To make a tree climber / harvester more powerful and efficient there is a need for networked control between the various subsystems. The board to board communication becomes a need in any complex distributed system and it is proposed to be achieved by creating a CAN communication between them. In the proposed system the various nodes namely, motor ECU, sensing subsystem, image processing subsystem and router MCU are all connected over a Controller Area Network. Every node is controlled by an individual microcontroller that will perform its programmed functionality. In the proposed work the climbing motor is controlled by the sensing subsystem whose sensed parameters will reach the climbing unit over the CAN bus. Later when the climbing process is terminated the image processing subsystem is triggered to start by a CAN message and with the result of image processing the hand motor is controlled. The whole process is monitored and controlled by a base station. All these proposed nodes have their communication capabilities extended through a CAN controller (MCP 2515) and Transceiver (MCP 2551) interfaces at the SPI of each node. Further it is possible to introduce additional nodes as required for the sophistication of the application.

1. Rachana Ashok Gupta, Mo-Yuen Chow, "Networked Control System: Overview and Research Trends", IEEE Transactions On Industrial Electronics, Vol. 57, No. 7, July 2010
2. Sunil Kumar Gurram and James M. Conrad, "Implementation of CAN bus in an autonomous All-Terrain Vehicle", IEEE, 978-1-61284-738-2/11/$26. 00 2011
3. Jiantao Wei, Naiqian Zhang, Ning Wang, Darrel Oard, Quentin Stoll Donald Lenhert, Mitch Neilsen, Masaaki Mizuno and Gurdip Sing, "Design of an embedded weed-control system using Controller Area Network (CAN)", ASAE Annual International Meeting California USA, Paper Number : 013033, July 2001.
4. M. J. Darr, T. S. Stombaugh, S. A. Shearer, "Controller Area Network based Distributed Control for Autonomous Vehicles", Transactions of the ASAE American Society of Agricultural Engineers Vol. 48(2): 479?490 _ 2005
5. Eduardo P. Godoy, Rubens A. Tabile, Robson R. D. Pereira, Giovana T. Tangerino, Arthur J. V. Porto & Ricardo Y. Inamasu, titled, "Design and implementation of an electronic architecture for an agricultural mobile" Engineering Agricultural Ambiental, Brazil, v. 14, n. 11, p. 1240–1247, 2010.
6. Liang Chen & Yingqing Guo, "Design of the distributed control system based on CAN bus" Canadian Center of Science and Education, Vol. 4, No. 4; July 2011.
7. D. V. S. Reddy, Alia Sultana, K. Madhavi Latha and M. Haritha, "CAN protocol implementation for industrial process", International Journal of Applied Engineering and Technology ISSN: 2277-212X, Vol. 2 (1) January-March 2012.
8. Mazran Esro, Amat Amir Basari, Siva Kumar S1, A. Sadhiqin M, Zulkifli Syariff, "Controller Area Network (CAN) application in security system", World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 35 2009.
9. Du Chen, Shumao Wang, Yongjun Zheng, "An ARM-based environment for combine harvester process monitor via CAN bus" International Conference on Physics Science and Technology, ELSEVIER Physics Procedia 22 (2011) 258 – 262.
10. Cuneyt Bayilmis, Ismail Erturk, Celal Ceken, Ibrahim Ozcelik, "A CAN/IEEE 802. 11b wireless LAN local bridge design", ELSEVIER Computer Standards & Interfaces, Computer Standards & Interfaces 30 (2008) 200–212.
11. CuneytBayilmis, ErsoyKelebekler, IsmailErturk, CelalCeken, IbrahimOzceli, "Integration of a speech activated control system and a wireless interworking unit for a CAN-based distributed application", ELSEVIER, Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 32 (2009) 1210–1218.
12. K. Pavani, M. S. Madhan Mohan, "Implementation of CAN and Zigbee networks based industrial monitoring and control applications" International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT) 2012.
13. Kanitpong Pengwon, Sumpun Chaitep, Pipatpong Watanawanyoo, Buntueng Yana and Tharadol Komolmis, "A design of Controller Area Network system for flying robot automatic cruise control application" The 4th Aersospace Conference of Thailand, 24 March 2008.

Controller Area Network (can) Microcontroller Unit (mcu) Nodes Electronic Control Unit (ecu) Microcontroller.