1.20 LTS SP6 Release Notes

[Sophie]

ctrlX AUTOMATION continues to develop rapidly in terms of its functionality and possible use cases. Bosch Rexroth therefore publishes new releases of apps and engineering software at regular intervals. This gives the community, customers and developers access to new functions. LTS releases (Long Term Support) are published once a year at the end of July. They are maintained over several years in the form of Service Packs (SPx) with bug fixes and security updates.
For details on release cycle and download area, see Release cycle of Apps and Engineering software.

Following are recent new features and highlights of the current version since the 1.12 LTS SP9 release.

• New ctrlX AUTOMATION Apps
• New ctrlX World Apps
• New features
• ctrlX OS – the operating system
• Fieldbus & Communication
• ctrlX AUTOMATION – DRIVE Connect
• ctrlX AUTOMATION – PLC
• ctrlX AUTOMATION – MOTION
• Engineering
• ctrlX WORKS Engineering
• ctrlX CORE virtual
• ctrlX PLC Engineering
• ctrlX I/O Engineering
• ctrlX AUTOMATION – 3D Viewer
• ctrlX AUTOMATION – IDE
• ctrlX AUTOMATION – Oscilloscope
• ctrlX AUTOMATION – Node RED
• ctrlX AUTOMATION – OPC UA Client
• ctrlX AUTOMATION – OPC UA Server
• Download
• History

New ctrlX AUTOMATION Apps

• ctrlX AUTOMATION – PROFINET Device to connect the ctrlX CORE as a subsystem below a third party PROFINET controller 
• ctrlX AUTOMATION – Modbus TCP to connect the ctrlX CORE to third-party devices via Modbus TCP
• ctrlX AUTOATION  – Telegraf – Server Agent to process information and write them to e.g. data bases 
• ctrlX AUTOMATION – IoT Dashboard – Visualize your data in dynamic interactive dashboards
  
  

New ctrlX World Apps

• Bosch - DeviceBridge - Seamless OT-IT Integration with Smart Data Transformation at Edge
• Cedalo - Eclipse Mosquitto MQTT Broker - The most downloaded MQTT broker worldwide
• FANUC - RMI-Connector - Seamlessly integrate your FANUC robots into ctrlX AUTOMATION
• iniNet - SpiderControl SCADA Server - a tool for all requirements in the HMI environment
• Weidmüller GTI - PROCON-WEB Embedded System - Easy & intuitive creation of future-proof Web HMI for ctrlX CORE
• WITTENSTEIN - Data Gateway - Service for integrating sensor data enabling condition monitoring systems
• WITTENSTEIN - cynapse Teach-In - Helps parametrizing cynapse thresholds for individual machine processes
• WITTENSTEIN - cynapse Monitor - Captures all features provided by cynapse and visualizes them on a dashboard
• FlowFuse - Node-RED - Enterprise-Grade Node-RED Solutions for Seamless Industrial Integration

New features

ctrlX OS – the operating system

• Image update from removable media
• ctrlX setup for a customized backup/restore from removable media (USB, µSD)
• Support of the license dongle for transferring licenses
• Factory reset from the web interface
  
  

Fieldbus & Communication

• List of compatible EtherCAT third party devices
  
  

ctrlX AUTOMATION – DRIVE Connect  

• Load parameters from a file (.par) to an axis and save axis parameters to a file (.par)
• Support for CoE objects (CANopen over EtherCAT)
• Firmware update in parallel to multiple drives
• Connecting drives from other networks via their IP addresses
• Looking up Diagnostic Codes from Drive Database
  
  

ctrlX AUTOMATION – PLC  

• Library CXAC_Diagnostics - Registering or sending diagnostic;
  managing individual diagnostic messages 
• Support of ctrlX CORE X7
• PLC method call - Parameter of type ENUM
• Updated PLC Web UI - Project information
• Integration of CODESYS runtime 3.5.19.0
  
