Get the CAN Party Started with an Entreé USB-C to CAN Interface
Power CAN devices with Entreé's USB Power Delivery support.
Developing hardware using the CAN protocol prospers because of the large open source community around it. Projects like CANable and candleLight make it accessible to just about everyone. Inventor John Whittington takes that accessibility a step into the modern direction with a USB-C to CAN interface called Entreé.
Look inside any modern vehicle and you can find the Controller Area Network (CAN) in use. CAN's fault tolerance in electrically noisy environments makes it popular outside of the automotive industry. For example, CAN makes communication from sensors deployed in harsh industrial applications possible.
Building on other open source CAN projects, like candleLight, Entreé interfaces CAN devices to computers. Tools for Windows, Linux, and Mac provide the ability to either analyze CAN traffic, interact with the bus, or send messages to devices on the network.
Entreé's difference is support for USB-C and USB-PD. USB-C means a modern USB interface. Whittington used an STUSB4500 from STMicroelectronics for USB-PD control. This chip, which we've covered before, acts as a sink device. Entreé can request up to 20V and 1A from the host and then provide that to connected devices.
There are two connections available for CAN devices. The first uses a Picoblade connector from Molex. Its popularity with the drone community makes finding inexpensive cables easy. The other connector should be familiar to anyone who knows SparkFun or Adafruit boards. It is the JST SM04B those vendors use for their Qwiic and STEMMA ecosystems.
Programming Entreé's firmware is possible by either putting the board into DFU mode or through a TagConnect. TagConnect is a 6-pin in-circuit serial programming header that does not require a dedicated connector. The "probe" touches down to bare pads on the PCB.
KiCad design files, 3D STEP models, and a Linux-VM are available from Entreé's GitHub repository. If you'd like to purchase an assembled board, check out the JBR Engineering Shop on Tindie.