The Autosport Labs ESP32-CAN-X2 is a development board designed to facilitate CAN bus communications for automotive and industrial applications. This device supports up to 40V DC input and offers voltage surge protection.

The ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N8R8 microcontroller powers the board, featuring a dual-core Xtensa LX6 CPU capable of running at up to 240 MHz. The board includes 8MB of flash memory and 8MB of PSRAM.

The board supports dual CAN bus transceivers, with CAN1 using the built-in TWAI controller and CAN2 using the MCP2515 controller. It includes termination jumpers with 120-ohm termination for reliable connections.

The layout is breadboard-friendly, with all IO pins broken out for easy integration into larger projects. A USB-C port supports power, programming, flashing, and JTAG debugging. The board includes a boot button for firmware download, a reset button, a user-controllable LED, and a power LED.

The ESP32-CAN-X2 allows for a variety of applications. It can be used to create a button panel to broadcast messages to a Power Distribution Module (PDM), trigger relays via CAN bus messages with additional support circuitry, control LEDs and indicators based on CAN bus messages, and bridge two CAN bus networks operating at different baud rates.

Additionally, it can collect data from two different CAN bus networks, isolate traffic between CAN networks, and act as a “man-in-the-middle” agent to identify the source of CAN messages, aiding in reverse-engineering efforts.

It also includes an automotive-grade power supply that can handle up to 40V input, providing protection against voltage surges and load dumps common in automotive environments.

A company representative mentioned that full working demo code is provided for Arduino and Circuit Python. More technical information is available on their tutorial pages and through community channels such as Discord.

Further information

The kit includes the ESP32-CAN-X2 development board, a 6-pin JST-PH pigtail for power, ground, and CAN connections, and two 40-pin male headers for breadboard use.

The ESP32-CAN-X2 development board can be obtained for $49.95 on the Autosport Labs website.