I’m exploring ways to interface an EPIC system with legacy equipment that uses a Profibus interface, ideally using the GRV-CSERI-4 for the physical connection. I’ve considered using the SNAP-PDPRS64 (SNAP Profibus-DP Digital Slave Brain), but it’s obsolete, and I’d still need to connect it to the EPIC (for a lightweight HMI). (This option isn’t off the table, though).
I have a few questions:
Has anyone successfully done this? (I prefer leveraging existing solutions!)
Is there a Codesys solution that I might have missed? (I’m planning to dive into Codesys, but my schedule has been way too full.)
Could anyone provide an estimate of the effort required to create a strategy for this? I have extensive interfacing experience but haven’t worked with Profibus yet.
Thanks for any feedback or guidance anyone can provide!
Speaking of which, I am trying right now to integrate a Anybus MbTcp to Ethercat main to Kollmorgen.
Do you have any idea of how this works??? It is not straight forward unless you already know how to do it.
Also, CAN is an option except that the Pac Control driver sub is not out yet, when is it going to be out? Do you have a beta version?
Well I’ve gotten pretty far, but now I find out that there are other issues such as the Anybus doesn’t read the ESI files, so the only way it can work is if you can modify the PDOs and SDOs in the slave, which normally isn’t the way it is supposed to work. This would work except that this Anybus does not support SDO’s which means that there doesn’t need to be a cyclic definition (sort of like EnetIP) . The SDOs are acyclic therefore would work with MbTCP just fine on a one by one request/response.
I mean I have been emailing with Anybus and Kollmorgen and the docs do not even scratch the surface…
Could I use the Snap CAN Buss module to do 2 way comms? If so, would I not need Pac Control strategy to read an ESI (xml) file in order to set up the PDOs?
I’ve not spent a lot of time with the SNAP CAN bus module, but I am pretty sure we have customers using it for both transmit and receive (obviously a great deal of care needs to be taken sending data).
Beno, the thing that is important to know regarding the CAN module is, does the subroutine for it provide for an SDO as well and PDOs and does it read an ESI file?
Apparently the way this works is that the master (I assume the module and sub is a master), has to read an ESI file, then sets the addresses for the PDOs/SDOs, also sets the cyclic data and timing and so on in the slave (known as sub device). If this doesn’t happen in the master then it doesn’t work.
I’m not sure this Anybus module will work because it is early in it’s development and it does not support reading the ESI files, so it has to depend on reading the setting and PDO, etc. that are set in the sub device. I gather that they are going to make it a full fledged master later at some point.
What did you mean by, " (obviously a great deal of care needs to be taken sending data)."?
Do you know what the status is on the Epic CAN module subroutine for Pac Control?
Yah, going in circles here…trying to make something work that I was skeptical of up front. Unfortunately, the selection of primary hardware not in my pervue.
Jim, Not sure if you are aware, but there is a Snap Profibus module and it does work, I have successfully used it to talk to a Kollmorgen servo drive.
Now on the other hand, not sure if you can connect to it from Pac control running on the Epic.
I noticed that the have obsoleted the part (to bad), but it is still available, be sure and check “obsoleted” in the search for it.
Also, remember that Profibus is very very fussy about the cable and the connectors, if you’re smart you’ll buy the actual Profibus cable and connectors…it is well worth the price.
