An analysis of network-based control system using CAN (controller area network) protocol

This paper analyses an architecture of network-based control system and deals with its application using the CAN protocol. It is difficult to determine an optimal network architecture for a specific system. We propose an architecture of the network-based control system applicable to a specific AGV system with a manipulator arm. The fixed number of periodic messages to be occurred is pre-defined in this system. To determine whether the proposed system architecture is effective or not, we perform a traffic analysis for the real-time communication of all messages. Through simulation, the range of transmission speed is found satisfying the required conditions, and the number of possible sensors to be added is investigated for improving the system performance, when the sampling periods of analog sensors are determined under a fixed condition that the transmission speed is over 500 Kbits/sec.