowdSupply, you can directly from there. One CANFDuino will cost you 139$ and Shipping extra ($8 US / $18 Worldwide).
Recently I did a custom embedded project for a company where I built a CAN Datalogger using STM32G474, the product has 3x CAN FD Ports, inbuilt Wi-Fi, SD card for logging and LEDS and Switches for user interface, 2x UARTs for configuration and debug messages.
The biggest trouble I faced was availability of easy to use CAN Platform which can be tweaked for testing the main board which I designed.
The CAN analyzers I have purchased were not flexible or not supposed to do what I wanted them to do for my validation phase.
CANFDuino would have been a good platform had it been known and available at that time.
I hope you found this post useful.
If you have any feedback, you can share in the comments section or you can also contact me directly.
Read more interesting articles on Embedded Systems Design.
If you need help on custom embedded product development, do reach out to me.