Test bench validation: CAN FD communication for seeding systems
Machines agricoles — bancs d'essai
Validating CAN/CAN FD networks before manufacturing
PCAN-USB Pro FD, PCAN-Explorer 6
The problem
A major agricultural machinery manufacturer was developing a new generation of seed drills with a modular, distributed electronic architecture. Multiple control units, sensors, and actuators communicate over CAN and CAN FD and must interact deterministically to ensure precise seeding operations. Before manufacturing and commissioning the physical machines, the engineering team needed a reliable way to simulate the entire machine network in the lab.
The main challenge: validating CAN communication — particularly message timing, bus load, and interaction between distributed modules and complex I/O functions — early in the development phase. Simulated sensor signals (voltages, temperatures, currents) also had to be injected to test control logic, diagnostics, and error handling. Without a suitable test bench, faults only surfaced late, during integration or in the field — resulting in higher costs and longer commissioning times.
The solution
PEAK's British engineering partner, Control Technologies, designed a complete communication and simulation environment based on CAN interfaces and PEAK analysis software.
1. Interface centrale PCAN-USB Pro FD
The PCAN-USB Pro FD provides the link between the development PC and the seeder's simulated control network. Its two independent CAN FD channels connect to the system's internal network on the test bench. Compatible with both CAN FD and classic CAN, it ensures interoperability with the various modules.
2. Simulation and analysis with PCAN-Explorer 6
The PCAN-Explorer 6 software configures the network, injects simulated signals, and monitors CAN/CAN FD traffic in real time. Engineers can thus simulate the entire machine network before any physical assembly: flows between modules are analyzed, timing constraints verified, and software behavior debugged under reproducible, controlled conditions.
"PEAK tools are essential to our test bench work: they give us reliable CAN communication and make it easier to analyze and debug complex machine networks. They have become the everyday tools of our entire engineering team."
The result
The manufacturer now validates its entire CAN/CAN FD networks before physical integration. Accurate simulation of timing, bus load, and interactions between control units, together with real-time debugging and signal injection, reduces development risk, shortens commissioning, and improves overall machine reliability.
