Microchip dsPIC33CK256MP502 CAN FD Demo Board

The Microchip dsPIC33CK256MP502 CAN FD Demo Board is a compact development platform for experimenting with and developing CAN FD applications. The board combines Microchip’s dsPIC33CK256MP502 Digital Signal Controller (DSC) with an onboard CAN FD transceiver, allowing it to connect directly to a CAN/CAN FD network. It operates from an 8–24 V supply with reverse-polarity protection and is supplied with demonstration firmware configured for 500 kbit/s nominal arbitration and 2 Mbit/s CAN FD data rates. Additional board features include an RGB status LED, selectable 3.3 V/5 V UART interface, and an I²C/QWIIC connector.

At the heart of the board is the Microchip dsPIC33CK256MP502, a 100 MHz single-core digital signal controller with 256 KB Flash memory and 24 KB RAM. The dsPIC33C architecture combines conventional microcontroller functionality with a DSP engine intended for computationally demanding real-time applications. This makes the device suitable not only for CAN FD communications but also for applications involving real-time control, signal processing, sensor interfacing, motor control, and digital power conversion.

Of particular interest for CAN FD development is the dsPIC33CK256MP502's integrated CAN FD controller. It supports ISO 11898-1:2015, CAN 2.0B and CAN FD operation, with nominal arbitration rates up to 1 Mbit/s and CAN FD data rates up to 8 Mbit/s. CAN FD extends Classical CAN by increasing the maximum payload from 8 to 64 data bytes and permitting a higher bit rate during the data portion of a frame. The controller also provides configurable transmit/receive FIFOs, a transmit queue, transmit event FIFO with timestamps, message filtering, and programmable retransmission behavior, giving developers considerable flexibility when implementing CAN and CAN FD nodes.

The board is supplied with an MPLAB X project using Microchip MCC Melody, providing a practical starting point for modifying the demonstration firmware and developing custom CAN FD applications; an optional bootloader is also available. Together with the onboard CAN FD physical interface, this makes the board useful for prototyping CAN FD nodes, experimenting with CAN FD frame handling and higher data rates, developing embedded CAN FD devices, or evaluating the dsPIC33CK platform before designing custom hardware.

The board also includes an I²C / Qwiic connector, providing a convenient way to expand a CAN FD development project with external peripherals. Qwiic uses the standard I²C bus together with a polarized 4-pin connector carrying 3.3 V, ground, SDA, and SCL. This allows compatible sensors, displays, memory devices, I/O expanders, and other I²C peripherals to be connected without soldering or individual jumper wires. For CAN FD development, this is particularly useful when creating a prototype node that acquires information from an external sensor or peripheral, processes it with the dsPIC33CK256MP502, and then transmits the resulting data over the CAN FD network. Multiple I²C devices can also share the same bus, subject to normal I²C addressing and electrical requirements.