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Mastering SAE J1939: Real-Time Simulation & Monitoring Made Easy
The SAE J1939 ECU Simulator Board by Copperhill Technologies is a high-performance, low-latency vehicle network adapter designed for SAE J1939 applications. It allows any host device with a USB COM port to monitor SAE J1939 data traffic and communicate with the SAE J1939 vehicle network. The board supports the full SAE J1939 protocol, including J1939/81 [...]
Unlocking the Sea: Popular Applications of NMEA 2000 in Marine Systems
In the world of marine electronics, seamless communication between devices is not a luxury—it’s a necessity. Enter NMEA 2000, a marine data network standard developed by the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA). Based on the Controller Area Network (CAN) protocol, NMEA 2000 provides a plug-and-play system that allows electronic devices to talk to each other [...]
J1708 to J1939 Conversion Made Smarter: The Truth Behind Protocol Gateways
I regularly receive inquiries about converting from SAE J1708/J1587 to SAE J1939. Most often, the goal is to bridge old and new technologies—for example, connecting a modern J1939-based dashboard to a legacy J1708-based diesel engine. There are other scenarios, but this one comes up frequently. The logical next step is to look for a protocol [...]
Error Reporting in SocketCAN with Specific Reference to the MCP2515 CAN Controller
SocketCAN is a set of open-source CAN drivers and a network stack, included in the Linux kernel, which allows CAN devices to be accessed via standard socket APIs. It provides a flexible and extensible framework for CAN communication, diagnostics, and application development. One powerful feature of SocketCAN is error reporting via special CAN frames, which is [...]
Unlocking Vehicle Intelligence: A Practical Guide to CAN and LIN Bus Networks
Modern vehicles contain dozens of electronic control units (ECUs) that must communicate reliably to coordinate engine, transmission, braking, body functions, and more. Two key networking technologies enabling this in-car communication are the Controller Area Network (CAN) and the Local Interconnect Network (LIN). CAN and LIN buses each have distinct architectures and roles: CAN is a [...]
Accelerate Automotive Development with the Teensy 4.0 OBD-II CAN-Bus Simulator
The Teensy 4.0 OBD-II CAN-Bus ECU Simulator by Copperhill Technologies is a compact and powerful tool designed by Copperhill Technologies for automotive diagnostics, embedded development, and CAN bus prototyping. The board comes with a pre-programmed Teensy 4.0 microcontroller and simulates a vehicle’s ECU by generating OBD-II data over the CAN bus, making it highly suitable [...]
CAN Bus Development for Embedded Systems: With and Without an Operating System
The Controller Area Network (CAN) Bus has become an essential communication protocol in automotive, industrial, marine, and robotics applications due to its robustness, efficiency, and real-time capabilities. When it comes to embedded systems, developers have multiple hardware and software platforms to choose from—some with full operating systems (OS), others running bare-metal (without OS). At Copperhill Technologies, [...]
CAN Bus Applications in Automotive, Marine, Robotics, and Industrial Systems Using the PiCAN Series of HATs for Raspberry Pi
The Controller Area Network (CAN Bus) is a resilient, lightweight, and highly efficient communication protocol originally developed by Bosch in the 1980s for automotive systems. Today, CAN Bus has evolved far beyond its automotive roots, extending into marine electronics, robotics, industrial automation, and more. One of the most accessible and flexible ways to prototype or [...]
Exploring the PiCAN Series and SocketCAN: A Powerful Duo for Raspberry Pi CAN Bus Applications
The PiCAN series from Copperhill Technologies brings robust CAN Bus capabilities to Raspberry Pi systems, providing essential tools for automotive, industrial, and robotics projects. These boards are compact, powerful, and compatible with SocketCAN, the standard CAN interface for Linux systems. Whether you’re developing diagnostic tools, data loggers, or real-time communication systems, PiCAN HATs offer a [...]
Exploring the PiCAN2: CAN Bus HAT for Raspberry Pi
The PiCAN2 HAT by Copperhill Technologies is a robust and feature-rich CAN Bus interface board designed for seamless integration with the Raspberry Pi. It opens up exciting opportunities for CAN Bus development in automotive, industrial, and embedded applications. Developed by SK Pang Electronics and distributed by various vendors, the PiCAN2 is popular among professionals and [...]