Autonomous vehicles and fully automated manufacturing lines are no longer just a futuristic idea. They have become a reality, and a growing number of industries benefit from the faster production speed, the increased efficiency and improved safety that automation brings.
However, efficient automation requires accurate controls. To support the control systems in the rapidly emerging markets, LINAK® offers CANopen controls for almost all of its electric actuators for industrial use.
More control options for LINAK actuators
This protocol helps increase the number of control options for LINAK actuators. They already cover a wide range of mobile equipment and offer adjustment to off-highway vehicles, industrial machinery, as well as a variety of autonomous vehicles.
“CANopen is an additional option for our actuators,” says Soren Buck, Business Development Manager at LINAK. “It is based on the CiA 301 standard. This gives our linear actuators a wider degree of flexibility – especially for software engineers who have to control and monitor various vehicle components with a single platform”.
As well as full position control, the CANopen actuators also provide feedback information about piston position, service data, and full diagnostics.
A series of tried-and-tested CANopen actuators
Soren Buck and a group of LINAK software specialists thoroughly tested the entire series of CANopen actuators with a number of existing applications.
“We tried everything in real-life setups and settings with customers, testing it in off-highway vehicles, AGVs and even in automated farming environments,” says Buck. “This helped us tune in and even eliminate a few bugs. But, I think what will impress people the most is how easy our CANopen actuators are to integrate and configure. It really is as easy as plug and play”.
The CANopen actuator setup allows us to pull all sorts of data about power consumption, position, speed and performance status. This gives us much better control options and enables us to troubleshoot faster and thereby service our customers faster.
LINAK CANopen covers the following actuators: LA14, LA25, LA33, LA36 and LA37. The heavy-duty actuators LA36 and LA37 are also available in both 24 V and 48 V versions, further expanding the choice of options available.
If you would like to know more about LINAK actuators and the CANopen option that comes with them, please visit our CANopen interface page, or contact your local LINAK office.