USB-CAN-A
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Overview
Features
- Supports CAN2.0A (standard frame) and CAN2.0B (extended frame)
- Supports CAN communication baud rate range: 5kbps~1Mbps, customizable CAN baud rate
- Supports four working modes: normal mode, loopback mode, silent mode, and silent loopback mode
- Supports multiple CAN data transmission methods: single-frame transmission, multi-frame transmission, manual transmission, timed transmission, and cyclic transmission
- Supports multiple CAN data reception methods: can receive only data with specified IDs, or configure IDs to automatically respond with predefined data
- Supports transmitting and receiving CAN data and save it as TXT or EXCEL text
- Supports CAN bus detection, making it easy to check the CAN bus status
- CAN transmitting and receiving data display is marked with time stamps, which can be displayed sequentially or refreshed
- Supports setting the communication baud rate of the USB virtual COM port (9600 ~ 2000000bps), which is 2000000bps by default
- Supports setting operation parameters via configuration software or serial port commands, capable of saving settings after power off
- Adopts imported STM32 chip solution, stable and reliable communication
- Onboard TVS (Transient Voltage Suppressor) effectively suppresses surge voltage and transient spike voltage in the circuit
- Provides both Chinese and English versions of the upper computer software for Windows, easy to use
- Supports secondary development, only need to process transmitting and receiving commands
Primary Functions
Working with Windows
Install USB Driver
- Download CH341SER driver, double click "CH341SER.EXE" file, and click Install. After the "Driver Installation Successful" message appears, click OK to complete the driver installation:
CAN Configuration Tool User Guide
How to Use CAN Configuration Tool
- This tool does not require installation. Download USB-CAN-A_TOOL_2.12 and unzip it, then open USB-CAN.exe file:
Function Description of Configuration Page
① COM Configure:
After inserting USB to CAN into the computer and installing the driver, the device manager will display a COM port. The upper computer configuration tool can select the corresponding port of the device manager to open or close the port, similar to the serial port debugging assistant. The default communication baud rate is 2000000bps.
Some serial assistants (using low-level hex data) may have a baud rate lower than 2M. If you need to reduce the baud rate, please refer to the following text:
Instructions for changing the COM(232) baud rate:
1. Connect the converter with a USB data cable, and pay attention to how many times the TX and RX indicators flash:
Flash 1 time, the baud rate of the corresponding serial port is 2000000bps Flash 2 time, the baud rate of the corresponding serial port is 1228800bps Flash 3 time, the baud rate of the corresponding serial port is 115200bps Flash 4 time, the baud rate of the corresponding serial port is 38400bps Flash 5 time, the baud rate of the corresponding serial port is 19200bps Flash 6 time, the baud rate of the corresponding serial port is 9600bps
2. Open the software and choose the corresponding COM port and baud rate, then click the Open button. (If the TX and RX indicators flash 1 time when the converter is connected to the USB cable and powered on, we should choose the baud rate of 2,000,000bps)
3. Click the Open button
4. Click the Change Baud Rate button, and a dialog box will pop up. After we select the baud rate we are going to set in the baud rate combo box, click Change; if you do not want to change, click the Cancel button
5. For example, if we want to set the baud rate as 9600bps:
- Set 9600 in the baud rate combo box
- Click Change button, and observe the RX and TX indicators of the converter
- The RX and TX indicators of the converter corresponding to the 9600 baud rate flashes 6 times
- As the baud rate is changed, you need to close the port and open it again after selecting the changed baud rate
6. Click the Close button
7. Set the baud rate as the changed one
8. Click the Open button again
② CAN Configure:
The operating modes include: normal, loopback, silent, and silent loopback modes
- Normal mode: The normal operating mode of CAN can send and receive the data to and from the bus normally
- Loopback mode: The data can be sent to the CAN bus, and give feedback to the internal reception area, and ignoring the actual state of the receiving pin. This mode is for self-testing.
