CANopen is a truly open protocol that has not been developed by one company
alone. Several working groups, consisting of many different device manufac
turers and end-users, have co-operated to produce the CANopen standards, no
w under the supervision of the CAN in Automation organisation. CANopen has
been produced as a result of EU funding. This article gives an overview of
some of the fundamental concepts of CANopen communication and of CANopen im
plementation.