UVCAN

uvcan is the tool that commissions and maintains the devices of a Usevolt control system. It connects to the machine over the CAN bus and handles everything installing and servicing a device asks for: firmware updates, reading and writing parameters, watching bus traffic and tracking down faults.

uvcan is meant for installers, service engineers and machine builders. It is not an operator’s tool – the operator runs the machine through the UV0D display.

What it does

• Firmware updates. New firmware is loaded into a device over the CAN bus, with no separate programmer.
• Parameter configuration. A device’s settings are read, changed and stored. A whole machine’s settings can be saved to a file and loaded back, or onto another machine of the same kind.
• Bus monitoring and fault finding. CAN traffic, device states and error messages are shown as they happen.
• Simulator. A device package carries a simulator that runs the same firmware on the computer, so settings can be tried out without the machine.
• Graphical interface. uvcan --ui opens a window showing the whole system and its devices at once. Everything is available from the command line as well.

Once installed, device packages (.uvdev) and system files (.uvsys) open in uvcan on a double-click.

Download and install

Linux

Open a terminal and run:

curl -fsSL https://files.usevolt.fi/pub/uvcan/get-uvcan.sh | sh

This fetches the current release, checks the download against its checksum, installs into your home directory and registers the .uvdev and .uvsys file types. No root access is needed. For a machine-wide install, add -s -- --system to the end of the command.

Windows

Open PowerShell and run:

irm https://files.usevolt.fi/pub/uvcan/get-uvcan.ps1 | iex

The same command both installs uvcan and updates it. It installs into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Usevolt\uvcan by default, so no administrator rights are needed. Afterwards uvcan-ui.bat opens the interface and install-association.bat registers the device package file types.

Keeping it up to date

uvcan checks once, when its interface opens, whether a newer version has been published, and says so in its log view. You can also ask at any time:

uvcan --checkupdate

On Linux uvcan updates itself:

uvcan --update

The download is verified against the published checksum before anything is replaced, and the previous version is kept beside it as uvcan.old. A machine-wide install needs sudo uvcan --update.

On Windows you update by running the install command again. It compares what is installed against what is published and downloads nothing if the machine is already current.

Removing it

Linux

curl -fsSL https://files.usevolt.fi/pub/uvcan/uninstall-uvcan.sh | sh

This removes the program, the file type registrations and their icons, and the PATH entry the install added. It finds both a per-user and a machine-wide install. Your own .uvdev and .uvsys files are untouched, and so are the saved account settings — add -s -- --purge to the command to delete those as well.

Windows

irm https://files.usevolt.fi/pub/uvcan/uninstall-uvcan.ps1 | iex

This removes the install directory, the file type registrations and the PATH entry. It leaves a file type alone if another program has since claimed it, and refuses to start at all while uvcan is open.

Requirements

Linux	Ubuntu or another Debian-based distribution. The install command fetches the libraries it needs with apt.
Windows	Windows 10 (version 1803) or newer.
CAN interface	On Linux, any SocketCAN-compatible adapter. On Windows, a PEAK PCAN-USB, whose driver is installed separately from the manufacturer.

All releases

The install commands always fetch the current release. Every published file can be browsed freely:

License

uvcan is free software under the GNU General Public License, version 3, and the licence text ships with the program. You may use, copy and modify it freely; if you distribute a modified version, its source has to go with it under the same terms.