EtherCAT

[kku 1]

Has anyone used EtherCAT with Omron? Specifically I am wondering if anyone has tried using EtherCAT for discrete I/O. If so please share your insight and experieince. It seems you need to get at least the 4 axes motion card (CJ1W-NC482) to use EtherCAT. This is fine if you have motion axes to control but if you don't then this seems to be a substantial cost. "Remote I/O Memory Areas are used only by CJ1W-NC482/ 882/ F82 PCUs"

[ParaffinPower 13]

You are right; you need the 482 card for ethercat io even if you don't need the motion. I'm not sure if that supports third party io though. I have only used their GX block io with that card. Pp

[kku 1]

That's unfortunate, I wish Omron will release a stand alone EtherCAT master just for discrete I/O. What do you use to setup the I/O configuration for the GX blocks? CX-drive? How are the GX blocks working out for you? I notice Omron also has E3X-ECT (EtherCAT) communication units for sensors. I wonder if these are easy to map and setup.

[Michael Walsh 268]

Agreed, it would be nice to have the EtherCAT I/O only module. The I/O configuration is built into the I/O table in CX-Programmer. Start a blank project and put an NC482 in the I/O table and then double click it. Once it is open, you can right click on Network setting and add Slaves.

[kku 1]

Michael, thanks for your response. I see the I/O configuration in the I/O table. I also see where you can add slaves under the 'Network Settings'. However I only see a very limited selection of slaves. They are mostly Omron (of course), some SMC and Festo manifold interface units, and some IAI controllers. How can I add slaves from other vendors? I know Keyence has sensor communication units that are EtherCAT slaves. As far as I know the slave has a .esi file similar to .eds files for DeviceNet. I was hoping that there would be some configuration tool like CX-Integrator where I can build the EtherCAT network (like I would for DeviceNet or EtherNet IP). It doesn't seem like this is the case. I guess Omron hasn't fully jumped on board with EtherCAT for anything other than motion control for now. I really just want a EtherCAT I/O master. I wonder when I will get my wish.

[kku 1]

It looks like you can use third party EtherCAT slaves with Sysmac Studio for the NJ controller. From the NJ-controller manual: "An ESI (EtherCAT slave information) file is an XML file that describes the connection information and profile of the EtherCAT slave. To connect an EtherCAT slave that is manufactured by other company to an NJ-series master, you must install the ESI file for that slave in the Sysmac Studio to enable setting the slave."

[Michael Walsh 268]

Yes, you can. I almost responded with that exact statement. It is a very capable mutli-axis motion / machine controller at its base though. The built in EtherCAT does not meet your core suggested request of just being a super fast remote I/O network.

[kku 1]

Time to revive an old thread... We are going to be getting some new equipment so I started to look into the -NC482 card with EtherCAT slaves. We will be using the CJ2H PLCs so we will be sticking with CX-One. It seems in this case we cannot add third party EtherCat slaves. Unlike Sysmac Studio, there isn't an option to add a slave by loading a 'ESI' file. Is there a way around this using CX-One that I am not seeing?

[Michael Walsh 268]

You are correct, there is no way to use any devices not already listed for the NC482.

[kku 1]

That's terrible news. I hope Omron will change this in the future. I have been trying to figure out how to stop the axis motion as fast as possible based on an external input. In the past we have used a digital output from an external Kistler force monitoring system and for whatever reason this method hasn't been very responsive. We always have some overshooting in the axis system. So it becomes a cycle time versus accuracy trade off. What's the fastest way to stop an Omron G5 servo system that's running on EtherCAT? I was hoping I can get the Kistler ouput through EtherCAT but now this option is no longer available. We are using theG5 servo / axis system to press-fit a module into a housing. We use the external Kistler system to detect misalignment to avoid crashes and to detect if the module is seated / inserted properly into the housing.

[Michael Walsh 268]

You could always wire a digital input directly into the drive to whichever input is defined as the immediate stop input. The inputs are configurable and by default, input 1 is defined as 94 - which means immediate stop, normally closed. To make it normally open, you would change it to a setting of 14.

[ParaffinPower 13]

If you need to check for over-torque, you can set (or dynamically change) the torque limit.