propCan Controller Web

propCan a low-parts-cost
high speed CAN interface for
the PC. This implementation
uses the FTDI USB to Serial
chip, Parallax Propeller Chip
and the Microchip CAN
Controller parts. Physically
this device is comprised of a
small circuit board, which fits
into a molded housing that is
2-3/4” long by 1-3/4” wide
and ¾” high.

At one end is a DE9P connector (picture above) for connection to the CAN bus and at the
other a USB Mini-B connector (picture below). A standard inexpensive off-the-shelf cable
from USB Type-A to Mini-B is then used to connect propCan to the PC.

The propCan device appears as a Serial
USB device to the operating system.
Therefore, there is no need for special
operating system drivers as Linux and
Windows have built-in support for serial
devices. The serial protocol is patterned
after Lawicel’s CAN232 but is extended so
we can achieve higher system throughput
with less code complexity. This also gives
us the ability to integrate propCan easily
into our existing AMSAT CAN control
software: UHU and CDNC since they both
already work with the Lawicel CAN232 (See
Related Links page).