Application Case] Kvaser helps Estonian team complete the challenge of unmanned vehicle racing with USBcan Pro

Background of the case

Tallinn students combine the expertise of students from Tallinn University of Applied Sciences and Tallinn Polytechnic University to compete in the Formula Student Driverless (DV) category in 2019 and allows teams to be split into two parts, which in turn allows them to participate in two events - DV and Electric Vehicle (EV).

Tauri Tammaru is the Team Leader and Chief Engineer of Team Tallinn's Driverless Vehicle team: “The DV team consists of 11 members. We are a very small team compared to other teams, we are all undergraduates and self-taught in robotics. Our interest in the subject coupled with Estonian stubbornness is what keeps us going!”

Kvaser is sponsoring products in 2018 (Kvaser Leaf Light HS v2) to Team Tallinn's DV team to continue to use on a regular basis: “The Kvaser Leaf Light proved its reliability at the races when our customized CAN interface failed.” The team used its 2018 FEST18 car as the basis for the DV development. While the base car has remained virtually unchanged, the autonomous system components have been replaced several times to make the car lighter and more reliable. kvaser is pleased to be involved in 2022, this time providing the team with the Kvaser USBcan Pro 2xHS v2 CBOur bare board version of the USB to dual channel CAN or CAN FD interface has scripting capabilities.

What did Captain Tammaru say?

Tammaru explained the need for Kvaser USBcan Pro 2xHS v2 CB:

“One of our core problems was the interface between CAN and the computer interface. We developed our own PCB with a CAN IC and used an MCU as the processor, but it didn't work properly with a computer as the processor. Now we have used Kvaser's USBcan Pro 2xHS v2 CBAfter a few months, all interface problems between the computer and the CAN bus have been solved without any lost frames or bus errors.The Kvaser USBcan Pro 2xHS v2 CB connects to our host PC and provides 2 CAN channels. This is great because we can connect to two different CAN buses with different speeds (1 Mbit/s and 500 Kbit/s).”

In addition to becoming an automotive standard, Tammaru testing DV chose CAN for its noise immunity and built-in CRC. with its small size and current isolation.Kvaser USBcan Pro 2xHS v2 CBProvides additional system integration benefits:

這 Kvaser USBcan Pro 2xHS v2 CBQuick and easy to set up and deliver! Simply connect the USB to your computer and the CAN interface will appear on your computer. Since we use Ubuntu to run our software, we chose to configure the CAN interface using the SocketCAN library in combination with a ROS driver that converts raw data into messages using the CAN database.”

In the end, Tammaru's team won the 2022 season in the Czech Republic, Italy and Hungary.

Which Kvaser products does the team use?

USBcan Pro 2xHS v2 CB

  • Bare board version of the dual-channel CAN or CAN FD interface with scripting capabilities
  • Supplied as “bare board”, i.e. without a case, it can be built into any system.
  • The Professional Edition comes with Kvaser TRX, a lightweight development environment that lowers the barriers to getting started with device programming.

Leaf Light HS v2

  • One of the simplest and least expensive ways to connect computers to CAN bus networks
  • USB 2.0 compatible connector and 9-pin D-SUB connector
  • The housing is rugged enough for everyday use, yet small enough to be used in space-constrained applications. Current isolation is standard

This article is reprinted hereKvaser website

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