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Open-Source Tool Simplifies CANopen Development and Testing
Developing CANopen devices can be challenging. Engineers must configure object dictionaries, simulate nodes, test communication behavior, and verify compliance with the protocol. Traditionally, this process often requires a combination of expensive commercial tools and custom scripts. A recent article by Michael Fitzmayer (Bucher Automation) in the March 2026 issue of the CAN Newsletter describes an open-source [...]
SAE J1939, CAN Bus, and Embedded Networking — All in One Place
If you work with heavy-duty vehicles, mobile machinery, marine systems, or industrial equipment, chances are you have encountered SAE J1939. Whether you are developing embedded firmware, integrating third-party ECUs, or troubleshooting complex vehicle networks, reliable information and robust tools are essential. That is exactly why we created jcom1939.com. A Dedicated Platform for J1939 Engineering JCOM1939.com was designed as [...]
Teensy 4.1 Triple CAN Bus Board with Ethernet and LCD – High-Performance Multi-CAN IoT Gateway Controller
Modern embedded systems increasingly demand more than a single network interface. Industrial automation, vehicle integration, marine electronics, energy systems, and IoT gateways often require simultaneous access to multiple CAN networks while also maintaining Ethernet connectivity for cloud access, remote diagnostics, or data logging. The Teensy 4.1 Triple CAN Bus Board with integrated 240x240 LCD and [...]
Raspberry Pi and PiCAN-M in Marine NMEA 2000 Systems: Power Supply Considerations
Single-board computers based on the Raspberry Pi have become common building blocks in modern marine electronics. When combined with PiCAN-M, they are frequently used as onboard data gateways for applications such as Signal K and OpenPlotter, translating NMEA 2000 traffic into IP-based data streams, dashboards, and logs. In practice, most field issues reported in these systems [...]
Essential Resources for NMEA 2000 Development with ESP32
This blog post is intended to highlight additional, practical resources that can significantly improve the development workflow for NMEA 2000 devices based on the ESP32 processor. Once the fundamentals of CAN bus and NMEA 2000 are understood, progress often depends on having the right reference material and the right diagnostic tools. The following resources address [...]
NMEA 2000 Explained: A Practical Guide to CAN Bus Marine Networking
Modern marine electronics rely on NMEA 2000, a standardized CAN-based network that allows engines, sensors, displays, navigation systems, and monitoring devices to communicate over a single, shared backbone. Instead of point-to-point wiring, NMEA 2000 uses a robust two-wire CAN bus to distribute data efficiently and reliably across the vessel. While powerful and flexible, this technology [...]
ESP32 NMEA 2000 Sensor Integration: Qwiic I2C Sensors for Marine Applications
The ESP32S3 CAN‑Bus Board with NMEA2000 Connector by Copperhill Technologies is a compact, high-performance development board based on the dual-core ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 microcontroller with integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Designed expressly for embedded and marine applications, it includes 8 MB of PSRAM and 8 MB of flash, a USB-C port for power and programming, RGB status [...]
Why the PiCAN-M with SMPS Cannot Power Raspberry Pi 5 — and the Simple Workaround
The PiCAN-M HAT from Copperhill Technologies is a specialized interface developed exclusively for marine applications and specifically targets NMEA 2000 networks. NMEA 2000 is the standard backbone for modern marine electronics, used to interconnect engines, chart plotters, sensors, and onboard monitoring systems. In its standard version without SMPS, the PiCAN-M HAT is powered directly from [...]
MicroPython on ESP32: Beginner's Guide to Programming, Setup, and IoT Project Basics
MicroPython is a lean re-implementation of Python 3 designed for microcontrollers. It provides an interactive REPL(Read-Evaluate-Print Loop) and supports a large subset of the Python standard library, making embedded programming more accessible to those familiar with Python. In simple terms, MicroPython lets you write Python code to control hardware like the ESP32 without the need [...]
Local Interconnect Network (LIN) in Automotive: A Beginner’s Guide
The Local Interconnect Network (LIN) is a low-cost, low-speed serial bus system used in modern vehicles to communicate between electronic components. It was introduced as a complement to the faster Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, targeting applications where high performance isn’t needed and cost is critical. LIN operates over a single wire (plus ground) at [...]