Micro-ROS CAN-FD Embedded Systems ROS2 Teensy Nvidia Jetson
Micro-ROS over CAN-FD: High-Throughput Communication for Robotic Systems
Philip Smith
ROSCon 2024, Odense, Denmark
Presented at ROSCon 2024 in Odense, Denmark. This work demonstrates CAN-FD as a practical transport layer for Micro-ROS, bridging a Teensy 4.0 microcontroller with an Nvidia Jetson over a CAN-FD bus.
Overview
CAN-FD (Controller Area Network with Flexible Data-rate) is widely used in automotive and industrial systems for its reliability and deterministic timing. This presentation shows how it can serve as a high-throughput, low-latency transport for Micro-ROS, making it a strong alternative to serial UART for robotics applications that demand real-time communication between embedded controllers and a Linux host.
Key Points
- CAN-FD supports up to 8 Mbps and frames up to 64 bytes, well-suited for sensor and actuator data
- Demonstrated reliable communication between a Teensy 4.0 (Micro-ROS) and Nvidia Jetson (ROS2)
- Benchmarked throughput and latency against existing Micro-ROS transport options