Ethercat : twincat to NI

Hi,
I'm currently using the TwinCat Ethercat drivers in Labview to control a couple of motors and read back speed, torque, etc.
All is working OK, but I now need to move the code from a desktop PC to LabView Real-Time ( Ni-3110 Industrial controller )
I thought I would try to use the Labview "Industrial communications for ethercat (v2.4) "
Has anybody managed to export an Ethercat device definition from TwinCat and import it into LabView ?
( I have the basic, default device XML files, and can imprt them into a LabView project, but your system has been heavily re-configured )
or, has anybody got instructions on how to write my own Ethercat slave device definition xml file ?
Thanks,
Tim.

Thanks for the eply Ian,
IanS wrote:
Are you trying to just import the twincat files or are you wanting to edit them?
We just want to import them. New system should be a duplicate of the existing system, but using the Ni-3110.
IanS wrote:
If you create a project with an etherCAT Master, you can import a device profile.
I have exported the definitions from TwinCat, ( Actions > Export XML Description... )
...and tried to import them into my LabView project (as you have shown) but they give an error : "Module reference is not defined by any slave profiles"
IanS wrote:
You can edit the xml files with TwinCAT configuration editor prior to importing.
http://infosys.beckhoff.com/espanol.php?content=../content/1034/tcdbserver/html/tcdbserver_xml_confi...
That may be helpful - thanks.
Our motor suppliers have given us an XML definition file that gives speed values. We have imported that into a LabView project and can see the motors and speed channel in the Real-Time, EtherCAT Master device section. But our motor controllers have been re-configured / re-programmed and now give us all sorts of other variables; torque, current , temp, etc, etc. I was hoping to be able to take the default XML files and the information from TwinCat and create a new XML file. I was hoping it would be a simple cut-n-paste, but after a bit of experimentation I've not got very far. I've tried to add a channel by using the basic file as a template, but it didn't work. The new channel appears in the LabView project but no data shown when I run it.
( I'm not on the same physical site as the rig or motors, so experimentation is a long winded process of writing stuff at my desc, traveling for an hour, trying it, gathering results and traveling an hour back again. I'm just trying to get a better understanding of how the XML files are structured )
Thanks,
Tim.

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Beckhoff TwinCAT EtherCAT Master with NI 9144

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http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/67E50B232055663C86257667007B01A9
Can anyone please give me some hints what I need to do?
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When I now trigger the upload there is an option to enter a paramter (maybe the name of the configuration file inside the NI9144) but when I leave it empty there is no file being uploaded.
Thanks
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I think you must create an xml file and manually copy some files to TwinCAR as stated in http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/75D691A52CF5E56E86257826005446D6?OpenDocument?OpenDocument

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Can you say me what is the better way to make this? ActiveX or DLL. And are there other examples in add to bechoff site examples? Or documentations
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I'm not sure you can say that either ActiveX or DLLs are better than the other. Personally I prefer to work with ActiveX because the APIs tend to be better. But at the end of the day, you use what you get from the vendor.
In terms of code samples, there is a level of personal preference here as well. When working with something new, I like to see examples written in VB because I find it easy to read and grasp what it is that code is doing. In terms of sources for example code, you should check to see if the other vendor has user forums. It's unlikely that you will find another LV user, but you might be able to get snippets of code in some other language that illustrate how to do specific things.
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EtherCAT Error -2147138468 switching third party device to Safe Operational State

I have been successful in importing and detecting/adding a Lenord + Bauer Ethercat Encoder (GEL235).
Attached you will find the Device Profile.
But when I try to switch the Scan Engine to "Active", I eventually receive this error message: "An error occured while attempting to switch the I/O scan mode. LabVIEW: (Hex 0x80DF0019) The deployment connection timed out."
Trying to set the device EtherCAT Online State to "Safe Operational" on the slave device eventually returns "Error -2147138468 occurred at an unidentified location Possible reason(s): CoE operation fails because the CoE service is timeout. Ensure that each device in the EtherCAT network is powered on and properly connected."
I can confirm that the device is properly powered and connected. The EtherCAT ethernet port on the cRIO has a solid, green link indicator and all status indicators on the encoder are in their normal operational state except for the "Run" led which is flashing evenly, meaning the current state is "PRE-OPERATIONAL".
I can read the encoder position without any issues using "TwinCAT System Manager" from Beckhoff.
Any idea/tips on how I should proceed from this point to troubleshooting/fix the issue?
Regards,
Danny Lepage
CEL Aerospace Test Equipment LTD
Attachments:
ni_support.zip ‏90 KB

