Dive into the world of vehicle diagnostics and data analysis with the Adafruit Obd2 to DB9 Adapter Cable. If you’re tinkering with automotive electronics, building your own car monitoring system, or just curious about what’s happening under the hood, this cable is an essential tool in your kit.
OBD2, or On-Board Diagnostics II, is the standard system in modern vehicles that mechanics use to read error codes and assess vehicle health. It communicates using various protocols, including CAN bus (Controller Area Network), a robust communication standard widely used in automotive and industrial applications. Adafruit offers a range of CAN bus-capable microcontroller boards, and this adapter cable bridges the gap between your car’s OBD2 port and these powerful development platforms.
This handy cable features a standard 16-pin OBD2 plug on one end, designed to fit directly into your vehicle’s diagnostic port—usually located under the dashboard. The other end terminates in a DE-9 (often mistakenly called DB-9) connector, a common interface for CAN bus systems. This allows you to easily connect your Adafruit CAN bus enabled boards to your car and start interacting with your vehicle’s data.
Important Note: While the DE-9 connector might resemble a serial port connector, do not plug this cable directly into a computer’s serial port. This adapter is designed to connect the OBD2 port’s CAN bus signals to a dedicated CAN bus hardware interface. It’s a simple re-wiring cable and does not contain any active circuitry or protocol translation. You’ll need a separate CAN bus interface to interpret the data.
To ensure proper connectivity, refer to the pinout diagram below to match the cable connections with your specific CAN bus board. Connecting CAN High (CAN H), CAN Low (CAN L), and Ground (GND) correctly is crucial for successful communication.
Here’s the pin mapping for the Adafruit OBD2 to DB9 Adapter Cable:
- DB-9 pin 1 connects to OBD pin 11
- DB-9 pin 2 connects to OBD pin 14 : CAN L
- DB-9 pin 3 connects to OBD pin 5 : Signal Ground
- DB-9 pin 4 connects to OBD pin 8
- DB-9 pin 5 connects to OBD pin 1
- DB-9 pin 7 connects to OBD pin 6 : CAN H
- DB-9 pin 8 connects to OBD pin 3
- DB-9 pin 9 connects to OBD pin 16 : Battery Power
Ready to start your automotive hacking journey? Grab the Adafruit OBD2 to DB9 Adapter Cable and open up a world of possibilities for DIY car diagnostics, data logging, and custom automotive projects!
