CopperHill's PICAN-M Raspberry Pi HAT for Marine Applications

The HAT includes a 3A SMPS power supply and a Qwiic connector, plus compatibility with popular marine applications.

Abhishek Jadhav
4 years agoSensors

Back in 2019, Copperhill Technologies released their PiCAN3 HAT for the Raspberry Pi 4, targeting automotive and industrial automation. Now, the team has launched their latest PICAN-M Raspberry Pi HAT designed specifically for marine applications. Like the PiCAN2 and PiCAN3, the PiCAN-M also retains Microchip’s MCP2515 CAN controller and MCP2562-E/SN CAN interface.

This Raspberry Pi HAT comes with NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000 connections, accessible via a five-way screw terminal and Micro-C connector, respectively. The board can be expanded upon as well through its a Qwiic (I2C) connector, allowing users to add atmospheric sensors and other modules.

The PiCAN-M board integrates an optional 5V 3A SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply) module, which ensures that the board and Raspberry Pi are powered by a 12V DC supply via the NMEA 2000 network. For hardware installation, carefully align the 40-pin connector on the Raspberry Pi.

The board is compatible popular marine applications, including OpenCPN chart plotter and navigation software, OpenMarine's OpenPlotter sailing platform, the Signal K open data format, and CANBoat, a suite of command line-driven programs that work with a boat's NMEA 2000 networks.

Priced at $99, the PiCAN-M is available for pre-order on CopperHill Technologies website, with free shipping within the United States. The board is expected to ship in early February.

Abhishek Jadhav
Abhishek Jadhav is an engineering student, freelance tech writer, RISC-V Ambassador, and leader of the Open Hardware Developer Community.
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