etherCAT without cRIO or PXI

[TapTap]

Hello,

Can a PC be the master controller of an etherCat chassis ? In other words a PC dedicated to run only the real time OS instead of using a CRIO 9074 or PXI. If yes what are the advantages of this configuration ? I have seen in the documentation only the conventional connection.

PS : Note that I am new user of NI products

Thanks.

[A.Rohde]

Hi TapTap

You can take a traditional Desktop PC and install NI Real-Time O/S on this PC.

If you do this you would be able to use the NI 9144 EtherCAT chassis directly without having to rely on a PXI or cRIO system.

This support was added in the NI Industrial Communications for EtherCAT driver version 2.5, meaning that is will work with LabVIEW 2012 SP1 and above versions.

There is some requirement for your hardware before you can garantee that it will work as a Real-Time Desktop PC those you can read more about here:

http://www.ni.com/white-paper/8239/en/

A regular system like this would then normally consist of (note latest software versions mentioned):

1) Development computer running Windows with LabVIEW 2013, NI Real-Time module 2013, NI-RIO 13.0 driver, NI Industrial Communications for EtherCAT 2.6

2) Real-Time Desktop PC (see above requirements for software) running NI-RIO 13.0 for LabVIEW 2013 and with the ethercat module installed in MAX. 

Best Regards

Anders Rohde | Platinum Applications Engineer | CLD | National Instruments Denmark

[TapTap]

Thanks a lot for your reply !