You might want to share this information with the developers at Happauge

Setting the PDOs in an EtherCAT Slave

In Labview RT using EtherCAT, how do you change the PDO settings of a slave device (i.e. Beckhoff EL5101). To do this within TwinCAT is pretty straightforward, but is ther a pathway to do this in Labview?

Ryan,
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Thanks,
Jack Plyler, PE

Use the VBAI to communicate with Beckhoff PLC in our line(via EtherCAT)

Hi I am very interesting with Vision Builder for Automated Inspection software, and I’d like to use the VBAI to communicate with Beckhoff PLC in our line(via EtherCAT) to develop vision system.
I see hints that I should be able to do this with Etherner/IP protocol between PLC and Vision Builder. But I cannot find any documentation on how to set up on vision builder.
Now I have a PC which already installed Beckhoff TwinCAT system and Vision Builder for Automated Inspection software that I would like to make a sample so that I can see how to communicate between Vision Builder and TwinCAT to send the pass/failed signal. Is it possible? Or do I need any other devices?
Are there any tutorials or instructions on how to do this?
Wait for your reply! Thank u!

Hi,
Unfortunately, none of our Vision target support Ethercat yet. But we'll make note of the request.
Vision Builder AI supports the Modbus and Ethernet/IP protocols that you could use to communicate with your PLC.
Regarding Ethernet/IP, Vision Builder AI supports both Explicit messaging (Ethernet/IP step) and I/O data communication (Ethernet/IP Adapter step).
For explicit messaging, Vision Builder supports the logix addressing to read and write tags.
The Vision Builder AI configuration help details how to set up I/O data communication (implicit messaging) with Allen-Bradley PLCs, and this application note details how to set up implicit I/O communication with an Omron PLC.
http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/13579
Sorry, we haven't had any requests for Beckhoffs PLCs yet. If you get it to work, please post instructions here so that other users could benefit from it.
NI offers Ethercat support with our 8-Slot EtherCAT Slave Chassis for C Series I/O Modules.
http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/205806
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No SDO Communication Using CAN over EtherCAT (CoE) with 3rd Party Slave

Dear all
We are trying to establish an EtherCAT communication between a cRIO 9024 as EtherCAT master with a 3rd party frequency comverter (bmaxx 4432) as EtherCAT slave. CanOPEN over EtherCAT is industry standard.
The slave device has a CAN in Automation (CiA) configuration 402, i.e. motion and drives. Thus it has a well configured address range, input/output parameters and the like. The frequency converter remains in INIT mode and waits for a PDO definition, sent via an SDO communication.
In LabView, adding an EtherCAT master in the cRIO system works fine. Adding targets and devices on the configured EtherCAT master also works fine after we imported an XML description of our third party EtherCAT slave. LabView detects the slave type and the version correctly. Thus, there must already be a rudimentary EtherCAT communication working between LabView and our 3rd party slave.
The problem is that we cannot establish a first SDO communication.
Every description I found was about using CANopen on a CAN bus hardware (e.g. NI 9861) plugged into the cRIO. Descriptions concerning EtherCAT are usually concerning an NI cRIO 9144 extension as slave, which is not what we have.
The NI CANopen library seems to definitely require the NI 9861.
Is this correct?
1)
Either it should be possible to define a kind of virtual CAN port based on the EtherCAT port, on which we can write to and read from with the NI CANopen library. This would be the preferred solution so we can use the CANopen VIs.
Is there a way to do this?
2)
Otherwise, there should be a possibility to establish a more basic SDO/PDO communication directly based on the EtherCAT interface.
Are there any NMT/SDO/PDO VIs available to do the programming?
Is there a manual document which would describe how to start the first communication setup via EtherCAT (CoE)?
My sincere thanks for any advice you can give.
Many cheers
Markus

