CANZERO – Arduino MKR Zero-Compatible IoT Node (unsoldered)

The Omzlo CANZERO is an Arduino-compatible board with built-in CANbus networking and designed to be connected to a

NoCAN network

, enabling you to create wired IoT applications for the home and garden.

Please note: You will also need a

PiMaster HAT

to build a network with this node.

The Omzlo CANZERO is designed to act as an independent node in a NoCAN wired network. Each CANZERO node can be programmed independently and communicate with other nodes in the network, creating applications with multiple sensors and actuators spread over a distance of 300 meters (1000 feet) and more.

Build and grow your own NoCAN Network!

If you don’t know what NoCAN is, please check the

presentation here

.

To build a NoCAN network, you will also need a

PiMaster HAT

, a

Raspberry Pi

, a

power supply

and some

cables/wires

(not included with the CANZERO board).

Arduino Compatible

You can use the

Arduino IDE

to build your application and then upload the created firmware to your CANZERO node directly over the network.

The Omzlo CANZERO shares the same mechanical footprint as the

Arduino MKR Zero

, measuring 61.5mm by 25mm (approx. 2.4″ x 1″). As shown in the pinout diagram, it also shares the same double row of 14-pin 2.54mm headers: most shields designed for the Arduino MKR Zero should work on the Omzlo CANZERO.

Two MCUs

At the heart of each CANZERO node is not one but two MCUs:

1. A 48Mhz Atmel SAMD21G18A ARM Cortex M0+ with 256K flash, 32K ram, acting as the main processor.
2. A 48Mhz STM32F042 ARM Cortex M0+, with 32K flash, 6K ram, acting as a CAN bus network driver.

Both MCUs communicate with each other through SPI as well as through two additional GPIOs.

Technical Details

The CANZERO board integrates the following components:

• The main MCU: a SAMD21G18A.
• The network driver MCU: an STM32F042.
• A step-down switching regulator providing 5V (500ma max) from the 6V to 28V DC wired input (MCP16301).
• An LDO taking 5V down to 3.3V (300ma max) for the MCUs and board logic levels (MIC5401-3.3).
• A CAN bus transceiver IC (MCP2562).
• Three LEDs:
  • Red: power status.
  • Green: network or bootloader status.
  • Yellow: user-defined (Arduino).
• Two 14-pin 2.54mm headers: provides digital, analogue and power connections, following the same pinout as the Arduino MKR Zero.
• Two 4-pin pluggable 3.5mm headers provide connection to the network and power (VIN, GND, CAN_L, CAN_H).
• A reverse polarity protection diode and various passives.
• The CANbus network runs by default at 125Kbps.
• The bottom side of the board provides pin names and connection information.

Resources

For more information about the CANZERO and NoCAN, including

schematics

and source code, check out the Omzlo

documentation

and

detailed installation tutorial

.

Package contents

• A fully assembled Arduino-compatible board, except for the 14 pin female headers.
• Two unsoldered 2.54mm 14-pin female headers with long leads.
• Two 4-pin male screw terminal blocks.
• One 2.54mm pitch 40-Pin break-apart male header.

You will need to solder the 14-pin female headers to the board before use. Soldering the headers is easy if you follow the instructions in our

detailed installation tutorial

.