Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
Can In The Middle
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Vannystick:
So I have a problem, isn't that the way it always starts?

I want to put a car infotainment screen into my car, which came from a higher spec vehicle. Simple enough, the car tells the screen what model of car it is by a message on the CANbus, so my simple aim is to create a module that takes all the CANbus signals in, changes with the single message that needs changing, and push it all into the screen. Oh and pass all the return messages straight back.

Not a complicated project at first, I took an Arduino, couple of cheap can shields, build a 12v regulator, through a bit of code together and it worked. Problem was that a breadboard solution was no good in a car! So it quickly got moved to a bit of perf.



Well probably as a result of watching too much EEVBlog on youtube, I figured I should just make a PCB for it. It was a bit of a hack, created in Fritzing and sent of the JLCPCB. You have no idea how excited I was when it came back. I told my entire world, no one was that bothered. Until I was able to re purpose one at work, over night, and get us some what out of trouble.



Well okay then, but if I want it in the car permanently, but without rewiring the car, it seemed sensible to improve the PCB to remove daughter board and include the matching connector from the screen. This allows the existing harness to plug into the module and a flying lead to carry out to the screen. Simple. But not something Fritzing was going to manage. The only solution, figure out KiCAD. And it really wasn't too hard to do. I followed a youtube instructional video and had everything redrawn in KiCAD in no time at all. Better still, my usual supplier of one off components (RS in the UK) offers compatible models of components that can be imported directly into KiCAD using Library Loader. This really simplified things, and hopefully means I will get 'perfect' boards when they arrive from JLCPCB next week




I'm pretty much winging it off GCSE electronics which I did an incredibly long time ago. Pretty sure, based on the chemicals, schools wouldn't be allowed to make PCBs the way we used to!

Is there anywhere I can go for constructive circuit/PCB design review/appraisal?
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