CAN SIG develops CAN standard for road construction vehicles

July 25th, 2005

CAN in Automation (CiA) has established the CANopen Special Interest Group (SIG) for road construction machines. The group is going to develop specifications that define interfaces between logical sub-systems and virtual devices in road construction machines networked via CANopen. The specification will simplify the job of system designers of integrating electronic devices into construction machines. Device manufacturers will encounter less proprietary interfaces, making their job easier, and machine builders will be able to source products from different manufacturers and use off-the-shelf CANopen configuration and service tools.

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Two specifications are being worked on at the moment. The CANopen integration network framework (CiA 436) defines the communication between logical sub-systems, such as engine control, driver/user interface, sensor, transmission, and gateway communication. The specification defines further generic and specific implements, e.g., e.g. a crane control systems.

The second specification is the CANopen sensor application profile (CiA 415), which defines the communication between sensors and sensor control. The sensor control provides network management master functions. It collects the sensor data and generates commands for the transmission sub-system. The sensors send signals such as asphalt core temperature, leveling values, etc.

CANopen is a standardized embedded communication system (EN 50325-4) based on the Controller Area Network (CAN) serial bus system (ISO 11898-1/2). The CAN in Automation international users’ and manufacturers’ group based in Erlangen, Germany develops CANopen device and application profiles.

“As in other low-volume industries, the standardized communication interfaces mean that users spend less time and money in system integration,” said Holger Zeltwanger, CiA Managing Director. He expects that the CiA 415 sensor application profile will be published by the end of 2005. The CANopen integration network framework will be finished within the year 2006. Many of the CANopen specifications are available for free download. Further information is available from the user group at www.can-cia.org.

Entry Filed under: Standards