- Silent mode: It can receive data normally, but can only send implicit bits and cannot actually send messages. It is commonly used to analyze CAN bus activity
- Silent loopback mode: This mode is for "hot testing", which is self-testing. It can be tested like the loopback mode but does not affect the CAN bus system
- Frame type: standard frame (CAN2.0A 11-bit ID), extended frame (CAN2.0B 29-bit ID)
- CAN baud rate: You can directly choose the common ones for CAN communication: 1M, 800K, 500K, 400K, 250K, 200K, 125K, 100K, 50K, 20K, 10K, 5K. You can choose one if the above baud rate that can be directly set is different from your CAN device
- Filter ID and Mask ID: Both are hexadecimal data, the lower 11 bits of filter ID and mask ID are valid in a standard frame (range: 0x00000000~0x000007ff), and the lower 29 bits of filter ID and mask ID in the extended frame are valid (range 0x00000000~0x1fffffff)
- Fixed 20-byte transmission and reception: There are 2 conversion protocols inside the CAN converter, one is a communication protocol with adjustable length, and the other is a fixed 20-byte communication protocol. If selected, it will be a fixed 20-byte communication protocol. If not selected, it will be a variable communication protocol. After selection, a dialog box will pop up to customize the baud rate at the top of which is the CAN baud rate calculation formula. Additionally, you can set phase buffer 1, phase buffer 2, and prescaler
- Disable automatic message retransmission: CAN communication is generally automatically retransmitted if the transmission is unsuccessful. If the data is sent cyclically, you can set it to disable the automatic retransmission of the message. Click Set and start CAN communication
③ Send single-frame data field:
The frame format includes data frame and remote frame, the frame ID is hexadecimal data, the frame ID range for the standard frame is 0x00000000~0x000007fff, and the frame ID range for the extended frame is 0x00000000~0x1fffffff. The data sent is also hexadecimal data, the data in the figure are 0x11 0x22 0x33 0x44 0x55 0x66 0x77 0x88. Click the Send a single frame button to send the frame data to the CAN bus
④ Send multi-frame data field:
- Add: A send frame data will be added below the selected line in the multi-frame sending area
- Delete: delete the chosen line
- Clear: clear all the data in the multi-frame sending data area
- Interval time: the interval sending time of two consecutive frames in the multi-frame sending area (milliseconds)
- Send selected frame: Click this button to send a selected line in the multi-frame area for transmission
- Sequence: It will automatically turn to the next frame after clicking Send selected frame
- Cycle: It will send the selected frame in the cycle after clicking Send selected data
- Stop: cancel the command of sending the multiple frames
⑤ Auto Answer field:
- Add: An auto answer data will be added below the selected line in the auto answer area
- Delete: delete the chosen line
- Clear: clear all the data in the auto answer area
- Auto answer: It will automatically reply to the corresponding frame ID and data after receiving the ID
⑥ CAN Bus Status:
Mainly used to check the CAN communication status of the USB to CAN device
⑦ Receive ID Configure:
- Add: An auto answer will be added under the selected line in the Receive ID Configure area
- Delete: the selected line will be deleted
- Enable: After clicking this button, the converter will only upload the ID set in the Receive ID Configure area, and other IDs will not be uploaded to the computer
- Disable: After clicking this button, the converter will upload all ID data to the computer.
