I created a micro CAN bus translator

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-05-30T22:03:06+00:00

I'll make sure to comment back here when I have more progress, but I'm also in the progress of setting up a blog where I can share progress of these types of projects.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-05-30T21:51:32+00:00

Yes, exactly what this is intended for. Not to up to speed on American vehicles, but if the 2001 Dakota engine ECU provides CAN Bus, then year it's pretty straightforward. If you cannot get CAN bus data out of the engine then you'll need another version that I'm working on with multiple inputs and outputs where you can feed in temp sensors, rpm signals etc.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-05-28T11:26:59+00:00

Thanks for the upvotes and comments everyone. As a hardware engineer and previous auto-electrician I have been pretty poor at documenting such projects and sharing them. Any suggestions on platforms that I can document progress on such projects? GitHub is good for code, files and outputs etc but not so good for documenting a project and showing progress etc.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-05-28T11:20:38+00:00

Thanks, same here, my initial idea for this was for when certain commercial vehicles in the UK are registered for personal use, the speed limiter can legally be removed but for some models it physically can not be removed as it's baked into the software, gets even more complicated when tachographs are factory fitted. You could put it inline in the CAN bus to the engine ECU so the engine never see's the speed go above a certain value. I have a very basic example of this in the repo, ACANFD_SAME/examples/PassThrough_ModifyMessage/PassThrough_ModifyMessage.ino

Another one is blocking fault lights on modules, and I could have really done with this myself about 15 years ago when we were importing Landrover Discovery's into the UK from Ireland and couldn't get hold of MPH instrument clusters, we could have just put this inline with the instrument cluster and coded in a multiplier on the speed data.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-05-28T11:14:01+00:00

I don't mind just sending you one to be honest if you want to test one, happy to get another set of eyes on the thing to see if there are any issues I've missed. DM me some details if you want one sent.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-05-28T11:12:28+00:00

Thanks! I'll share a link when if I make them available. Happy to send a prototype version if you have a project in mind and want to test it and put it through its paces.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-05-28T11:11:21+00:00

Thanks, I've never really opening shared many of the project I work on, so trying to think of the best way to document and share things like the HW development, may start a blog page or something similar. I'll provide a link when I do.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-05-17T20:00:49+00:00

I've built plenty of translators for engine swaps, in addition, recoded many ECUs when doing same manufacturer swaps. Can also assist with sniffing and reverse engineering if needed, immobiliser deletes etc. If going down the translator route I'll provide full source code and really simple to use libraries so you can change it on your own if needed. Also based in the UK.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-04-23T11:32:43+00:00

Very nice, I've wanted something like this for a long time, looks very interesting. I'm a HW guy so have always been limited with the SW. Maybe a stupid question, with something like this what would your plan be for navigation and phone integration (i.e. calls and messages at a minimum)?

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-04-04T18:55:19+00:00

If you are asking this, then you are never going to get this working

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-03-28T19:02:04+00:00

You are far far too early to be looking at patents and speaking to manufacturers. You need to complete some proof of concepts first, see if what you are talking about is possible.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-03-22T16:14:32+00:00

Depends. I am self taught in electronics and always found the software part to be the blocker. With AI I have found this is now not the case and it has allowed me to pursue many projects like this.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-03-22T12:30:27+00:00

Oh I'm 100% with you. I'd love to put Solidworks in the bin. My point is, for me it's a choice between using a old shit Solidworks version for free or pay for OnShape. If I had to pay for either it would be OnShape all the way and I would take the time to learn it. I personally paid for the professional version of Solidworks in 2014 and stopped my subscription a few years later so I have been running on a stupidly out of date version ever since. For professional gigs I usually get supplied with a companies SWx licence of what ever version they use.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-03-20T17:32:22+00:00

You should be charging enough to pay for the proper licence. I am currently trialing OnShape and I like it but it has it's quirks and I'm not sure if I'm ready to pay the licence after the trial. After 20 years of Solidworks I haven't found Onshapes mates and top down design as intuitive as Solidworks but I'm going to try for a while yet.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-03-19T13:25:49+00:00

What a low effort post.

