CAN Bus Utilization Tool

Estimate the theoretical CAN FD bus load for a group of PULSAR actuators. Adjust the controls to see how actuator count, feedback, command frequency, and data bitrate affect utilization.

Actuators 6 1–10 actuators on one bus Feedback items per actuator 4 Each item uses a 1-byte identifier and a 4-byte value

Feedback frequency Hz Sent by each actuator

Command frequency Hz Sent by the host to each actuator

Control mode Determines the maximum command parameters Command parameters 8 / 8 Includes the setpoint; each parameter is a float32

CAN FD data bitrate 1 Mbps 5 Mbps

Estimated utilization

0.0% of bus capacity

Feedback0.0%

Commands0.0%

Feedback frame: —
Command frame: —
Total frames: —

How the estimate is calculated

Each feedback item occupies 5 data bytes: a 1-byte PCP item identifier and a 4-byte value. The combined data is rounded up to the next valid CAN FD payload size: 0–8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 32, 48, or 64 bytes. Firmware currently supports up to 10 configured high-rate feedback items.

Each command contains a 1-byte action identifier followed by the selected number of 4-byte parameters. The setpoint is always included. Torque and Speed support up to 5 parameters, Position up to 6, and Impedance up to 8. The resulting data is rounded up to the next valid CAN FD payload size.

Both directions use 29-bit extended CAN identifiers; source and target addresses are carried in that identifier rather than the data payload. The calculation assumes a 1 Mbps nominal/arbitration bitrate, applies the selected bitrate to the CAN FD data phase, and includes protocol overhead, inter-frame spacing, and worst-case bit stuffing.

Note

This is a theoretical upper-bound estimate for periodic traffic. Real systems need additional headroom for arbitration, configuration and error messages, retransmissions, clock tolerance, adapter/host timing, and non-periodic traffic. Values at or above 100% cannot fit on the bus; lower values are not a guarantee of real-time performance.