⑧ Send and receive data display field:
- Clear: clear all data on the display for sending and receiving data
- Pause: pause to display other data in the send and receive display area
- Continue: continue to display sending and receiving data
- Save: You can save the data in the sending and receiving data buffer in two formats, excel or text
- Display receive only: only the received data can be displayed in the sending and receiving data area
- Auto Refresh: when only the accepted data is displayed, you can choose to automatically refresh. At this time, the data is refreshed in real-time instead of continuously increasing the column display. This function can summarize the ID data summarized by CAN and select any line
Hardware Test
USB-CAN-A Loopback Mode Test
- First, confirm the baud rate. If the TX and RX lights flash momentarily when powered on, that's correct. Please set the module to loopback mode with a default 2M serial port baud rate (the serial port baud rate is fixed on the computer USB side). The CAN rate and function code should be customized (set to the same rate as the external device, for example, if the motor CAN rate is 1Mbps with IDx123, then set the CAN rate to 1Mbps and ID 0x123). Set and start:
- Then click on the Manually Send interface, send the data and accept the same data, the function is OK:
2-CH CAN FD HAT Connection Test
- Connect USB-CAN-A and the 2-CH CAN FD HAT with cables. Connect A-->A and B-->B, and connect the USB port of USB-CAN-A to the computer USB port:
- Open USB-CAN debug tool on the computer and its default baud rate is 2M. Open the corresponding port, select the normal mode, the standard frame and the corresponding rate of the demo is 1Mbps (USB-CAN-A supports up to 1M). Set and boot it. Then, you can see the bidirectional data transmission between 2-CH CAN FD HAT and USB-CAN-A
As shown below:
USB-CAN-B Connection Test
- Connect USB-CAN-A and USB-CAN-B by H-H and L-L with cables. Then, turn on their 120 Ohm resistive switches:
- Enter the USBCAN configuration tool configuration interface -> Confirm the CAN configuration is correct and set it up -> Enter the data information and click Send a single frame; USB-CAN-A sends data and USB-CAN-B receives it, and vice versa, test OK
Working with Linux
Hardware Preparation
- The L and H of the two USB-CAN-A are connected respectively, turn on the 120 ohm resistive switch of the two (the switch is dialed to the side near the green terminal block). Connect the USB ends to the USB ports of the Raspberry Pi. The hardware connection is shown in the following diagram:
- The following commands query and confirm that the Raspberry Pi recognizes the USB-CAN-A and loads the related driver:
lsusb ls /dev
- For some Linux systems that do not automatically load driver descriptors, you can use the following commands to load the driver:
sudo su sudo modprobe option sudo sh -c 'echo "1a86 7523" > /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/option1/new_id'
Demo Test
- Copy the following commands to the terminal of the Raspberry Pi:
wget https://files.waveshare.com/wiki/USB-CAN-A/Demo/USB-CAN-A.zip sudo apt-get install unzip unzip USB-CAN-A.zip cd USB-CAN-A sudo make clean sudo make
- Enter the following commands in the terminal interface:
sudo ./canusb -t -d /dev/ttyUSB0 -s 1000000 -t
- Open another terminal interface and run the following sending command:
sudo ./canusb -d /dev/ttyUSB1 -s 1000000 -t -i 5 -j BEEE
- One USB-CAN-A (ttyUSB0) sends data, and the other USB-CAN-A (ttyUSB1) receives the corresponding data. The effect is as follows:
Resources
Software
- CH341SER driver
- USB-CAN-A_TOOL_1.2 (default 2M serial port baud rate, no need to change)
- USB-CAN-A_TOOL_2.12 (the latest version)
Demo
Documents
FAQ
Software Settings
- Please check the baud rate first. If the TX and RX indicators blink once when it is powered, the default setting is right (the serial port baudrate is 2M).
- Please set the module to loopback mode, 2M serial port baud rate (the baud rate is fixed on the computer USB side), CAN rate customizable (set to the same rate as the external device, for example, if the CAN motor is 1M, set it to 1M), set and start. If sending data receives the same data, it indicates that the function is OK:
- If the above method can not work, you can restore the module to the default factory setting and test:
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In CAN communication, parameters such as CAN rate, ID, and data frame format for different devices (motors, mainboards with onboard CAN) may differ. Therefore, when applying in actual scenarios, it is necessary to strictly refer to the specifications of the corresponding CAN devices for confirmation and configuration. As an example, consider a CAN motor with a default CAN rate of 1Mbps, ID of 141 (hexadecimal), and data frame of 88 00 00 00 00 00 77 88 (8 bytes). If you need to achieve communication through the CAN-Tool tool, follow these steps: first, set the CAN rate to 1Mbps in CAN-Tool; second, configure the receive/send ID to 141; finally, input the example data 88 00 00 00 00 00 77 88 in the data frame editing area. After completing the configuration, you can proceed with the communication test. If the actual device parameters do not match the default values, adjust the configuration according to the specifications to ensure normal communication.
sudo ./canusb -d /dev/ttyUSB1 -s 1000000 -t -i 5 -j BEEE
The following is a description of some of the parameters:
-t: Print TTY/serial traffic debug information on stderr. -d: The device use TTY device. -s: SPEED sets the CAN speed in bps. -b: BAUDRATE sets the TTY/serial baud rate (default: 2000000). -i: ID uses ID (specified as a hexadecimal string) to inject. -j: DATA CAN DATA to be injected (specified as a hexadecimal string). -n: COUNT terminates after a COUNT frame (default: infinite). -g: MS injects sleep gap in MS milliseconds (default: 200 milliseconds). -m: MODE injects load mode (0 = random, 1 = incremental, 2 = fixed).
