CAN Bus

The Metacycle uses CAN bus (Controller Area Network) to communicate between components. This is a protocol that runs over a 2-wires and is detailed on Wikipedia. The various adapters take care of the protocol details and let you access a serial stream.

Using Votol's serial format, software can read and set values on the controller. The most common way to read this off your Metacycle is with the programming cable, though a Bluetooth option is gaining momentum. Learn more about programming the controller.

The CAN bus protocol is a bit more difficult to analyze. One will need to attach to the wires and use a CAN bus adapter to see the information packets. The normal programming cable speaks CAN to the bike but communicates with a different serial protocol to the computer. There is a post analyzing the CAN protocol used by similar controllers.

If you are going to analyze the CAN bus directly, such as with cangaroo, you will need to know that it operates at 250k. The USB programming cable and Bluetooth adapter don't bridge all CAN traffic to the serial port. Only messages specifically from the controller to the cable or adapter are sent.

It is reported that the battery is built by Greenway and the BMS is custom for Sondors. The post suggests it's the standard Greenway protocol.