6RL SERIES OPERATION MANUAL
SECTION 7: REMOTE PROGRAMMING
Entire Contents Copyright
2018 by Adaptive Power Systems, Inc. (APS) • All Rights Reserved • No reproduction without written authorization from APS.
6RL Series Regenerative DC Load Operation Manual
Page 188 of 204
7.16
EtherCAT
7.16.1
Introduction
Available on EtherCAT module IF-AB-ECT. Per definition, the EtherCAT data communication
is based on CANopen, thus also called "CANopen over Ethernet (CoE)". All documentation
for EtherCAT and CANopen is provided by the Beckhoff company resp. the CiA organization.
Below we will refer anything related to software to Beckhoff's TwinCAT.
7.16.2
Integrating your unit in TwinCAT
You will need an ESI file, an EtherCAT unit description in XML format. This file can be
obtained upon request. The file stored in a dedicated folder in the TwinCAT installation.
Default path:
C:\TwinCAT\<twincat_version>\Config\Io\EtherCAT\
After installing this file and restarting the TwinCAT IDE, our EtherCAT slaves can be
integrated into the setup with the "Insert EtherCAT Unit" dialog and by selecting the unit
name "IF-AB-ECT":
Further slaves can be added with the same method.
7.16.3
Data objects
The units internally use ModBus protocol and for CANopen over Ethernet communication in
both directions, the messages are translated. This is why the reference for all cyclical data
(PDOs) and acyclical data (SDOs) are those ModBus register lists. They are available as
download. The acyclical objects are downloaded from the unit when accessing an online
EtherCAT slave in tab "CoE" in TwinCAT. Offline objects in form of an EDS file are not
available.
Summary of Contents for 6RL Series
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