FATEK FBs-CMECAT EtherCAT Master Communication Module User Manual

FATEK FBs-CMECAT EtherCAT Master Communication Module

Overview

The CMECAT module is an EtherCAT master communication module for FBs-series PLC and can be mounted on the left side extension of the CPU module. Any FBs PLC can effectively control or exchange data with slave devices on the EtherCAT network with it.
EtherCAT is an Ethernet-based fieldbus system with advantage of short cycle times, low jitter for accurate synchronization and low hardware costs. EtherCAT is suitable for both hard and soft real-time computing requirements in automation technology.
The CMECAT module supports the control of the 9-axis (slave device) and supports 4 RPDOs and 4 TPDOs as data exchanges for each axis. PLC register R1000~R3047 are reserved for PDO use. The configuration tool, CMECAT Configurator, automatically allocates PLC registers to PDOs planned by the user.
Users can find the mapping information through the view mapping page to facilitate the development of the PLC control program. A variety of ways to configure EtherCAT network allows users to be more flexible in testing and deployment. The SDO task function relieves the programming burden of using SDO operations in ladder programs.

Specification

Table 1 CMECAT Specification

Installation and Wiring

The CMECAT communication module should be installed on the left side extension of the FBs PLC:
Figure 1 CMECAT top view

The CMECAT module uses a standard Ethernet cable. Network is setup like this:
Figure 2 CMECAT network connection topology

PLC Application Interface

Communication between PLC and CMECAT is achieved by using the registers of PLC. These registers for communication are divided into the following areas:

Communication interface area

R3500~R3699 are reserved for communication between CMECAT and the CMECAT Configurator software. Do not use the registers in this area in PLC programs.

SDO task data area

The range is 64 registers from D3830 to D3893. SDO tasks planned by the CMECAT Configurator are mapped to the corresponding read and write registers from this area, so users can easily perform SDO operations by reading and writing to the corresponding registers.

Process data area

A total of 2048 registers ranging from R1000 to R3047 are assigned automatically by the CMECAT Configurator software according to the actual PDO mapping. PDOs are used to exchange data with other nodes of the network through this register area. Registers that are not used for PDO in this area can be used for other purpose.

Table 2 Process data area

~
R2023
Process data out (RPDO)| R2024
~
R3047

Module status area

Table 3 Module status area

the configuration and is not recommended for modification.
D3800~D3813| EtherCAT network status
D3800| EtherCAT TX count (higher word)
| D3801| EtherCAT TX count (lower word)
D3802| EtherCAT RX count (higher word)
D3803| EtherCAT RX count (lower word)
D3804| EtherCAT ERR count (higher word)
D3805| EtherCAT ERR count (lower word)
D3806| Cycle time
D3807| Slave count
D3808| Higher byte: master status
Lower byte: slave 1 status
D3809| Higher byte: slave 2 status
Lower byte: slave 3 status
D3810| Higher byte: slave 4 status
Lower byte: slave 5 status
D3811| Higher byte: slave 6 status
Lower byte: slave 7 status
D3812| Higher byte: slave 8 status
Lower byte: slave 9 status
D3813| Link status
D3896~D3897| SDO task status
BIT0 ~ 31 represent status of the 32 SDO tasks 0: OK
1: Error

PLC block ladder reserved registers

Table 4 PLC block ladder reserved registers

LED Indicators

RUN LED (green) and ERR LED (red) operates as follow:

Table 5 RUN led modes

Table 6 ERR led modes

Figure 3 Indicator status and flash rate

CMECAT Configurator Software

This software has the following features:

• The establishment and modification of CMECAT module configuration. The configuration can be saved as a file for ease of copy.
• The SDO task service which reads or writes control objects in a single slave device by simply accessing PLC registers makes performing SDO operations a breeze.
• Firmware update of CMECAT through PLC serial port.
  Figure 4 CMECAT Configurator main page
  

Table 7 Main page description

PLC connection

The software must be connected to the PLC through serial port to perform online operation. After the communication line is connected, press the Comm. Port Setup button to setup the PC serial port. The operation screen is as shown below.

Figure 5 Communication port setup

After the connection is set successfully, press Test to confirm that the settings are correct, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 6 Serial port test OK

Configuration setup

Click on Module Configuration automatically obtains CMECAT module status. If the module has been initialized, it will jump to the master page directly; if the module has not been initialized, the following window will pop up. There are two options here:

1. Initialize CMECAT module
2. Fatek configuration file offline viewer
   Figure 7 Select initial action

Module initialization

If users choose to initialize the CMECAT module, here are four ways to choose from, as shown below.
Figure 8 Select initialization method

Initialize from slave EEPROM
The slave device’s basic set values are stored in the EEPROM, and the CMECAT module can directly query and retrieve the set values, thereby initializing the CMECAT module.

Initialize from ESI file
The ESI (EtherCAT Slave Information) file is an official definition file defined by the ETG (EtherCAT Technology Group). It can be loaded into the CMECAT Configurator to initialize CMECAT module.

Initialize from flash memory
CMECAT can save the current configuration to the internal flash memory. In the future, the module can directly access the settings and initialize itself.