Dear all,
I'm trying to establish a connection between a cRIO9068 and a BM 3300 via CoE.
I already had a hard time establishing a normal EtherCAT-connection.
Finally I could set the Scan engine to active, and I was able to get from "ini" and "pre operational" into "Safe operational" and "operational".
As I can see, you had similar problems as I do.
When I add my cRIO to my project (with the EterCAT-master) I can look for the slave device, and add it to my project.
Within this slave device, I can add two mods, as seen in the attachment.
These slots should include all the parameters, the drive provides, but actually I only end up with some "position mode" -parameters, I think those are the SDO's.
If I add these to a VI, the cRIO scan engine switches to configuration mode, but can't switch back to active mode.
Actually, the Baumüller slave device should be able to provide multiple parameters for read and write.
I can see them, wehn I go to "online device state" in the rightklick menu of the slave device (Parameter.png), but there's no way I can actually use them.
I can't add these "slots" on every computer.
On some computers it's possible, on some it isn't.
Thanks for any advice, you can give.
Yours sincerely
Karl
Attachments:
slot 1.PNG ‏6 KB
slot 2.PNG ‏9 KB
Parameter.PNG ‏46 KB

Is it possible to simulate EtherCAT devices in a project?

Given a project topology like this:
Windows PC Host <-> cRIO-9024 <-> NI-9114 backplane <-> NI-9144 EtherCAT #1 <-> NI-9144 EtherCAT #2 run in hybrid scan mode
During development is it possible to tell the project to run without EtherCAT #2 being physically connected, using virtual/simulated IO in place of it?
Just trying it, when I try to switch from Configuration to Active mode, I get an error saying that "the slave device cannot be found".
I often find myself thinking that the project explorer needs a good way to "comment out" various pieces of the project without having to resort to "Remove From Project".

Hi WNM,
Unfortunately, it is not possible to run the project without the ethercat slave device connected. That does sound like a very useful suggestion though! I recommend that you post to the NI Idea Exchange with your ideas for this. http://forums.ni.com/t5/NI-Idea-Exchange/ct-p/ideas
Regards,
Dayna P.
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

LabVIEW Interface for third party EtherCAT slaves

I have a third party EtherCAT hardware (slave) and software. I am using and industrial PC with Intel PRO network card as the EtherCAT master. This setup works fine, and I can talk to the EtherCAT modules using the thirdparty software.
Now, I would like to develop a LabVIEW interface to talk to the EtherCAT slaves for testing purposes, since most of my test programs are written in LabVIEW.
Is it possible to write EtherCAT software in standard LabVIEW 2013 using an inustrial PC as Master?
If I use the DLL of the third party software, do I need LabVIEW Real Time module for etherCAT communication?
-Thanks

Hi rosh,
I think it will depend on how the DLLs are designed. If you call the DLL at the right rates, you may be able to avoid using LabVIEW Real-Time. If you want to run LabVIEW Real-Time on your PC, you would need to replace the existing OS with LabVIEW Real-Time. Once you do that, you may be able to run your existing DLLs but compatibility is not guaranteed. This KnowledgeBase article describes the process of determining if your DLL is compatible with LabVIEW Real-Time (NI PharLap ETS is what installs when you replace the OS). For our other Real-Time operating systems on different targets, you would need access to the original source code so you could recompile for the new target.
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Deploy project with Ethercat

Hi All!
I need some help. I created a project which is made of two parts. The host run on a Standard PC (display HMI...) , the second part works on a PXI controller (RT) linked to a 9144 Ethercat. I debugg my project and everything works perfectly, I am able to read Ethercat variables from the host, send data to the RT using shared variables ....
To finalize my project i wanted to create an exe for the RT. That's the begining of my problems. I built the executable, Set it as startup, and deploy the exe to the target. After rebotting the target i started the host application... Now it's impossible to read Ethercat variables, and shared variable. If i try to deploy the shared variable or the Ethercat from the the project, it stop the executable which runs on the target...
I didn't found any document wich describe how to deploy Ethercat variable in an executable... Does someone have any idea about this problem ? any suggestion is welcome ....
Solved!
Go to Solution.

