The design of CAN nodes for minimising cables on the SUNSAT's TCMD system

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this thesis is to investigate a design of a microcontroller based embeddedsystem that will be used to minimise cable harness on the SUNSAT micro-satellite.The system is called CAN node.The CAN node(s) implements CAN (Controller Area Network) serial bus architectureprotocol. The protocol is implemented on the two nodes to transport data from theTCMD tot he 0 ther trays 0 f SUNSAT. CAN node( s) design proj ect focuses on theTCMD tray, because it is the central point for data communication in SUNSAT and itacts as the eyes and hands of the satellite's operator. As a result most of thecommunication cables are located at this tray. The two nodes are called TX-node andRX-nodes. The TX-node is used to collect data from the TCMD tray and transmitsthem serially to RX-node. The RX-nodes receives the TCMD data from TX-node andtransmits these data to their respective nodes. In application RX-nodes need to be ten,but only one is used for testing purpose.The design had its shortcomings, of which they are discussed in this thesis. Therecommendations of an ideal system are also given to elaborate how the systemshould behave in the real situation.Despite its shortcomings, the CAN node(s) project has successfully proven that cableharness on the TCMD tray of SUNSAT can be minimised by using CAN technology.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University