CAN in Automation (CAN CiA) celebrates 30 years in 2022, a fitting moment to look back and consider the success of CAN in non-automotive applications. Much of this progress can be attributed to the CiA’s forum for exchange, CAN advocacy and an early emphasis on standardisation across the entire not-for-profit organisation and by Managing Director Holger Zeltwanger, in particular.

Kvaser was a founding CiA member, having started the CAN Textile Users Group and CAN Hydraulic Users Group in 1992, which were both later brought under the main organisation’s umbrella. “Early on, everyone brought something to the table and CAN CiA events quickly became the central hub for CAN information exchange and later on, the controlling force in CAN standardisation,” notes Lars-Berno Fredriksson, outgoing CEO and President of Kvaser, who has chaired various technical groups and participated in the review committee for many of the annual international CAN Conference (iCC) events held since 1992.

From just 13 member companies at the outset to 722 in June 2022, the CAN CiA community continues to grow and makes impressive technical progress too, with CAN FD and CANopen FD, CAN FD Light, CAN XL and many new CiA profiles under development.

For the future CAN XL, the third generation of CAN, offers payloads up to 2048 byte and bit-rates to 10 Mbit/s and beyond (depending on the physical network). CAN XL will integrate easily into service-based TCP/IP network systems to provide a signal-based networking alternative to Ethernet for drivetrain and chassis deployments for many years yet. CAN XL’s development under the auspices of CAN CiA demonstrates that the paths of the automotive and automation industry remain indivisible.

While CAN users have changed over the years – companies can now simply buy a protocol stack and hire a consultant to implement it – the need for CAN education and a reliable, cost-effective CAN toolchain is stronger than ever. Kvaser is proud to be an active member of CAN CiA and wishes the organisation every future success.

Find out how Kvaser caters for CAN FD here and browse CAN FD-capable products here.

Research manager Kent Lennartson has played an active role in CAN XL development and Kvaser will provide CAN XL IP and hardware for developing, manufacturing and servicing CAN-XL systems.