When running from a windows project RT SV libraries are usually set to deploy automatically when the RT application is deployed. Also you can manually deploy SV libraries yourself from the project.
Once a SV llibrary is deployed onto a RT target it will stay there until removed. You can check your deployment with the Distributed System Manager (DSM) if you can see it there then you are good.
Your RT exe cannot deploy its own libraries, they must be deployed beforehand. Also, you should be able to use the DSM to see scan engine IOV's on the 9144 chassis even if your RT app is not running. Check this first. Also check the .alias file on your RT target to make sure that it has the correct IP addresses to resolve any NSV URL's.

EtherCAT slave detection using PCIe-8231 on a RealTime LabView PC Target

Hi,
I'm trying to get a Copley controls Xenus Plus (XEl230-40) motor driver to work with a LabView RealTime PC target, using a PCIe-8231 in EtherCAT module. I've uploaded the ESI files for the driver to the host as well as the target, however, the target does not detect the drive. The host-target communication is done over a i1000e onboard NIC (eth0), and the PCIe-8231 is eth1.
Further, I've tried manually adding a Xenus slave, but when I deploy the configuration, I see an error saying the EtherCAT telegram timed out.
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I trust that you're working with the RT PC set to be in Configuration Mode rather than Active?
It sounds like you're only using the PCIe-8231 to act as a NIC. Are you using it for anything other than transferring the network communication? If not, have you tried reversing the cables to see if you're still able to communicate with the RT PC if you are only connected to the PCIe-8231?
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Ethercat won't boot on PXI chassis

I have a PXI chassis successfully running Industrial EtherCAT 2.0. I've retrieved the image using RTAD and imaged a new PXI chassis. Afterwards I went into MAX and verified that my primary ethernet and Master EtherCAT NICs were set correctly. Regardless, when I boot my newly imaged PXI the phase "NI-Industrial COmmunications for EtherCAT 2.0 started successfully" is never shown on the console out and my PXI returns ZERO discovered EtherCAT chasiss/channels. Why is this not booting??
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Hi Craige,
I think this is the KB you are talking about.
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AKD Drive Ethercat Torque Mode

I know that similar questions have been asked before without a satisfactory answer (thread), but we are trying to operate an AKD drive in torque mode over an EtherCat interface using a cRIO-9022. I have located and been testing PaulRB's workaround (link), but we seem to have a problem.
When attempting to use "Test App.vi" to run my drive, I receive the error "Error -70228 occured at Axis when executing 'Power' on Axis 1 at Invoke Node in Test App.vi". Labview seems to think that the drive is not enabled, but I have checked that the hardware enable is active (works in Kollmorgen Workbench). Additionally, I can get the drive to move using the Interactive Test Panel in Labview using the built-in AKD axis binding. I am using:
LabVIEW 2012
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NI SoftMotion Standard 2012
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Assuming that the Softmotion module is the problem, is there a way for us to evaluate the Softmotion Premium module before I recommend an upgrade?

Hi MrFisher,
I don't think it's likely that upgrading to Softmotion Premium will solve your issue, but if you would like to test this you can download the Softmotion evaluation. When you download the evaluation from National Instruments it should be the premium version. You can find this download here, http://www.ni.com/labview/softmotion/ .
As for this error, I've seen it pop up for two reasons. One is if the drive enable input is not connected. The second is if the emergency disable has been triggered or manually turned on. Do you think either of these could be the case in your system?
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Third party ethercat motion controllers

We are looking for recommendations for 3rd party EtherCAT motion controllers to integrate with a cRIO system. I am aware of this article. We will be driving 5 rotary brushless motors (moving them a couple of "steps" movements at 400 Hz). They have high resolution encoders (something like 1.2m positions per revolution).
We have spoken to Beckhoff but they don't support the high resolution of our encoders.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Steve

