background image

CANdle U

ser’s Guide                

                                          www.ctr-electronics.com                                                                   1/17/2022 

 

 

Cross The Road Electronics                                                               Page 5                                                                                   1/17/2022 

 

1. Device description 

The CANdle is a CAN-enabled individually addressable LED controller and a 5V high-efficiency DC voltage regulator 
all in one compact device.  
 

1.1. Common Use Cases 

 

This device allows users to: 
 

-

 

Produce light using the 

eight individually addressable onboard LEDs

 - controlled via 

CAN bus

 (Phoenix) or 

WS2812B-compliant pulse-train

.  

Good for dome lamp applications.

 

 

-

 

Control 

external

 

individually addressable LEDs

 via 

CAN bus

 (Phoenix) 

or WS2812B-compliant pulse-train

 

-

 

Power a custom load using a 

5V high-efficiency DC voltage regulator

 up to

 six amperes.

 

Great for Jetson Nano and other popular development boards! 

 

-

 

Measure output current, 5V voltage, and V+ input voltage. 
 

-

 

Enable/disable 5V output programmatically.

 (1)

 

 

-

 

Modulate V+ output for 

single-color LEDs

 

-

 

Daisy-chain multiple CANdles using a single source of power. 
 

Note 1: 

Not available without field-upgrade. 

 

With all these use cases and features, the CANdle will likely find a place in a variety of your LED and voltage control 
applications. 
 

 

Summary of Contents for CANdle

Page 1: ...CANdle User s Guide www ctr electronics com 1 17 2022 Cross The Road Electronics Page 1 1 17 2022 CANdle User s Guide Revision 1 0 Cross The Road Electronics www ctr electronics com ...

Page 2: ...7 Daisy Chain from Single Power Source 14 3 Control Methods 15 3 1 Individually Addressable Control 15 3 1 1 Individually Addressable Control CAN bus 15 3 1 2 Individually Addressable Control WS2812B compliant pulse train 15 3 2 On board LEDs and LED Order 15 3 3 CAN Single Color Control 15 4 Mounting 16 4 1 Using the Spacers 16 4 2 Panel Mounting 17 5 External LED strip types 18 5 1 Testing Recom...

Page 3: ...ics com 1 17 2022 Cross The Road Electronics Page 3 1 17 2022 7 5 Do I need to set the RGB type for the onboard eight LEDs 20 7 6 Can I power my Raspberry Pi or Jetson Nano from the CANdle 20 8 Mechanical Drawings 21 9 Revision History 22 ...

Page 4: ...cumentation possible to ensure successful use of your CTRE products To this end we will continue to improve our publications examples and support to better suit your needs If you have any questions or comments regarding this document or any CTRE product please contact support crosstheroadelectronics com To obtain the most recent version of this document please visit www ctr electronics com ...

Page 5: ... for dome lamp applications Control external individually addressable LEDs via CAN bus Phoenix or WS2812B compliant pulse train Power a custom load using a 5V high efficiency DC voltage regulator up to six amperes Great for Jetson Nano and other popular development boards Measure output current 5V voltage and V input voltage Enable disable 5V output programmatically 1 Modulate V output for single ...

Page 6: ...ltage and Current Measurement High Side PWM control of the V Output Polycarbonate housing prevents debris from entering inside device Electrically isolated heatsink allows for direct mounting to robot frame Auto detection of CAN bus CAN FD Phoenix or WS2812B compliant pulse train No software configuration required to choose between the two Robust bootloader and reliable field upgrade no physical b...

Page 7: ...scharge 30 kV ESD Protection Air Gap Discharge 30 kV 1 5 General specifications Outside Dimensions 2 7 x 1 Weight with wires 1 584 ounces 44 9 grams Supported Communication Protocols CAN 2 0 1Mbps CAN FD when used with CANivore Addressable LED Pulse Train Maximum Operational Temperature 5 A 1 75 C Maximum Operational Temperature 5 A 2 55 C NOTE 1 This is the maximum expected temperature CANdle can...

Page 8: ...f to prevent accidental shorting Red Yellow LED is never off Disabled if firmware determines this is required Hardware is damaged Slow Red Blink Configurable On Note 2 Check CAN Bus health and connection to the CANdle Pixel pulse train connection to the CANdle In this state the output of the CANdle is determined by configuration Rapid Red Blink Off Device has faulted and has disabled outputs to pr...

