pwm
I'm working on project related to J1850 bus. to my understanding, it's just a PWM communication, but circuits I found online include some extra hardware (example).
What does circuit actually do? What's the reason I can't just hook bus to Arduino and read/write like regular PWM?
The core issue here is that you have misunderstood how the TLC5940NT outputs actually work. They do not operate the same way as the Arduino's push-pull output drivers, the TLC5940NT uses current sinks (called open Drain outputs, which really act more like inputs! Freaky right? I explain more at the end) to pull that pin "LOW". This is why you connect LEDs to them, sometimes with a current limiting resistor (depending on if they are actually current-controlled sinks or not) from VCC through the LED and then into the pin of the TLC5940NT and similar devices (I used the TLC59116F before, which is similar).
I actually made the same mistake as you back in the day, as I did not know what an open drain/sink input was, and assumed exactly like you did, that it would work similar to the way my Arduino did. What you need to do to make this work is invert the logic with external components and some pull up resistors. When the "outputs" of the TLC5940NT are "off" the value on the pin is pulled high. This "high" signal can be inverted easily with either two methods - an NPN transistor logic inverter circuit, or an inverting buffer/line driver logic IC or even op-amps if you have to. Below is a quick sketch of each of these methods.
Figure 1: Transistor logic inverter using a cheapo NPN BJT.
Figure 2: Using an inverting buffer IC, such as a 7404 Hex (means 8 inputs/outputs) Inverting buffer.
You might want a pull down resistor or two on the buffer output to avoid floating pins but I think it will be okay without them. Always follow the guidance of the manufacturer's datasheet.
Notice how in both pictures I show the TLC5940's "output" pins as actually the top side of an N channel MOSFET? This pin is going to the "drain" of the FET, which when turned off is basically an open circuit, so they call it an "open drain" output. Even though it acts as a low side current sink switch.. Terribly confusing, and I understand why you made this mistake. It is important that you learn this now, as early as you can, and always remember in the future to check these datasheets and go through the logic to be sure this doesn't happen again.
The next thing to do is wire the outputs of these inverting stages to the inputs of your motor driver, as if they were Arduino style output signals.
Your system should work as intended now! The external components are a necessary evil because of the way the outputs of the TLC5940NT work. I agree though (and why I used the TLC59116F) they have awesome features and using their ability to PWM each channel and let your microcontroller do other things is worth the effort.
It might be possible that the PWM input is only a controlling input for the fan which means that some hidden circuits inside the fan do the "real" controlling of the fan and maybe also vary the voltage together with the duty cycle. I've seen something like this before.
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Keanu Reeves, nice to see you here! :D
The main reason is level-shifting of the logic signal, where that bus can have anything from 4V to 20V for its logic high level, while Arduino can have no more than 5V.
Also, the logic high output from Arduino is no more than 5V and it needs to be raised to the J1850 level (around 12V) to make sure it is high enough to be detected as a logic high, as well as to raise it above the electric noise usually present in a car.
The logic low on the bus is anything below 3.5V, while anything above 3V is considered a logic high by the Arduino, and anything between 1.5V and 3V is considered undefined or gray area (not recommended).
Another reason for that circuit is to protect the Arduino from the higher voltages on those bus/data lines.