PICAN CAN Bus FD Board With Real-Time Clock For Raspberry Pi

The PiCAN FD board adds advanced CAN Bus FD (Flexible Data-Rate) capabilities to the Raspberry Pi 3, making it ideal for industrial, automotive, and embedded networking applications. It is based on the Microchip MCP2517FD, a stand-alone CAN FD controller, combined with the MCP2562FD high-speed CAN transceiver. This hardware solution ensures full compliance with the latest ISO 11898-1:2015 standard.

Developed by Bosch, CAN FD (Flexible Data-Rate) is a significant upgrade to the original CAN 2.0B protocol. It increases the maximum payload from 8 to 64 bytes and supports much higher data rates — up to 8 Mbps during the data phase — enabling faster, more efficient communication for modern automotive and industrial networks. The protocol still retains the robust error handling and deterministic arbitration of classic CAN, while significantly boosting throughput.

The MCP2517FD communicates with the Raspberry Pi via a high-speed SPI interface. Unlike legacy CAN controllers, the MCP2517FD is purpose-built for CAN FD, offering hardware-based bit timing, message filtering, interrupt handling, and extensive buffer support, which reduces CPU overhead and improves system performance.

For added functionality, this board includes the PCF8523 Real-Time Clock (RTC) module with battery backup (CR1220 coin cell, not included). The PCF8523 is an accurate, low-power timekeeper capable of maintaining time in the event of power loss. It supports I²C communication and provides calendar and alarm functions, making it ideal for data logging, time-stamping CAN messages, and other time-critical applications.

Power input flexibility is ensured via a 5V 1A onboard SMPS, which can power the Raspberry Pi through either the DB9 connector or the 4-way screw terminal. This allows integration into environments with alternative power sources or remote installations.

The board supports the SocketCAN driver interface, meaning it appears as a can0 network device in Linux, making development easy using standard C or Python libraries.

Key Features:

• CAN FD Support

  • Arbitration Bit Rate: up to 1 Mbps

  • Data Bit Rate: up to 8 Mbps

  • Mixed CAN 2.0B and CAN FD operation

  • Conforms to ISO 11898-1:2015

• Microchip MCP2517FD CAN FD Controller

  • SPI-based CAN FD controller

  • 32 transmit and receive buffers

  • Advanced interrupt management

  • Time stamping and filtering support

• Microchip MCP2562FD Transceiver

  • High-speed CAN FD transceiver

  • Compatible with 12V and 24V automotive systems

  • ESD protection and high EMI robustness

• PCF8523 Real-Time Clock (RTC)

  • Battery-backed timekeeping (CR1220 coin cell, not included)

  • I²C interface

  • Calendar and alarm features

  • Extremely low power consumption for extended backup time

• Physical and Electrical

  • CAN connection via standard DB9 connector or screw terminal

  • DB9 configurable for OBD-II pinout via solder jumpers

  • 120Ω terminator switch via jumper

  • Optional 5V 1A SMPS powers Raspberry Pi through DB9 or terminal

  • Interrupt line on GPIO25 for message notifications

  • LED indicator for status/debug

  • Compatible with Serial LCD

  • Four mounting holes – Raspberry Pi HAT standard

• Software and Integration

  • Full support via SocketCAN in Linux

  • Easy programming in C or Python

  • Appears as can0 network device

  • Suitable for use with diagnostic tools and OBD-II applications

Whether you're developing a CAN FD-based automotive prototype, industrial automation solution, or data-logging system, the PiCAN FD board offers a comprehensive and reliable solution for modern CAN networks.