  

ctrlX AUTOMATION – MOTION  

• Velocity control
• Support of  ctrlX CORE X7
• Support of up to 30 axes with ctrlX CORE X7
• Support of EtherCAT CoE drives
• Configurable EtherCAT cycle time to 2ms, 4ms and 8ms
  
  

Engineering

ctrlX WORKS Engineering  

• REST APIs for ctrlX WORKS, ctrlX PLC Engineering and ctrlX IO Engineering for the automation of engineering processes
• License manager for Windows Applications incl. creation of license dongles
• Automatic creation of an App Build Environment
  
  

ctrlX CORE virtual

• New feature for ctrlX CORE virtual (> 5 possible, selection Base image version, …)
  
  

ctrlX PLC Engineering

• Improved Communication settings dialog
• New dialogue Library Parameters
• New library for access to ctrlX CORE diagnosis
• Support of CODESYS Trend recording Alarms configuration
• Integration of CODESYS 3.5.19.10
• Introduction of Silent Mode  - API of ctrlX PLC Enegineering even works, when ctrlX PLC Engineering is not opened
  
  

ctrlX I/O Engineering

• Updated API for "Search device"  - ScanAndMergeDeviceJob of EtherCAT Master
• Improved Communication settings dialog
• Introduction of Silent Mode - API of ctrlX I/O Engineering even works, when ctrlX I/O Engineering is not opened
   

ctrlX AUTOMATION – 3D Viewer  

• Assignment of Data Layer variables to model axes and value manipulation via mathematical expressions
• Visualization of Safe Areas
• More options for configuration and visualization of the toolpath (multiple toolpaths, choice of color, length, visibility, ...)
• Importing and positioning of workpieces
  
  

ctrlX AUTOMATION – IDE  

• Motion Block Units: Support of units and weighting type of axes and kinematics
• Motion Blending Scope: The "Blending Scope" block can be used to specify the "blending" strategy for a defined number of commands.
• Persistence Extension: Connection to the ctrlX OS Key Value Database app to persist variables.
• Tools Extension: Timing blocks for runtime measurement and creation of time stamps
• Server Extension: Ability to host Data Layer nodes internally at IDE script runtime
  
  

ctrlX AUTOMATION – Oscilloscope  

• Support multi record modes for NRT and RT signals: single shot, continuous, repeat and bulk read
• Support manual and auto (rising/failing/equal/rising-failing) trigger modes
• Improvement of UI (support multi instances, 20 signals in one instance, multi diagrams in one instance, multi-Y axes, zoom by mouse/cursor/brush, analyze recorded data by arithmetic, etc.)
• Store and load recording data as CSV, store and load configuration as JSON
• Backup and restore configuration with Solution App
• Multi Language Support(MLS), functionality and interface update for Diagnosis
  
  

ctrlX AUTOMATION – Node RED  

• Node LTS update to version v18.15.0 
  
  

ctrlX AUTOMATION – OPC UA Client   

• Supports multi-dimensional arrays (matrices) as data type
• Supports complex datatypes (Enumerations, Structures, Unions) also for methods arguments
  
  

ctrlX AUTOMATION – OPC UA Server  

• Supports multi-dimensional arrays (matrices) as data type
• Access to PLC methods with parameters from PLC type ENUM
• Support of Data Layer BulkRead and BulkWrite if several nodes are requested in one service
• Methods can be added dynamically at runtime
  
  

Download

• Download ctrlX OS 1.20 LTS with ctrlX WORKS Engineering 1.20 here.

History

Spoiler

Release notes in details are available in the respective app documentation in the documentation system.

Release	Date	Release notes
1.20 LTS SP6	12/2023	resolved defects & modifications
1.20 LTS SP5	09/2023	resolved defects & modifications
1.20 LTS SP4	08/2023	release notes & documentation
1.12 LTS SP10	03/2023: bug fixing	release notes & documentation
1.12 LTS SP9	03/2022: first release with Long Term Support	release notes & documentation