Initialize from Fatek configuration file
The purpose of Fatek configuration file is similar to the idea of an ESI file but for a Fatek EtherCAT master module. The information of the CMECAT service such as SDO task is also included. Users can use the CMECAT Configurator to load the content and write it into CMECAT.

EtherCAT master page

After the CMECAT module initialization is completed, the master page is as follows.
Figure 9 EtherCAT master page

The description of each icon is as follows.
Table 8 Master page description

EtherCAT bus status

Click to display the current status of the master station, bus status and list of slave devices, as shown below.
Figure 10 EtherCAT bus status

Table 9 EtherCAT bus status description

4 : safe-operational
2 : pre-operational
Error| Master error, show None if no error
COM port| COM port status, show OK if no error
Fieldbus Status
(press   to refresh)| Tx Count| Tx packet count
Rx Count| Rx packet count
Err Count| Err packet count
Slave Ciunt| Slave device count on bus
Cycle Time| Cycle time
Slave List| Name| Slave name
Config Addr| Configured address of slave device
State| Slave device state
Link| Link state
Topology| Link topology
LINE: intermediate device END: end device
SM #| SyncManager count in slave device
FMMU #| FMMU count in slave device

The information on this page is for review only and cannot be edited.

Process data mapping
Click on to display the current status of each station’s Process Data mapping, users can freely modify the mapping content, as shown below.
Figure 11 Process data mapping

Table 10 Process data page description

name
Operation Mode| Drop-down menu to set the current operation mode (pp, pv, tq, etc)
Pos Addr| Position address of slave device
Config Addr| Configured address of slave device
PDO Assignment (Directly click on the item to view)| Sync Manager| The current SyncManager configuration status of the slave station, read only.
SM-PDO Mapping| The configuration status of all PDOs under a SyncManager, can be modified, press     to make effective.
PDO Content (Directly click on the item to view)| PDO-Object Mapping| The configuration status of all objects under a PDO, can be modified, press   to make effective.

Right click on any item or blank space to open the editing options, there are five ways: add, delete, modify, move up, move down.

Edit SM-PDO Mapping
To add a PDO under the SyncManager, right-click on the blank to open the menu. Only the Add option allowed.
Figure 12 Add PDO

After selecting Add, the editing window will pop up. After the editing is completed, click OK. Remember to click again to have the new value take effect.
Figure 13 Input new PDO

To delete, modify, move up, and move down PDO, first select the item and then right click to open the menu.
Figure 14 Delete, modify and move PDO

If select Modify, an edit window will pop up. Each field displays the current setting value. After the editing is completed, click OK. Remember to click again to make the new value take effect.
Figure 15 Input PDO content

Edit PDO-Object Mapping
To add an object under the PDO, right-click on the blank to open the menu. Only the Add option allowed.
Figure 16 Add object

After selecting Add, the editing window will pop up. After the editing is completed, click OK. Remember to click again to have the new value take effect.
Figure 17 Input new object

To delete, modify, move up, and move down object, first select the item and then right click to open the menu.
Figure 18 Delete, modify and move object

If select Modify, an edit window will pop up. Each field displays the current setting value. After the editing is completed, click OK. Remember to click again to make the new value take effect.
Figure 19 Input object content

PLC register mapping
Click to display the mapping of the control objects to the PLC registers. This is generated by CMECAT automatically. Users can write ladder programs according to its contents. Reading and writing PLC registers is equivalent to accessing the control objects of the slaves. The information on this page is read-only.
Figure 20 PLC register map

Table 11 PLC register map description

SDO task settings
Click to display the current SDO task settings, so that SDO operations can be completed by accessing the PLC register. The CMECAT module supports 32 SDO tasks. As shown below.
Figure 21 SDO task

Table 12 SDO task description

Edit SDO task data
To add a SDO task, right-click on the blank to open the menu. Only the Add option allowed.
Figure 22 Add SDO task

After selecting Add, the editing window will pop up. After the editing is completed, click OK. Remember to click again to have the new value take effect.
Figure 23 Input new SDO task

To delete, modify, move up, and move down PDO, first select the item and then right click to open the menu.
Figure 24 Delete, modify and move SDO task

If select Modify, an edit window will pop up. Each field displays the current setting value. After the editing is completed, click OK. Remember to click again to make the new value take effect.
Figure 25 Input SDO task content

For more information on how to manipulate SDO operations in a ladder program, please refer to the operation manual.

Start / stop EtherCAT network
Click or to switch all slave devices to operational state or pre-operational state。

Save current configurations
Users can save all the internal settings of the current CMECAT module. There are two options: Click to store in the flash memory in the CMECAT, or click to save as the Fatek configuration file.

Reset CMECAT Module
Click to clear the internal settings of the CMECAT module.
The CMECAT Configurator software will guide the user to reinitialize the module.。

Firmware update

Click the Firmware Update button to enter the firmware update operation screen. File Name is the firmware file to be updated, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 26 Firmware update

Select firmware image file
Click to open the file selection window and press OK to display the following screen. The firmware version information in the corresponding file will be displayed on the screen.
Figure 27 Firmware information

Start firmware update
Click Start to start firmware update.

End application

Click Exit to end CMECAT Configurator software.

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