CAN bus solution for agricultural implements

Stability and reliability are essential features when modernizing “smart” technology. The individual devices within the system must always have guaranteed secure mutual communication, permanent signal reception, and data accuracy. This solution requires the standardization of network protocols to ensure communication compatibility between devices with different interfaces.

Within the automotive/vehicle industry, CAN Bus has become the standard communication protocol; farming tractors alike also implement it. Farm cultivators attached to the tractors require 2 CAN channels to operate, however, their IPC mainboards have no reserved CAN bus interface. Innodisk’s Embedded CAN Bus Expansion board (EMUC-B202-W1) provides a solution to this issue without redesigning the mainboard by facilitating CAN Bus communication through MiniPCIe interface. These modules have successfully been used in farm cultivators across China.

The CAN Bus expansion card used by Innodisk enables the communication between different microcontroller units without the need for a host computer. The signal transmission to the different units and vehicles is done via a single central cable. The dual-port solution is compatible with ARM architecture, Windows and Linux SocketCAN. Innodisk guarantees long-term delivery and offers 3 years warranty. The EMUC-B202-W1 expansion card can withstand harsh environments such as temperature fluctuations, electromagnetic interference, and unstable power supplies, making it suitable for use in agricultural machinery.