CAN Bus: The Future of Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing)

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of CAN bus technology to improve communication flexibility and expandability in additive manufacturing systems, addressing current protocol limitations.

Contribution

It introduces the application of CAN bus in additive manufacturing, a novel integration not well documented in existing literature.

Findings

CAN bus enhances connection flexibility in AM systems

Potential for simplified wiring and expansion in AM setups

Initial application examples demonstrate feasibility

Abstract

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is gaining renewed popularity and attention due to low-cost fabrication systems proliferating the market. Current communication protocols used in AM limit the connection flexibility between the control board and peripherals; they are often complex in their wiring and thus restrict their avenue of expansion. Thus, the Controller Area Network (CAN) bus is an attractive pathway for inter-hardware connections due to its innate quality. However, the combination of CAN and AM is not well explored and documented in existing literature. This article aims to provide examples of CAN bus applications in AM.