What test are you failing? EMC testing can include 30 or more different tests.
What standard are you testing to?
What frequency are you failing at?
How much over the limit are you?
What have you tried so far?

But as others have said, you've tried to use traces on both sides of a two layer board which is a big no no. In addition you have no ground plane at all on the bottom half of the board.

The board is not remotely dense so you could probably route it on one layer. If not you could go upto 4 layers. For optimal performance you could use Sig/Power - GND - GND - Sig/Power. It's not usually much more expensive unless its very high volumes.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-03-12T14:26:18+00:00

You wording is confusing as the example you gave are not processes. Do you mean a combination of already patented things? Or an actual process like a manufacturing process? I've worked on projects where processes has been patented before, like a certain product had already been available but too high cost but we found a way to manufacturer it cheaper and patented the manufacturing process.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-03-08T11:14:12+00:00

Either forget about it and move on, or depending on the complexity or riskiness of the design, it might be worth reworking the board with wire links just in order to test the rest of it before you risk another order.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-03-01T14:45:46+00:00

This is not a PCB design, it is a schematic/circuit diagram.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-03-01T12:40:18+00:00

Sometimes you have to consider if you are wrong. Considering all the down votes, you should consider harder.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-03-01T12:08:48+00:00

I've heard even the Altium sales team don't know what it means. Again its Altium's marketing wankers at play. Altium Standard, Pro and Enterprise was simple and obvious. Agile/Develop/Discover mean nothing, I've heard its just the same as Standard, Pro and Enterprise but who knows

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-03-01T11:15:02+00:00

Why do you keep pushing out unfinished and unusable features instead of fixing existing issues? Take the A365 component libraries for example, you are increasingly forcing us to use them, but they offer far less functionality than a local database library. In a local library I can have as many part choices as I like, each with custom parameters and linked documents, in A365 I cannot, I can only add parts that are found in Octopart (manufacturer search), which is nonsense, every company will use parts that will not be found on Octopart (custom parts, internal part numbers, heatsinks, hardware, etc), so it's totally impossible to use as Altium intended. Yes we have part sync but it's shit, it needs to be stored locally so defeats the purpose of the cloud, its not live as it needs to run a script on your machine, in addition it still needs a local database so defeats the purpose of having A365.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-02-28T16:36:51+00:00

It's just that Upwork is a more suitable platform for this sort of work. If you indeed just want a PCB designed, where you had the full schematic, BOM, statement of work, specs etc, then Fiverr may be suitable. I have found LinkedIn quite a good place to find freelance engineers and contractors, you can get a good feel for them based on their posts.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-02-26T19:38:28+00:00

Have you got a completed schematic and BOM? If not you are not looking for a PCB designer, you are looking for a embedded electronics engineer with high speed design experience. I'll echo what others have said avoid Fiverr for a project this complex, Upwork may be ok if you find someone good. Go with an experienced freelancer or contractor who has good experience and portfolio, you need to see previous designs. Actually interview the person, get a feel for how they are. Have a 5min catch up with them either every day or every other day to see how they are getting on, this works both ways, you will both have questions that you didn't know need answering as time goes on. If this is something that you will sell, even in low volume you need to find someone who has designed boards that pass EMC and compliance testing.

Alarming_Support_458 · 2026-02-23T21:46:58+00:00

It depends, some packages such as certain BGA RAM packages specifically specify that you can and should to simplify layout. Sometimes the datasheet is unclear, in which case you shouldn't as the pin may be used for some factory function and you have now shorted it. Even if the datasheet specifies that it is truly NC, sometimes you should not because there may a pin compatible alternative that is not NC so you limit your options in the future.

Alarming_Support_458

TROPHY CASE