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Step 3: Motor Communication Test

Before running the full demo, let's perform a quick sanity check to verify that your CAN interface can communicate with the motors.

Prerequisites​

Ensure you have completed all previous steps:

  • ✅ Motor IDs are configured (Step 1)
  • ✅ CAN interface is set up and running (Step 2)

Quick Sanity Check​

This test will verify basic communication with motor #1 using a simple CAN commands. Open two terminal windows:

Terminal 1 - Monitor CAN traffic:

candump can0

Keep this running to observe all CAN messages.

Terminal 2 - Send commands: In Terminal 2, send a motor enable command to motor #1:

cansend can0 001#FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFC

Command breakdown:

  • 001 = Motor #1 CAN ID (0x01)
  • FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFC = Motor enable command

Expected Results​

If everything is working correctly, Motor #1 LED should turn green (indicating CAN communication active) Congratulations!! If the motor baudrate is already set to the same mode as the interface, you will get response in terminal where:

can0  011   [8]  XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX

** Response breakdown:**

  • 011 = Motor #1 response ID (0x11)
  • The data bytes contain motor status information

If the response frames are not showing, don't worry we will guide you to change the motor baudrate to align with the interface.

If you have multiple motors configured, test each one.

Disable Motors​

After testing, disable the motors:

# Disable motor #1
cansend can0 001#FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFD
...

Troubleshooting​

No LED change:

  • Verify motor is powered (24V supply connected)
  • Check the physical connection (no loose cables, etc. This is important!)
  • Check CAN wiring (CANH/CANL connections)
  • Confirm motor ID is correctly set to 0x01

Wrong response ID:

  • Double-check motor configuration - the receive ID should be 0x11
  • Verify no other devices are using conflicting IDs

What's Next​

If this sanity check passes, The basic CAN sending is working. Beyond this point, the steps are not necessary for everyone.