Abstract:In response to the issue that traditional communication network cabling methods are unable to meet the requirements of high efficiency, stability and functional expansion for information transmission in autonomous hydrogen fuel cell tractors, a multi-rate control area network (CAN) bus architecture was proposed based on the SAE J1939 protocol and ISO 11783 standard. Firstly, the data flow requirements for sensing, positioning, drive control, etc. were analyzed in combination with the autonomous operation process in the field. Then, using the principle of minimum complexity in graph theory, multiple topologies were compared and a gateway plus three-bus structure was determined. The CAN communication network nodes were divided based on the structure of the autonomous operation hydrogen fuel cell tractor and its working conditions, and the functions of each node were defined. For common network topologies, a mathematical model was established based on graph theory, and the total information volume per second N and the node information volume per second Z of each structure were analyzed and compared. A high-speed and low-speed dual-bus structure was adopted to design the communication network of the autonomous operation hydrogen fuel cell tractor, with bus rates selected as 500kb/s and 250kb/s. The communication message and system software design were developed based on the SAE J1939 protocol and ISO 11783 standard. The hardware functions and communication effects of the communication system were tested by using CANoe software and verified on the whole vehicle. The test results of the bus load rate were 28.22%, 19.20% and 22.85%, all below the 50% requirement. These results verified the feasibility and provided a feasible solution for the design of the communication network of autonomous operation hydrogen fuel cell tractors.