Copperhill Technologies currently develops their  JCOM.CAN.QUAD product, a galvanically isolated four-channel CAN-to-USB gateway board. More precisely, two of the interfaces support Classical CAN, while another two operate as CAN FD (Flexible Data Rate) ports. 

The board comes with two UART ports, which allow the use of external LIN Bus breakout boards, such as our Isolated LIN Bus Breakout Board. In addition, we will be able to support RS 232, RS 485, and RS 422, should the need arise.

In support of maximum flexibility, the gateway is based on a modular design, containing the mainboard, one or two CAN Bus daughterboards, and one or two CAN FD daughterboards.

A 16 MB flash memory will be used to store communication parameters and firmware features for stand-alone applications, such as a CAN-to-CAN or CAN-to-CAN FD bridges. All in all, the list of possible applications is long:

• Dual CAN to USB Gateway
• Dual CAN FD to USB Gateway
• Quad CAN to USB Gateway (2 x CAN plus 2 x CAN FD)
• CAN to LIN Bus Gateway
• CAN Bridge (Connecting two CAN Bus networks)
• CAN to CAN FD Converter

Add to all these the RS232, RS485, RS422 capabilities as well as integration of an SAE J1939 protocol stack.

Raspberry Pi Application

The JCOM.CAN.QUAD board is suitable for any embedded system or PC (Windows, Linux) that supports a USB interface. However, we added mounting holes for the Raspberry Pi if only for mechanical compatibility, while the electrical connection is per USB port. 

The QUAD board comes with an onboard real-time clock (RTC), and we will provide code for the RPi to access the RTC information.

The board can be powered via an external 7- 36 VDC unregulated source. Power is supplied to the board via a 2-position screw header. The onboard power supply is capable of powering the entire system, including the Raspberry Pi.

As soon as the onboard firmware development is finished, we will continue with a programming interface for Linux.

Note: It is possible to add more QUAD boards. In case of the Raspberry, the system can support up to sixteen CAN Bus channels without the need for an additional USB hub.

Targeted release date of the QUAD board is spring of 2021. For further information, please feel free to contact us.

Raspberry Pi 3 B+ System With Dual Isolated CAN Bus Interface

Our Raspberry Pi 3 System With CAN Bus Interface (PiCAN2) comes with a pre-installed Raspbian operating system.  

The PiCAN2 DUO ISO board provides two independent isolated CAN-Bus channels for the Raspberry Pi. It uses the Microchip MCP2515 CAN controller in combination with the Texas Instruments ISO1050 isolated CAN transceiver. Connections are made via 4 way screw terminal plugs.

There is an easy-to-install SocketCAN driver, and programming can be accomplished in C or Python.

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