EtherCAT CiA301 or CiA406 supported for encoder?

[ctrlXnovo]

Hi!

I'd like to use this encoder with ctrlX CORE.  (Dynapar AI25 EtherCAT Absolute Encoder).  It appears to use CoE, with either of these protocols: CiA301 or CiA406.  Does ctrlX CORE EtherCAT support these protocols?  A datasheet is available on the same website as linked above and I was able to import this with no problem.  But I'm not sure if that means that it will actually communicate with the CORE.  For my application, I need to read the position and velocity (or calculate it manually) and view it with the Oscilloscope app (hopefully).  

Here is a direct quote from the encoder user manual, also available at the link above:

"The ACURO AC58 EtherCAT®
meets the requirements defined in the communication profile (CiA 301, reference [3]) and in the device profile for encoders (CiA 406, reference [4]).
NOTE! The mentioned documents CiA 301 (reference [3]) and CiA 406 (reference [4]) originate from CAN in Automation e.V. These are not official ETG documents.
This is done by the mailbox protocol CoE (CANopen over Ethernet) which is a part of the EtherCAT standard. "

[CodeShepherd · Accepted solution]

If the EtherCat standards are met and you can import the devices in ctrlX IO Engineering our master should work just fine with it.

The main difference in these Standards are the interpretation of the interfaces and implementations of functions. See description in the manual mentioned by you above:

Encoder Device Profile (CiA 406)
NOTE! The Encoder Device Profile CiA 406 (reference [4 ]) has not been officially approved by the
ETG!
This profile describes a binding, but manufacturer-independent definition of the interface for
encoders. The profile not only defines which CoE functions are to be used, but also how they are to
be used. This standard permits an open and manufacturer-independent bus system.
Furthermore, an addressable area is defined in the profile, to which, depending on the
manufacturer, different functions can be assigned.

So our ctrlX MOTION is not able to work with this drives/encoders at the moment.

[ctrlXnovo]

Thank you for the explanation.  Our application does not require the Motion app. We are simply reading the position into the Data Layer for measuring purposes.  I will probably try the Oscilloscope app.  There is no synchronization in this application.  I think it should work for what we need to do.

Thanks!