CAN Transceiver

CAN Bus MCP2518 Transceiver Node

High-Integrity Industrial Communication Board

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🎯 Project Overview

A robust, two-layer CAN bus transceiver node designed for high-noise industrial environments. Built around the MCP2518, this board facilitates reliable, high-speed differential communication. The project demonstrates a strict adherence to layout guidelines, differential pair routing, and rigorous design rule checking (DRC).

🛠️ Hardware & Design Stack

• Transceiver IC: MCP2518
• Protocol: Controller Area Network (CAN)
• EDA Tool: KiCAD 9.0 (Schematic Capture, PCB Layout, 3D Rendering)
• Manufacturing Prep: Gerber Generation, BOM Management

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⚙️ Design Challenges & Hardware Architecture

1. Custom Footprint Engineering: Discovered a critical discrepancy between the default KiCAD footprint library and the manufacturer's datasheet for the transceiver IC. To prevent solder bridging and assembly failure, I manually cross-referenced the physical dimensions and designed a custom footprint from scratch, validating pad spacing against strict DRC parameters.
2. Differential Pair Routing: CAN High (CANH) and CAN Low (CANL) traces were strictly routed as differential pairs, ensuring matched impedance and minimizing electromagnetic interference (EMI) in noisy industrial settings.
3. Design Validation: Zero errors on both the Electrical Rules Check (ERC) and Design Rules Check (DRC) prior to generating final production files.

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📂 Repository Structure

• hardware/: Core KiCAD 9.0 project files (.kicad_sch, .kicad_pcb, .kicad_pro).
• docs/: High-resolution schematic PDFs, top/bottom layer copper exports, 3D board renders, and DRC/ERC reports.
• manufacturing/: Generated Bill of Materials (BOM) and production-ready Gerber files.
• datasheets/: Component reference documentation.

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Created by Abdullah Ajmal - August 2026