Hi Steve-
I'll ask for forgiveness in advance for getting on my soapbox, and somewhat hijacking your thread. I ask the questions I ask because they are important. I come across many customers that ask for a motion controller, drive, motor, etc, and they say that want to move something from X to Y. They then don't understand why I ask all the questions that follow. There are a lot of details of how the system operates that need to be determined before components can be selected. That comes from experience. Experience of upset customers that have a system that doesn't do what they wanted it to do, because they never gave the details of what they wanted it to do.
I ask about the encoder, because certain drives can only deal with certain types of encoders. Finding an EtherCAT drive is one step, but it doesn't do you any good if it can't read your encoder. You may also want to not use the term "motion controller" when referring to the slave drive. The cRIO will be the motion controller, and the slave is just a positioning drive. I also ask about loads, speeds, etc., because there are always physical limitations to what a servo system can do. The rotary table you selected has a fair amount of inertia, and getting it to respond to 400Hz commands will be difficult. Again, this is just from experience.
I am also sure there are many smart people at Goddard, but that doesn't mean they know about such a specialized application. I have worked with 4 different groups at NASA Lewis, and they call me when there is a motion control issue. They know their applications inside and out, and what they want it to do, but then they need someone else to actually implement it.
And finally, to answer you question. I do apologize for not doing that previously. I have worked with cRIO;s, and with many servo systems, but I have never used cRIO and EtherCAT. Yaskawa Sigma-5 is an excellent drive(standard servo motor it uses has over one million counts per rev), and is available with EtherCAT. I know that some time ago, they were developing it to work with 3rd party motors. I am not sure where that is. Other drives that I have worked with that have EtherCAT are the ABB ACSM1, and the Gefran ADV200.
Regards,
Brian

PXI as EtherCAT Slave?

There is substantial information concerning operating a PXI system as an EtherCAT master, and there is documentation about how to operate a CompactRIO 9144 chassis as an EtherCAT slave with a PXI or third party master, however there is no information as to whether or not you can run a PXI system as an EtherCAT slave.
I have a distributed real-time system in which I have one entity which controls the system and acts as an EtherCAT master. I would like to use a PXI system for data acquisition and processing however, it would need to work as a slave. Is this possible? EtherCAT slave devices typically require more than a standard NIC, and that gives me pause as to whether a PXI system can operate in this mode.
I like the idea of the RIO 9144, however I don't think I can achieve all of my acquisition requirements within the capabilities of this expansion chassis.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Chandler

DirkW,
Thank you for your prompt replies to both this question, and the one I posed over on the real-time board: "High Speed CANbus on a 9144 Slave." As I am sure you concluded, the two questions are related.
I have a heterogenous distributed real time architecture with a variety of different real time systems performing various tasks (computation, actuation, data acquisition, etc.). Currently, the system incorporates a combination of deterministic shared memory and UDP for communications. For cost, scalability, and simplicity reasons we are reconfiguring the architecture to commonize on EtherCAT.
Relative to data acquisition requirements, I have a variety of configurations that are used based on overall system configuration. The lightest weight versions have a very light I/O load, on the order of 5 analog inputs, 10 digital inputs, and 1 CANbus broadcasting 10 or so messages. The heaviest configuration has significantly higher channel count: ~10 analog in, ~10 digital in, ~20 analog out, ~10 freq/PWM inputs, ~5 freq/PWM out, and 2 CANbus. Overall system communications rate, again, depends on system configuration and target performance. This could be in the range of 500Hz or considerably higher.
Again considering the 9144 slave chassis, I have a feeling that the lightweight I/O configuration should not be a problem (assuming CANbus will work vis-a-vis my other posting). The more complex configuration may be a bit much for the slave chassis to handle relying on just the FPGA. Knowing now that a PXI can only be operated as a master, it is not impossible to consider reconfiguring the system topology to operate in this manner. However, there are still compelling reasons as to why we would want to maintain our current master.
If it is capable, my preference would be to go with a 9144. However, I would also like to "commonize" to a single data acquisition platform and not split between cRIO for lightweight applications, and PXI for heavier burden ones. I suppose this raises the fundamental question, currently is the 9144 the only device in the NI lineup that can operate as an EtherCAT slave?
Again, everyone's expertise is much appreciated,
Chandler

Ethercat : twincat to NI

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