The Adafruit CAN Pal is a CAN bus transceiver breakout for microcontrollers that have a native CAN peripheral. It converts 3.3V logic-level CAN TX/RX signals to the differential signalling required for the CAN bus. This is a transceiver only — it does not include a CAN controller, so your microcontroller must have built-in CAN support.

Compatible chips with native CAN peripherals include ESP32, ESP32-S2, and ESP32-S3 (Espressif calls this interface TWAI), SAME51, STM32F405, and Teensy 4. Check your board's documentation to confirm CAN support and that the RX/TX pins are accessible.

Key Features

• TJA1051/T3 Transceiver – Supports 3.3V–5V logic for use with modern microcontrollers
• 5V Charge Pump – Generates clean 5V for the transceiver from 3.3V power; no separate 5V supply needed
• 3.5 mm Terminal Block – Quick access to CAN High, CAN Low, and ground
• 120 Ohm Termination – 2× 60 ohm resistors in series with onboard switch for easy activation/removal
• Simple Wiring – Just connect CAN TX, CAN RX, power, and ground

Also Available

• Adafruit CAN Bus BFF – CAN controller + transceiver for QT Py / Xiao (SPI interface, no native CAN needed)
• Adafruit CAN Bus FeatherWing – CAN controller + transceiver for Feather boards (SPI interface, no native CAN needed)

Ideal For

• ESP32-based CAN bus projects using TWAI
• Robotics and sensor networks
• Automotive and industrial CAN interfacing
• Projects using microcontrollers with native CAN peripherals

Package Contents

• 1× Adafruit CAN Pal transceiver (assembled)
• 1× 3.5 mm terminal block
• 1× Header strip