Page 9: ...Blue 18 AWG 5VOUT Regulated 5V for powering 5V addressable LEDs or 5V development boards Orange 18 AWG VOUT Provides voltage to LEDs that are rated for supply voltage This can be modulated via software A common use case is to power CANdle with 12V lead acid battery and use VOUT to power 12V LEDs Use VOUT to power 12V LED strips Note 3 Do not use VIN to power 12V LED strips Note 3 White 18 AWG DOUT...

Page 10: ...ually Addressable LEDs The output leads must be used to control individually addressable LEDs 5V addressable LEDs must use the 5V rail 12V addressable LEDs must use the Vout rail Ground return must use VOUT Do not connect VIN or VIN to the LED strip The example below demonstrates wiring an external 5V LED strip ...

Page 11: ...ics Page 11 1 17 2022 2 4 Powering a Raspberry Pi CANdle can be used to power custom 5V devices such development boards This allows customers to leverage the power control and monitoring features of CANdle when using a Raspberry Pi subsystem Do not connect VIN or VIN to the load ...

Page 12: ...voltage are also supported with CANdle These LEDs are not individually addressable meaning all LEDs will increase with brightness as the output intensifies For such LEDs connect VOUT and VOUT to the LEDs Do not connect VIN or VIN to the LED strip The LEDs must be rated for the same voltage wired to CANdle via VIN If CANdle is wired to 12V source the LEDs must be able to withstand the same voltage ...

Page 13: ... The previous wiring sections demonstrate control and monitoring via the CAN bus wires However CANdle can also auto detect a WS2812B compliant pulse train from common generators such as the Arduino No software configuration is required by CANdle for this simply wire CANH to the pulse train signal and CANL to the logic ground of the signal generator ...

Page 14: ...1 17 2022 Cross The Road Electronics Page 14 1 17 2022 2 7 Daisy Chain from Single Power Source Additionally a supplemental CANdle can be powered down stream of another CANdle Note that this will increase the current draw of the up stream CANdle ...

Page 15: ...multi LED animations with a single command or direct control each LED manually 3 1 2 Individually Addressable Control WS2812B compliant pulse train Individually addressable LEDs can also be controlled by a WS2812B compliant pulse train Connect the pulse train signal to CANH yellow and connect the signal generator s ground reference to CANL green The CANdle will still provide power to the downstrea...

Page 16: ...thods of mounting two of which are described below 4 1 Using the Spacers The CANdle can be mounted using the provided spacers This allows clearance for the wires to travel out under the heatsink This is a particularly convenient method of mounting the CANdle as it only requires a flat surface to drill holes into and subsequently mount against ...

Page 17: ...com 1 17 2022 Cross The Road Electronics Page 17 1 17 2022 4 2 Panel Mounting CANdle can also be panel mounted This requires milling out a hole so that the front face LED side can be fitted through Refer to Section 8 for mechanical dimensions ...

Page 18: ...econd byte is Green third is Blue fourth is White GRBW First byte is Blue second byte is Red third is Green fourth is White Failure to properly configure the LED type will result in incorrect colors 5 1 Testing Recommendations The primary recommendation is to confirm the LED type by referencing the documentation of the LED strip All LED strips sold by CTR Electronics have such documentation availa...

Page 19: ...s for fast and efficient debugging of your robot platform Configuration changes can be done in the graphical interface quickly before incorporating them into your robot application The Phoenix library also supports the CANdle class allowing for configuration monitoring and control of your CANdle from your robot software Additional software documentation will be available under the Phoenix Framewor...

Page 20: ...nt from the 5VOUT and VOUT rail Note the return current must be sunk through VOUT Typically this is sufficient for 300 GRB LEDs at max brightness Exceeding this may cause LEDs to appear dim or will cause CANdle to fault if current exceeds IMAX Limiting the brightness of the CANdle can be used to reduce the total current draw thus allowing for more LEDs 7 4 Is the CANdle an LED strip or LED control...

Page 21: ...CANdle User s Guide www ctr electronics com 1 17 2022 Cross The Road Electronics Page 21 1 17 2022 8 Mechanical Drawings ...

Page 22: ...CANdle User s Guide www ctr electronics com 1 17 2022 Cross The Road Electronics Page 22 1 17 2022 9 Revision History Revision Date Description 1 0 17 Jan 2022 Initial Creation ...

Reviews: