Hi GuiHue,

that sounds really interesting!
I’m using three 1 kW Delta B3M servos on my machine and would like to make the system fully closed-loop by adding linear encoders to the axes. I’m still quite new to LinuxCNC and currently trying to understand how to build my machine configuration file and how to connect all the inputs and outputs from the Beckhoff DI/DO modules. My previous controller was an EDING CNC760 with Step/Puls and no encoder support...

What should I pay special attention to, and where would you recommend I start?
Also, which encoders are you using on your axes?

Best regards,
Michael

Regarding Intel ECI, it seems Intel offers the IgH Ethercat master under their ECI umbrella.
We have nothing to do with that.

There is not one linuxcnc system. The linuxcnc system is always tailor-made to fit the machine.
You piece together a number of components for kinematics, drive control, io, gui etc
and connect them together into a working linuxcnc system.
This is done in the hal file. Components are loaded, pins are connected or given values.
Pins are the basic connection points in and out of a component.

lcec (linuxcnc ethercat component) is the component that connects pins to ethercat pdos.
lcec reads and writes data from the ethercat device every servo cycle (like every 1 ms)
and exchanges the data with the connected components.

I tried to install Monokrom and installed python3-monokrom.
Then it stopped.
monokrom_plasma --install didn't do anything useful as far as I can see.Couldn't find the way forward.

Can some outline the steps to install monokrom. I have a qtplasmac system I want to test this on.

rodw wrote:

mariusl wrote:

Thanks Rob. So it will make sense then to force the eth0 irq to the last core?
Yes, be guided by PCW there. Thats what he says but a lot of RT stuff I have read indicates it should be on a seperate core. I have wondered about setting the affinity for eth0 to core 6 and the linuxcnc rtapi thread irq to core 7 (given isolcpus=6,7) The latency test is really irrelevant with mesa hardware and you need to focus on network latency.



 

I am testing on a machine with 8 cores but the units that are giving me uphill all have only 4 cores. I will isolate 2,3 and put the eth0 irq on 2 to test. I will report back once I have tested it. Unfortunately all the machines that are problematic are a couple of hours away from me. Is there a way to test the network latency?

Does the specific firmware for the G540 for the 792TF need to be loaded on the card?

Just asking for a friend.

There is a sheetcam setting to set the file extension. I always output .ngc files but you can set linuxcnc to open tap too

Thank you guys the wheezy version base latency was in the 30000 - 40000 ns range on multiple tests, and I think that will be fine for me.

mariusl wrote:

Thanks Rob. So it will make sense then to force the eth0 irq to the last core?

Yes, be guided by PCW there. Thats what he says but a lot of RT stuff I have read indicates it should be on a seperate core. I have wondered about setting the affinity for eth0 to core 6 and the linuxcnc rtapi thread irq to core 7 (given isolcpus=6,7) The latency test is really irrelevant with mesa hardware and you need to focus on network latency.

@auric, Don't be afraid to ask on your own thread. Sometimes thats best so we can follow your journey.
Some of the Intel stuff is a bit dated now as we worked to make ethercat easier for you. The simplest way to get linuxcnc and ethercat right now is to download the 2.94 ISO from Linuxcnc's download page and install it on a PC from a thumb drive
Then follow the steps in this thread to get linuxcnc and ethercat going. This will give you Debian Bookworm and linuxcnc 2.9.4 which is only missing a couple of minor bug fixes in the latest 2.9.7 
forum.linuxcnc.org/ethercat/45336-etherc...-how-to-step-by-step
Today, the linuxcnc ethercat hal driver is hosted on the iGh ethercat repository. There are some licensing reasons preventing us to install the ethercat master on our ISO so we do the next best thing and est up the system files so you can install their ethercat master with a single command..

Anyway, back to hal, Linuxcnc's hardware abstraction layer. Linuxcnc is always the motion controller so it has the full power of your PC st its disposal instead of on an emasculated embedded PC like some other CNC systems on Windows use. This requires using the PREMPT_RT real time kernel. Linuxcnc runs a real time servo thread synced to ethercat which fires 1000 times a second. The hal file  (a text file) defines how all of the parts of a CNC machine are connected together. eg where are estops, home and limit switches connected etc.  The Hal file also loads the ethercat hal driver with  an XML file for ethercat to define your ethercat slaves, PIDs. MIDs etc.  The linuxcnc ini file defines the actual physical hardware. eg how many axes, is it metric or imperial, what gui is opened, encoder resolution per rev, max velocitiy and accelleration per axis, the kinematics model etc.

To see what hal can do, go to our documents   linuxcnc.org/docs/stable/html/ and click on the expand man pages button and review the hal components that can be loaded in your hal file. If that's not enough, you can write your own custom components in a C like environment that can be compiled and installed into linuxcnc with halcompile. Once your custom components is installed it is treated as if its part of the linuxcnc core! 

Oh and Sitner's original ethercat hal  driver has been taken over by Scott Laird, modernized and extended including automated build processes that publishes any changes in the code to the iGh repository. Since then, the uptake of ethercat has exploded as its no longer necessary to modify and build anything from source.
 

I apologize for posting here; I couldn't find a more suitable topic, and I was afraid to start a new one. I've become interested in EtherCAT, and I think I've even figured it out at some level. I often work with CNC, but I haven't worked with LinuxCNC yet. I've become intrigued by how users connect the hardware and the CNC itself (after all, EtherCAT has already made significant inroads into drives and other areas). A simple search for "LinuxCNC EtherCAT" yields several interesting topics. First, I wanted to understand the HAL: am I correct in assuming it's a set of specific instructions that configure the CNC itself so that a task is sent to another process that handles EtherCAT? Or is it not just settings, but also a process or driver of some sort?
What is most often used to connect the CNC and the servo drives themselves?
I found this page while searching: eci.intel.com/docs/3.3/development/tutor...enable-linuxcnc.html . If I understand correctly, it suggests using the IgH EtherCAT Master Stack and the LinuxCNC EtherCAT Driver. I'm confused, because the IgH EtherCAT Master is an open-source development from etherlab.org. What does Intel have to do with it, and why is it sometimes referred to as the ECI EtherCAT Master Stack? What does the LinuxCNC EtherCAT Driver (github.com/sittner/linuxcnc-ethercat.git) do in the bundle? And what does Intel Edge Control do then?

I would just use pncconf to setup a G540 configuration (config page): 

 

And the setup the pins on the P2 tab: 

 


The main thing that's awkward is the mapping of GPIO pins for things like  limit/home switches

and spindle-on, but you can list the GPIO/G540 correspondence with mesaflash:
something like:

mesaflash --device 7I92T --addr 10.10.10.10 --readhmid --dbname1 g540 

ChatGPT is just a time sink here

Hi there. Any chance you still have your ini or HAL?

I’m having issues with my 4 axis with when I release the clamps the table “bumps” abit and then goes into joint error. I’m also not fining any Info on the scale settings for it.

Thanks Rob. So it will make sense then to force the eth0 irq to the last core?