New work item proposals
CAN in Automation would like to initiate standardization activites with regard
to the following listed work items:
CfE: Testing of CANopen physical layer and design of extreme CAN topologies
The IG CANopen has initiated a CANopen Task Force (TF) with the objective to evaluate the testing of CANopen physical layer implementations regarding network length, not terminated stubs, high busload, etc. In addition, this TF should develop some recommendations for extreme CAN network topologies.
The inaugural meeting of the Task Force “Testing of CANopen physical layer and design of extreme CAN topologies” is scheduled on September 22, 2010.
If you are interested in, please, contact CiA as soon as possible.
In case of any further questions please respond by email (headquarters@can-cia.org), phone (+49-911-928819-0) or fax (+49-911-928819-79).
CfE: CANopen application profile for service robots
The application field of robots is growing. Not only in manufacturing business but also in medical- and healthcare or home automation application fields so called “service robots” are used.
As the environmental conditions for such service robots may be very complicated, they need to recognize various objects stable and respond accordingly to dynamically changing situations in order to support their “human companions”. Composed of drives, sensors, voice components, etc., modules are implemented that enable to move, to grip or to communicate. These modules are integrated to one service robot. To establish the communication between these modules of a robot as well as to enable the module-internally data flow, embedded networks such as CANopen are used. In order to reduce the effort of system integration for CANopen-based systems, CANopen device and application profiles are used. These profiles specify in detail the communication interfaces of modules resp. single devices, so that a system designer can already start with system integration, although the device/module is not available at his laboratory, yet.
In order to minimize the effort for system integration, the team managed by Dr. Makoto Mizukawa, from the Shibaura Institute of Technology, developed an RTC-CANopen middleware (for details refer to CAN Newsletter June 2010). This middle ware allows integration of device, independent of their communication interface. Therefore robots might be assembled by using a broad range of of-the-shelf available sensors and actuators. Consequently a standardized application profile may lead to shorter installation times as well as lower costs for the components.
In case your company is interested in specifying a CANopen application profile for service robots, please, contact CiA as soon as possible. In case of any further questions please respond by email (headquarters@can-cia.org), phone (+49-911-928819-0) or fax (+49-911-928819-79)
CfE: CANopen application profile for energy efficiency and energy harvesting
In its last meeting the IG CANopen initiated to develop profiles and recommendations for energy efficiency and energy harvesting. With this initiative the IG CANopen addresses several topics:
- CANopen device profile for energy monitoring: This profile may be implemented in any CANopen device as additional logical device measuring the actual energy consumption and providing the results (current, voltage, power, frequency, etc.) to the energy management system.
- CANopen application profile for energy efficiency: This profile may specify dedicated system behavior for power-down and re-powering of devices in case of breaks, waiting times, week-ends, etc.
- CANopen device profile enhancements for energy harvesting: This may include extensions for existing profiles or a new profile, which are suitable for devices with actuator functionality. It is intended to feed back energy into the power supplying system.
- Recommendation for CAN high-speed low-power physical layer: The CiA 447 profile already specifies a CAN high-speed low-power physical layer for CANopen car add-on devices. This mechanism may be adapted ad generalized for other battery-powered applications.
- Besides the above-mentioned topics, the initiated group may develop other specifications and recommendations, in order to reduce energy consumption in CANopen network systems.
The inaugural meeting of the CANopen Special Interest Group (SIG) energy efficiency and energy harvesting is scheduled on September 21, 2010.
If you are interested in, please, contact CiA as soon as possible.
In case of any further questions please respond by email (headquarters@can-cia.org), phone (+49-911-928819-0) or fax (+49-911-928819-79)
