CAN Bus Adapter

The CAN bus adapter reads CAN frames and optionally decodes them into named signals using a DBC file.

Install

pip install plexus-agent[can]

Basic Usage

from plexus import Plexus
from plexus.adapters import CANAdapter
 
px = Plexus(api_key="plx_xxx", source_id="vehicle-001")
adapter = CANAdapter(
    interface="socketcan",
    channel="can0",
    dbc_path="vehicle.dbc",  # optional: decode signals
)
 
with adapter:
    while True:
        for metric in adapter.poll():
            px.send(metric.name, metric.value, tags=metric.tags)

When a DBC file is loaded, each decoded signal becomes a separate metric.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`interface`	str	`"socketcan"`	CAN interface type (see table below)
`channel`	str	`"can0"`	CAN channel name
`bitrate`	int	`500000`	CAN bitrate in bits per second
`dbc_path`	str \| None	`None`	Path to DBC file for signal decoding
`emit_raw`	bool	`True`	Emit raw CAN frame metrics
`emit_decoded`	bool	`True`	Emit decoded signal metrics (requires `dbc_path`)
`raw_prefix`	str	`"can.raw"`	Metric name prefix for raw frames
`filters`	list \| None	`None`	CAN ID filters (list of `{"can_id": int, "can_mask": int}`)
`receive_own_messages`	bool	`False`	Receive own transmitted messages
`source_id`	str \| None	`None`	Override source ID for metrics from this adapter

Supported Interfaces

Interface	Platform	Description
`socketcan`	Linux	Linux SocketCAN (most common)
`pcan`	Windows/Linux	Peak CAN USB adapters
`vector`	Windows	Vector CANalyzer/CANoe
`kvaser`	Windows/Linux	Kvaser CAN interfaces
`slcan`	All	Serial CAN adapters (e.g., CANable)

Virtual CAN for Testing

Set up a virtual CAN interface on Linux for development without hardware:

sudo modprobe vcan
sudo ip link add dev vcan0 type vcan
sudo ip link set up vcan0

Then use interface="socketcan" with channel="vcan0":

adapter = CANAdapter(interface="socketcan", channel="vcan0")

Send test frames from another terminal:

cansend vcan0 123#DEADBEEF

See examples/can_basic.py for more.

Next Steps

MQTT Bridge -- Bridge MQTT brokers to Plexus
MAVLink -- Connect drones and autonomous vehicles
CLI Reference -- Run adapters from the command line

Memory Configuration MQTT