Enhanced control with simple wiring.
CamperCan puts a small node next to each thing you want to control, and joins the nodes with one thin cable. This page explains what that gives you, what it asks of you and where the project is now.
centre
Fewer cables, less weight, simpler wiring
The usual way to wire a van is to run thick cable from the battery to every switch and on to the thing it controls. The cables add up, so does the weight, and every switch that works a light from two places needs its own chain of wiring.
With CamperCan each node sits next to what it controls, so the thick cable is short. Switches only send a signal, so they share one thin cable with everything else. You use far less cable, and the thin one costs about half as much. There are no switch chains to work out and no big looms to build, so the whole job is simpler.
Wired the usual way
Every switch needs thick cable from the battery and thick cable on to the thing it switches. A switch at the bed, sofa and door for each set of lights means three chains of switches, each joined by three-core cable, with its own run on to the lights.
Wired with CamperCan
Each node sits next to the thing it controls, so the thick cable is short. Every set of lights is a short spur off the lights node, and only the nodes that drive a load need their own feed from the battery. Switches plug into the nearest node, and a setting says what each one does.
Switches where you want them
Any switch can control anything, because they all talk over the same cable. Put a button by the bed and another by the sofa and have both run the main lights. Add a third one later next to the door. No need to rewire. If a controls node is nearby, a new switch is just another button on it. Otherwise add a node and tap it into the cable.
The same goes for the water pump. It usually sits at one end of the van with the tank, and the switch is on a switchboard at the other. The water node turns the pump on and off, so the switch only has to send a signal over the cable. There is no dedicated switch wire to run the length of the van. With a command centre you can skip the physical switch altogether and run the pump from the screen.
Everything on one screen
The command centre is a 7" touchscreen running Home Assistant. Every node reports back to it, so one glance tells you how full the fresh and grey tanks are, the temperature inside, which lights are on and whether the heater and pump are running. You can control any of it with a tap.
There is no pairing to do. Connect a node to the cable and the command centre finds it on its own, and its controls and readings appear on the screen ready to use. The same goes for a node you add a year later.
Home Assistant also keeps a history, so you can see how the temperature changed overnight, how quickly the fresh tank is going down or how much the heater has run this week. Everything you add to the van shows up on the same screen, with nothing to wire in separately.
The van can look after itself
Because the command centre sees everything, it can tie the nodes together. A few examples from a real van:
- Press one button by the bed and the main lights dim, the bathroom light drops to a glow and the extractor fan goes off.
- Start the engine and the lights and water pump switch off on their own.
- Turn the heating on from your phone before you get back, so the van is warm when you arrive.
With internet in the van, Home Assistant Cloud subscription lets you check and control it from anywhere, and Alexa and Google work too. Over Bluetooth it can talk to other kit, such as Victron battery monitors and chargers, so that shows up on the same screen.
Change your mind later
Most people use their van while it is still being converted, and find things they want to change along the way. With CamperCan you can add a node, take one out or move it somewhere else at any point. What a button does is a setting, not a wiring job, so you can change that too.
It keeps working when things go wrong
The command centre is not needed for the basics. If it is off or breaks, the light switches still work like ordinary switches, and the water pump still runs. Each node can work independently, so a fault in one place does not take the rest of the van down.
What it needs from you
One cable run, planned early. It has to be one continuous run through the van, and it is far easier to put in before the cupboards and panels go up.
A bit of power. A typical setup draws about 10 watts, depending on how many nodes you fit, half of which is the command centre.
Not much skill. You join a node to the cable with a splice connector and plug it in. There is no soldering and no programming. There is a little setting up where one node controls another. A switch on a controls node, for example, needs telling which light on the lights node it works.
At least two nodes. One on its own does not give you much. The benefits start when one node controls another, such as a switch panel and the lights.
Where it fits
It was designed in a campervan, but a caravan, motorhome or boat has the same problems and it works just as well there.
Where the project is now
A prototype has been running in our own van for the last few months. The firmware and the plans will be open source, so you will be able to build your own from scratch if you want to. There is no kit price yet, as the parts list is still being refined.
See the nodes Register interest