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In the field of industrial automation, communication between the master and slaves is quite common, but communication between slaves has always been a technical challenge. This article will introduce how ZLG’s PCIe-2E master communication card cleverly solves this problem through EtherCAT technology, helping industrial communication reach new heights.
EtherCAT Communication Protocol and Its Application ScenariosEtherCAT is a high real-time fieldbus based on Ethernet transmission, capable of supporting communication between a master and multiple slaves. This master-slave communication architecture is quite common in industrial communication, with protocols like CanOpen and Modbus adopting similar mechanisms. However, in certain specific application scenarios, we not only need communication between the master and slaves but also between slaves. In such cases, standardized communication protocols that meet these needs are rare.
PCIe-2E Master Communication Card SolutionIn response to the market’s demand for such complex communication scenarios, ZLG’s PCIe-2E master communication card provides an effective solution, as shown in the network link design diagram.
We aim to achieve communication between slave 1, which is a servo driver without an encoder, and slave 2, which only has encoder functionality. Specifically, we need to transfer the encoder data from slave 2 to slave 1, thereby forming a complete servo driver function. Additionally, this solution can even support multiple encoder-less servo devices sharing the encoder functionality of slave 2. This communication scheme not only modularizes dedicated functional devices but also significantly broadens their application scenarios.1. Data Interaction Mechanism Between SlavesThe data interaction between slaves is mainly completed through the internal PCIe master communication card. After configuring the size of the data to be exchanged between slaves, the PCIe master communication card will copy the output buffer data of slave 2 into the buffer of slave 1 while processing the PDO frame, thus completing the data interaction and sending out the updated PDO frame.2. Configuration Process of AWStudio Upper Computer SoftwareTo achieve the aforementioned slave-to-slave communication functionality, we need to use the AWStudio upper computer software that comes with the PCIe master communication card. After opening the software, create a new solution. In the slave-to-slave communication function section of the software, users can freely configure the data to be exchanged between slaves. Once configured, export the eni file for the EtherCAT network configuration. When initializing the network configuration using the eni file, the PCIe communication card will handle all the data that needs to be exchanged between slaves in the PDO frame, ensuring the efficiency and accuracy of the entire communication process.
Through this method, ZLG’s PCIe-2E master communication card can not only meet the communication needs between the master and slaves but also enable data interaction between slaves, providing a flexible and efficient communication solution for complex industrial automation applications.
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PCIe EtherCAT Communication Card |
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