The sender's frame ID should match the receiver's filter ID; both parties must have matching CAN bus rates, and the default baud rate for the serial port is 2 Mbps.
- Data is sent too fast, the first data has not been successfully sent, and the next one is sent, which will also lead to packet loss; When the data is sent, there happens to be data on the bus, which will lead to packet loss. It is recommended to send data packets at intervals of a certain period of time (recommended >1s) or add appropriate delays to give other devices enough time for packet processing. In cases where the module performance is limited, the rate has an upper limit, and there is a large amount of data that cannot be reduced, the frequency needs to be lowered
- Additionally, it is also related to the distance of communication, the cable, the amount of communication data, and the parameter configuration of external devices. For example, under the same conditions, the shorter the cable, the higher the baud rate that can be achieved
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It's not recommended to alter the baud rate. In 99% of cases, 2M is universally applicable. If you belong to the 1% that needs alteration, please choose the default 2M to change. Since you select the default 2M to change, selecting this should take effect.
If it still doesn't work, reset to the default 2M before making further changes.
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- Different CAN configuration tools, the underlying instructions are different, please use our supporting host computer tool for better support
- You can use the CAN-TOOL SDK source code file of the upper computer tool that integrates corresponding configuration commands here for secondary development of upper computer tools
- Another way is to use the serial port debugging assistant tool to send underlying commands. Note that you should select Fixed 20 Bytes to send and receive as shown in the image:
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Flash 1 time, the baud rate of the corresponding serial port is 2000000bps Flash 2 time, the baud rate of the corresponding serial port is 1228800bps Flash 3 time, the baud rate of the corresponding serial port is 115200bps Flash 4 time, the baud rate of the corresponding serial port is 38400bps Flash 5 time, the baud rate of the corresponding serial port is 19200bps Flash 6 time, the baud rate of the corresponding serial port is 9600bps
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Vehicles meeting the following conditions can be supported:
- Having a standard CAN interface, supporting CAN 2.0 A/B protocol.
- As vehicle interfaces may vary and the protocol can be complex, USB-CAN-A might not be optimally utilized. When communicating, it may be necessary to remove the 120-ohm jumper cap on the USB-CAN-A device. Apart from this consideration, communication is similar to normal devices. As long as the baud rate is consistent, data can be sent and received normally.
- If industrial-grade or vehicle-specific SAE J1939 protocol is required, please use USB-CAN-B instead.
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Yes, it can function as a node on the CAN bus for data transmission and reception. By connecting to a PC or other host system through a USB interface, it uses its integrated CAN controller to communicate with the CAN bus network. This setup allows the host system to access the CAN network via the USB interface, enabling data transmission and reception.
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Not supported. This is a serial port to CAN conversion, loading USB COM port device (ttyUSB0), cannot load can0 device
- USB-CAN-A -> serial port CAN, cost-effective, simplified system architecture, easy to learn or compatible with old devices
- USB-CAN-B USB-CAN-FD/B-> USB2CAN/PCAN-USB, the benchmark for commercial use, industrial lightweight applications
- Raspberry Pi CAN HAT Series - > socket can, for Raspberry Pi programming learning
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It might be an ID blocking issue. Please change the blocked ID to 00000000 to accept any ID data
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Hardware Interfaces
KF2EDG-3P, spacing 3.81mm
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Optional, CAN and RS485 are differential signals. It is recommended to connect to GND in the following situations:
- Long-range communication (>1 meter) —— prevent ground potential difference from interfering with signals.
- Interconnect different power devices——avoid common-mode voltage damage to chips.
- In high-interference environments (such as near industrial areas or motors) — enhance anti-interference capabilities.
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We haven't developed a demo for python yet. You can try to send it with tools such as our conversion definition and serial port debugging assistant. Basically, anyone who has done programming can quickly understand it;
You can directly send the message inside. Try AA C8 23 01 11 22 33 44 55 66 77 88 55
For more details, you can refer to this link.
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Support
Technical Support
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