In my last blog, I explained how CAN and OBD-II let a car’s ECUs talk with each other and how a scan tool listens in. What I skipped over on purpose is the tiny chip that makes any of that possible: the CAN transceiver. Without it, your microcontroller is basically shouting into a wall. This is what a CAN transceiver looks like: CAN Bus transceiver Communication Module Based on SN65HVD230 The Translator Your ESP32 has a CAN controller built in, on ESP32 it’s called TWAI. Tha

When you press the accelerator, how does your dashboard know the speed? How does the engine communicate with the transmission? How does a diagnostic scanner read information from your car? What is ECU? An ECU (Electronic Control Unit) is essentially a small computer responsible for a particular function inside a vehicle. One ECU may manage the engine, another the brakes, another the transmission, while others handle airbags, steering, temperature and more. These ECUs don’t wo