Modern vehicles generate enormous amounts of data. Engine parameters, fuel consumption, battery status, vehicle speed, GPS location, driver behavior, and diagnostic information all play a role in today’s connected transportation systems.

The challenge is not collecting the data—it is collecting the right data reliably, even when GPS signals disappear.

That is where the PiCAN FD with GPS/GNSS u-blox NEO-M8U Untethered Dead Reckoning board for Raspberry Pi shines. By combining CAN FD connectivity with advanced GNSS positioning and dead-reckoning technology, it provides a powerful platform for telematics, fleet management, autonomous systems, data logging, and vehicle analytics applications.

More Than Just a CAN Interface

At first glance, the board appears to be a CAN FD interface for the Raspberry Pi. However, it is much more than that.

The board combines:

• CAN FD and Classical CAN communication
• High-performance Microchip MCP2518FD CAN controller
• Integrated u-blox NEO-M8U GNSS receiver
• Multi-constellation satellite support
• Built-in accelerometer and gyroscope sensors
• Untethered Dead Reckoning (UDR) technology
• SocketCAN compatibility under Linux
• C and Python programming support
• Raspberry Pi HAT compatibility

The result is a compact platform capable of simultaneously collecting vehicle network data and highly accurate positioning information.

Why Traditional GPS Is Not Enough

Anyone who has used a GPS receiver knows the limitations.

Position information is usually excellent in open areas, but performance deteriorates when vehicles enter:

• Parking garages
• Tunnels
• Urban canyons
• Dense city centers
• Industrial facilities
• Covered loading areas

Traditional GPS receivers often lose their position completely under such conditions.

The u-blox NEO-M8U addresses this problem using Untethered Dead Reckoning (UDR), a technology that combines GNSS data with onboard inertial sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes. When satellite reception becomes unavailable, the receiver continues estimating vehicle position using motion data.

For telematics applications, this means fewer gaps in tracking data and significantly improved route accuracy.

Application #1: Fleet Management Systems

Fleet operators depend on accurate vehicle location information.

A Raspberry Pi equipped with the PiCAN FD GPS board can simultaneously:

• Monitor vehicle position
• Collect fuel consumption data
• Record engine hours
• Capture driver behavior
• Monitor fault codes
• Track route efficiency

Because the board can access CAN and CAN FD networks directly, valuable operational data can be combined with location information in a single system.

Examples include:

• Truck fleets
• Municipal vehicles
• Delivery vans
• Construction equipment
• Utility service vehicles
• Agricultural machinery

The integrated dead-reckoning capability helps maintain location awareness even when vehicles enter tunnels, parking structures, or dense urban environments. 

Application #2: Usage-Based Insurance (UBI)

Insurance companies increasingly rely on driving behavior analytics.

A vehicle monitoring system based on Raspberry Pi and PiCAN FD can collect:

• Vehicle speed
• Acceleration events
• Harsh braking events
• Cornering behavior
• Trip duration
• Distance traveled

The NEO-M8U’s integrated motion sensors provide additional information that can be used to identify aggressive driving patterns and accident-related events. Similar use cases have been highlighted as key applications for dead-reckoning technology.

Application #3: Commercial Vehicle Telematics

Heavy-duty vehicles already contain a wealth of information on their CAN networks.

For SAE J1939 applications, developers can access data such as:

• Engine speed
• Vehicle speed
• Fuel rate
• Engine temperatures
• Engine load
• Diagnostic trouble codes
• Aftertreatment data

Combining these parameters with accurate GNSS positioning creates a powerful telematics platform suitable for:

• Fleet optimization
• Fuel-efficiency studies
• Driver performance monitoring
• Predictive maintenance
• Regulatory reporting

The Raspberry Pi provides sufficient computing power to analyze and upload this information in real time.

Application #4: Vehicle Data Loggers

Engineers often need to record vehicle data during development and testing.

The PiCAN FD GPS board allows simultaneous recording of:

• CAN traffic
• CAN FD traffic
• GPS coordinates
• Vehicle movement
• Time synchronization information

Potential users include:

• Automotive engineers
• Off-highway vehicle developers
• Agricultural equipment manufacturers
• Research institutions
• University engineering programs

With SocketCAN support, developers can immediately leverage existing Linux tools and software libraries.

Application #5: Road Pricing and Mileage Tracking

Several transportation systems rely on precise distance measurements and vehicle tracking.

Applications include:

• Road-use charging
• Tolling systems
• Commercial mileage reporting
• Fleet billing
• Vehicle utilization monitoring

Dead-reckoning technology helps maintain route continuity where GPS coverage would normally be interrupted. In fact, road-pricing applications are specifically identified as a key benefit of UDR technology.

Application #6: Smart Agriculture

Modern agricultural equipment increasingly relies on CAN-based communication.

A Raspberry Pi equipped with this board can become the heart of:

• Tractor monitoring systems
• Sprayer controllers
• Harvesting data collection
• Equipment utilization tracking
• Remote fleet monitoring

The ability to combine vehicle-network data with precise location information opens opportunities for precision farming applications.

Application #7: Emergency and Service Vehicles

Location accuracy becomes critically important for:

• Ambulances
• Fire departments
• Police vehicles
• Utility repair fleets
• Roadside assistance vehicles

When operating in cities, parking garages, or other GPS-challenged environments, dead-reckoning technology helps maintain continuous positioning information. Similar deployments have already been identified for emergency-service applications.

Application #8: Autonomous and Robotics Platforms

Although the NEO-M8U is optimized for motor vehicles, the combination of:

• GNSS positioning
• Inertial sensors
• CAN FD communication
• Raspberry Pi processing power

creates an attractive development platform for robotics and autonomous vehicle research.

Developers can use CAN FD to communicate with motor controllers, sensors, and other intelligent devices while simultaneously maintaining accurate positioning information.

Easy Development with Linux and Raspberry Pi

One of the board’s strongest advantages is simplicity.

The CAN interface appears as a standard SocketCAN device under Linux, allowing developers to immediately use:

• Python
• C/C++
• Node-RED
• ROS
• MQTT
• Cloud platforms
• Existing Linux CAN utilities

This significantly shortens development time compared to building a custom hardware platform from scratch.

The Bottom Line

The PiCAN FD with GPS/GNSS u-blox NEO-M8U is much more than a CAN FD interface. It is a complete vehicle-data acquisition and positioning platform that combines CAN networking, GNSS navigation, inertial sensing, and Raspberry Pi computing power into a single compact solution.

Whether you are developing a fleet-management platform, telematics gateway, usage-based insurance device, vehicle data logger, agricultural monitoring system, or smart transportation application, this board provides the building blocks needed to transform raw vehicle data into actionable information.

In an industry where knowing both what the vehicle is doing and where it is doing it is becoming increasingly important, the combination of CAN FD and untethered dead reckoning creates opportunities that extend far beyond traditional GPS tracking.

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