Heuristic study of a full can implementation on a network of digital controllers based on experimental data

Abstract

Over time, the CAN (Controller Area Network) communication bus has been implemented in different technological sectors, within which, depending on the application, the bus implementation may change. On the other hand, the design and implementation of digital controls based on experimental data is a well-known topic in the automation industry where the acquisition system is of great importance. In this document, a heuristic study of the behavior of a Full CAN network is reported to implement digital controllers in two interconnected control loops. This study takes into account the access time to the bus and the amount of data sent when observing the response to disturbances. The design of two digital controllers is presented based on the parametric identification of two plants: a DC motor with an electromagnetic brake and a pneumatic levitator. Using PSoC® microcontrollers, a Full CAN network is implemented, where the digital controllers exchange data by randomly accessing the bus. A specially designed interface allows visualizing the speed and amount of data transferred under different operating conditions of the control loops. At the document end, the experimental data obtained are discussed.