Ethercat HAL driver

Now it works. I did a clean reinstall and now the lights on the EK1100 show that the bus is working and the LinuxCNC also opens and HAL configuration shows lcec.

What next? Should I get some IO module and connect it to the EK1100 and try whether I can actually do something useful over Ethercat?

About the drivers: Currently there seems to be not that many drivers for stepper and servo drives. Does the .c file of the actual driver contain the same information as the XML file for the generic driver?

Hello @CORBETT @JKAVS,

I don't know if all the devices can work with the linuxcnc-ethercat version but most work.
I think that sometimes they get confused about the generic issue, one thing is the network card, which can be generic or specific, it affects somewhat the performance especially if you have many devices but I think that really with the "generic" you have enough for linuxcnc,
the other issue is the generic driver for the device, which if it does not appear in the programmed list, you can use it without knowing how to program in C, quite useful for beginners, although it is a bit difficult to understand at first.

About the automatic installation of GROITUS, I don't know how it works.

the EK1100 device is only an interface, by itself it does nothing.

About the .xml file I have never used it, I always use the device manual and the commands included in, for complicated devices I use TWINCAT3

Greeting
Chimeno

@JKAVS

Ok good deal, glad you got it working... Yes I would get a EL1008 or something simple for input and you can get it figured out. That would be a easy terminal to get going... and you can use it in the future.... wouldn't be wasted.

Glad Chimeno got with you on the "generic" driver as he is verse in it.


Robert

Hello @sqmathlete,

I have gotten the EL5101 with a HONNER 58-11141-3000 encoder, in case you need any help.

Greeting
Chimeno

@JKAVS

I remember you wanting to do a super simple system back a few months ago. I had put this together before the holidays, but got busy and did not put it up... but since you were back on recently wanted to share this idea.

Ok you wanted to keep it super simple with EtherCAT and the big problem was finding ECAT VFD's that are affordable. This is still not super affordable, but gives another avenue. Andy (andypugh) posted in the past about Modbus using USB. Here is the link on the forum from Andy...

forum.linuxcnc.org/10-advanced-configura...-for-vfds-etc#181516


Here is my layout for using a AIO touchscreen computer with ECAT and Modbus.. would tie the limit switches back into the amps, but only show the basic setup.

Addition 01/23/2021

I got my Servodrive up and Running and found an old description file for my firmware version.
The configuration then was relative easy. But now i stuck at running LinuxCNC with my XML file.

It stucks at line 12 with a Parse error but i can't solve it.
Hope anyone can take a short look over my File.

Greetings Sven




Hi folks,
#does someone have the original Bosch-Rexroth XML Description for TwinCAT? The one i can download from the Rexroth page does #not support the firmware of my drive. The drive is FW version 18V34 and the downloadable XML is for 20V26.
#Unfortunatley Rexroth does not have an Donwload Archive on their Website.

#And my Servomotor is not supportet by the new Firmware version.


Thanks

@CORBETT

I think that Modbus will be the way to go with the VFD. I definitely don't want analog control for it. The whole thing will still be much simpler than a more traditional setup.

I got an EL1008 from mail today. Next I will try to get it working.

Hello @jc2ktr

It stucks at line 12 with a Parse error but i can't solve it.
Hope anyone can take a short look over my File.

not if you have already solved it, but the error is in line 11 and 13
I attach the example
ErrorSolution

Hi folks,
#does someone have the original Bosch-Rexroth XML Description for TwinCAT? The one i can download from the Rexroth page does #not support the firmware of my drive. The drive is FW version 18V34 and the downloadable XML is for 20V26.
#Unfortunatley Rexroth does not have an Donwload Archive on their Website.

#And my Servomotor is not supportet by the new Firmware version.

I think you would have to send an email to the Bosch company to see if they can send you the file.



Hello @CORBETT
You can also use some servo motor controllers that allow you to configure an asynchronous motor.


Greeting Chimeno

I got the EL1008 working. I added it to the ethercat-conf.xml and was able to see input in HAL Meter in linuxCNC.

Probably the hardest part follows next. I'm planning to use Leadshine servo drives which don't have drivers yet. Apparently the generic driver is not fast enough for servo drives so I'd have to write actual driver. Is there more information about it somewhere in this thread?

@JKVAS

What do you mean with "Apparently the generic driver is not fast enough for servo drives" ?

Its as fast as your servo period/ethercat app cycle time.