Fitting a reversing camera or parking sensors used to start with the reversing-light wire. Select reverse, find the feed that goes live, and take your trigger from there. On many modern vehicles that feed is not accessible in the usual way. Reverse is a message on the CAN bus, and the rear lighting may be driven by a body control module rather than a simple switched circuit.
The fix is to read the reverse signal off the bus and switch your own output from it. A CAN interface module does this without touching the vehicle wiring.
The reverse trigger
A camera or a sensor system needs to know when the vehicle is in reverse. With an interface module reading the bus, that trigger comes from the CAN message for reverse gear rather than a spliced wire. The module recognises reverse selected and switches an output, and that output powers the camera, wakes the screen, or enables the sensor controller.
Because the trigger comes from the bus, it is reliable and it leaves the native wiring intact. There is no cutting into the reversing-light circuit and no added load on a monitored feed.
Front sensors and speed
Front parking sensors are a common request, and they bring a second problem: you want them active at low speed when manoeuvring, but muted once the vehicle is moving normally so they do not chime on every car in traffic. That needs a road-speed input as well as a gear input.
An interface that reads the bus can provide both. It can switch the front sensor controller on below a set road speed and off above it, using the speed and gear messages already on CAN. That is the kind of logic that is awkward to wire by hand and straightforward to configure on a module that is already reading the bus.
Doing it with i2CAN
The i2CAN-8 is the standard module for this work. It reads two isolated CAN lines and provides eight switched outputs, which is enough to run a rear camera, front and rear sensor controllers, and a screen trigger from one box. The i2CAN-4 covers a simpler single-camera or single-sensor job with four outputs.
A no-cut install is supported directly. The i2CAN has a 5V protected output for an inductive CAN reader, so on a vehicle under warranty the module can read the bus without piercing the loom. Outputs are rated up to 900mA, enough to drive relays or the trigger inputs on camera and sensor controllers.
Keeping it working across the fleet
Camera and sensor installs are rarely a one-off. A converter or fleet fitter does the same job across a run of vehicles, and the vehicles change over time. The i2CAN range handles this: the budget module returns to the factory for a CAN signal upgrade when a new model arrives, and the premium module with USB OTG can be reprogrammed in the field. Either can be recycled onto a different vehicle rather than scrapped.
Every module is designed and manufactured in the UK.
Tell us the vehicle and whether you need reverse, front sensors, or both, and we will confirm the right module and configuration.