Any ST/alternative suppliers left for small purchases?  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: jack001214
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2021, 10:49:41 am
content: Hi embedded newbie here, I'm looking for STM32F413 chips but was unable to find any in stock at reasonable prices for a project using the CAN bus.So, is there any alternative to ST that feature 3x CAN interfaces and uses a Cortex-M4 as I have looked at different alternatives like Freescale and NXP but they do not feature the needed 3x CAN interfaces.Any help would be appreciated.

author: AndrewBCN
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2021, 11:25:25 am
content: It looks like anything with a CAN interface is out of stock these days, which is why you are out of luck. This is not surprising, actually, I suppose car manufacturers have picked up all the existing stock of anything having a CAN interface. This is just dumb hoarding on a massive scale, but that's what we have to deal with.As a last resort so that your project doesn't remain stalled, perhaps you could temporarily use another STM32F4 chip (e.g. STM32F411) and use 3 separate SPI to CAN interface chips with some "glue code"? And when supplies of the STM32F413 MCU normalize, just remove the superfluous code?

author: woofy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2021, 02:44:55 pm
content: You could consider external CAN chips such as the MCP2510.Farnell has stock (at the time of writing).If you can move from Cortex, the PIC32MK1024MCM100 has 4 CAN modules.Digikey has stock.

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2021, 04:01:56 pm
content: though the PIC32MK -especially the MCM- has an awful errata that should be checked before even considering using the demo board for this part. But at least the CAN peripherals are good to go

author: jack001214
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2021, 04:07:06 pm
content: Thanks for the response guys. The STM32F411 is quite appealing but the idea of connecting an external CAN interface through SPI is not since I need to use 3 CAN busses so that means it would require a transceiver <>MCP2510 x 3 so the price blows out. Is there any chip that bundle three CAN interfaces?QuoteNo can do, the code is mostly a mix of thumb and C.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2021, 04:50:38 pm
content: Now it's just horrible time to design low-cost electronics. We struggle even if cost is no limit.How many units are you going to sell? Below some tens of thousands, your development time is worth more than trying to find lowest cost BOM. Time-to-market is valuable regardless of production numbers, so do whatever is needed to just make it happen.The SPI bridges would be a scalable solution, you could keep your familiar MCU product family. I have hard time figuring out which mass produced consumer gadget could need 3 CAN interfaces. If it ain't mass produced consumer gadget, then heck about a few dollars of extra cost.

author: jack001214
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 25, 2021, 05:04:27 pm
content: QuoteNone, not planning to sell anything, it'll be a FOSS project. Just trying to keep things scalable for those who might attempt this as I dont mind spending money on this but finding the parts to use is very difficult since nothing is in stock.QuoteThe 'competing' product is the commai Pandahttps://comma.ai/shop/products/panda-obd-ii-dongle. A proprietary CAN bus hijacker for cars which uses 3 CAN busses to communicate with the car.

author: olkipukki
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2021, 12:53:43 pm
content: Quote from: jack001214 on October 25, 2021, 10:49:41 amAre you sure about that?Have a look NXPS32K144-6...

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 29, 2021, 12:16:39 pm
content: Even the "blue pills" from Aliexpress have tripled in price recently.I still doubt they would have genuine STM parts though.

author: jack001214
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 29, 2021, 03:14:15 pm
content: QuoteAh! how could've i missed that. like Doctorandus said, the price is tripled.Oh well, ill be back in 2023

author: NorthGuy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 29, 2021, 04:34:04 pm
content: Quote from: jack001214 on October 29, 2021, 03:14:15 pmYou don't really expect that prices are going to be anywhere near today's prices in 2023, do you?

author: olkipukki
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 29, 2021, 05:06:34 pm
content: Quote from: jack001214 on October 29, 2021, 03:14:15 pmMay be worth to recheck Mouser againQuote from: jack001214 on October 29, 2021, 03:14:15 pmThese never been cheap as consumer stuff...Quote from: jack001214 on October 29, 2021, 03:14:15 pmNot really, some will came back within 3-6 months

author: Nusa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 29, 2021, 07:13:41 pm
content: If you just need a handful, you might be able to pull what you need out of junkyard cars.