Learning CAN bus communication with a remote laboratory

Abstract

CAN bus is a very important communications protocol. Its usage is extended to many applications and it is key to know some fundamentals in an introductory course to industrial communications. A collaborative experience between the Public University of Navarra has permitted students of Industrial Technologies Engineering and Electrical and Electronic Engineering to access a remote laboratory where they can progress in the development of a project where they must implement a CAN bus client and server for monitoring the parameters of a vehicle. More than twenty parameters can be monitored and the remote laboratory is 24 hours a day accessible, which permits students to work at home and progress more in the multiprotocol project they develop at the university. The interface and some code examples are shown, along with some statistics that demonstrate the utilization of the tool by the students with the aid of some evaluation measurements taken by the lecturer. Finally, a survey was performed to the students in order to understand better the potential of the remote laboratory assisted teaching as well as to know where to improve it in the next future.