Posted to News on 16th Dec 2007, 20:45
Lenze 9400 servo drives gain EtherCAT module option
Lenze is extending industrial Ethernet support for its 9400 servo controllers by introducing an EtherCAT module. This latest addition will be attractive to users of Beckhoff controls and offers a further option alongside the existing 9400 servo drive Profinet and Powerlink modules.
The industrial real-time Ethernet model, originally developed by Beckhoff, is characterised by high baud rates. This is thanks to the one-total-frame protocol and the associated minimised telegram overheads. Even when transmitting the smallest data volumes, such as those commonly encountered in automation, the entire bandwidth provided by Ethernet is fully utilised. Therefore, cycle times of 30us can still be reached with more than 1000 I/O. EtherCAT is suitable for both line and tree topologies. Combining lines and branches or spurs (comb structure) is particularly useful when wiring complex systems.
In particular, using Lenze's EtherCAT module, the CANopen protocol can be transmitted (CANopen over EtherCAT, CoE). As a result, upgrading from CANopen to EtherCAT is said to be simple. Users of CANopen will also be familiar with DS301 port mapping, which is compatible with the EtherCAT module. This function determines which of the servo controller's internal data objects is extracted by the module via process data channels. The controller's process and service data (parameterisation and diagnostics data) can be both read and written via the EtherCAT module. This allows parameter setting and diagnostics of distributed Lenze drives via a remote central computer in a shared system.
Follow the link for more information about 9400 servo drives.
