CiA Invites Discussion on CANopen and AI at SPS Tradeshow

The nonprofit CAN in Automation (CiA) association invites discussion about AI and CANopen at its booth at the SPS (Smart Production Solutions) tradeshow in Nuremberg, Germany, on November 14-16. CANopen Lift is the CAN communication platform for elevator control systems. In the CiA November newsletter, CiA Managing Director Holger Zeltwanger explains how AI — the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence — was introduced in the 1950s in a workshop at Dartmouth College, and that he wrote several AI articles starting in the 1990s. “Nowadays,” Zeltwanger says, “AI is back,” with the ChatGPT chatbot a hot topic of conversation. He observes that AI solutions increasingly need data, which CANopen networks can provide. Sensors and measuring devices collect the data, CANopen host controllers pre-process the data and standard interfaces can be used to communicate with the AI engines. “Similar AI algorithms can be used to optimize throughput and energy consumption in elevators,” Zeltwanger wrote. “Some of the needed data is typically provided by CANopen devices, and elevator cars and doors are actuated by other CANopen devices.”