Introducing the NEMA17 Closed Loop CAN Adapter Board (CANStepper)

Grafito Innovations is announcing the NEMA17 Closed Loop CAN Adapter Board (CANStepper), a compact smart motion-control adapter designed to make standard NEMA 17 stepper motors closed-loop capable, easier to network, and more practical for robotics and automation projects.

Shop the product: https://grafito.in/shop/products/canstepper-adapter-board
How-to guide: How to make a NEMA 17 closed loop

Stepper motors are widely used because they are affordable, available, and simple to integrate. But in real machines, the surrounding electronics often become messy: motor driver boards, controller wiring, step and direction cables, encoder feedback lines, limit switches, and long cable runs across moving axes.

CANStepper is designed to simplify that architecture. Instead of treating every motor as a passive component controlled from a central cabinet, the CANStepper Adapter Board turns each motor into an intelligent node on a CAN bus network.

Built for Affordable Robotics and Automation

Our goal with CANStepper is straightforward: bring advanced motor-control features into a compact, affordable adapter format.

The board combines motor driving, processing, communication, sensing, and feedback into one module. That makes it useful for builders who want cleaner wiring and more scalable motion systems without moving to expensive industrial servo architectures.

CANStepper is intended for:

Robotics prototypes and production machines
CNC-style motion platforms
3D printer motion systems
Conveyor systems
Linear actuator control
Lab automation equipment
Smart farming and agricultural automation
Distributed multi-axis control systems

What Makes CANStepper Different

CANStepper is built around a practical stack of widely useful components and interfaces:

TMC2209 stepper driver for smooth and efficient motor control
ESP32-C3 for onboard control, WiFi, and Bluetooth capability
USB-C programming interface for firmware development and updates
Magnetic encoder feedback for closed-loop position sensing
CAN bus daisy-chain connectivity for distributed motor-control networks
Limit switch integration for homing and machine safety workflows
Support for up to 24V input

The onboard magnetic encoder uses the MagnTek MT6701CT-STD, a high-performance 12-bit/14-bit magnetic rotary position encoder IC based on differential Hall-effect sensing technology. This enables up to 14-bit core resolution and approximately 0.022° angle sensing.

That feedback opens the door to closed-loop control behavior such as position monitoring, missed-step detection, alignment checks, and recovery strategies depending on the final firmware implementation.

Designed for Distributed Motion Control

In many machines, wiring becomes one of the largest sources of assembly time, debugging effort, and maintenance issues. Long runs of step, direction, sensor, and motor cables can be difficult to route cleanly, especially on multi-axis systems.

CANStepper is designed around a distributed architecture. Each motor can become its own network-connected actuator node, reducing wiring complexity and making the machine easier to scale.

This architecture is especially useful where multiple motors are spread across a frame, gantry, conveyor, robotic mechanism, or automation cell.

Transparent enclosure render of CANStepper Adapter Board mounted on a NEMA 17 motor

From Prototype to First Production Batch

CANStepper is now moving toward its first production batch. We are opening preorder interest for an initial limited batch of 100 units, with 14 already booked and 86 preorder slots currently available.

This first batch will help us validate demand, gather early-user feedback, and prioritize firmware features for robotics, automation, and distributed motion-control users.

3D render of CANStepper Adapter Board mounted on a NEMA 17 stepper motor

Who Should Consider CANStepper?

CANStepper is a good fit if you are building a machine where one or more NEMA 17 motors need smarter local control.

It is especially relevant if your system needs:

Cleaner wiring than traditional centralized stepper-driver layouts
Closed-loop position feedback
Networked control over CAN bus
Compact motor-mounted electronics
Firmware-configurable behavior
Future wireless configuration or control options through ESP32-C3

Preorder CANStepper

Preorders are now open for the first production batch of the CANStepper Adapter Board.

Visit the CANStepper product page to reserve units, review the feature list, and submit your preorder quantity.

We are building CANStepper to make advanced motion control more accessible for robotics, automation, and machine builders who need practical performance at an affordable cost.