I am beginning EtherCAT master development. What do I need to know in regards to the Yaskawa drive interface?

FAQ#  SRV-Y4P05Q

Published Date :  03/16/2015

Question: I am beginning EtherCAT master development. What do I need to know in regards to the Yaskawa drive interface?
Answer:

Refer to the attached document or the text below.

PRELIMINARY:

 - Start with Yaskawa.com SRV-E17E47.
 - Proceed with AN.MTN.01 “EtherCAT Master Architecture”.
 - Additional topics pertaining to EtherCAT master development are below:

ESI File Usage:

- By reading the Yaskawa ESI file, the Yaskawa drive’s manufacturer specific objects may be visible to be read and written (example: Yaskawa drive parameters).
- For SGDV, if reading the ESI file, only 1 PDO map assignment per Sync Manager assignment is allowed (due to the “exclude” tag), when in fact 2 are possible if reading the PDO information from the EEPROM.
- Therefore, the recommendation is to read the ESI file for CoE objects, and then read the EEPROM for the PDO info.

Network Trace Tool:

- Obtain a network trace tool if a Wireshark trace can provide useful information for development.
- Product: Beckhoff ET2000.  A nanosecond timestamp is added to the packet.
- Search ethercat.org for additional information about Wireshark usage.

Known Working EtherCAT Master For Comparison:

- Refer to AN.MTN.03 “EtherCAT Servo Drive Quick Start Guide” for instructions to set up a known working EtherCAT Master for comparison for EtherCAT master development.

COMMUNICATIONS:
Enabling Distributed Clocks:

- Some stack vendors distribute the Distributed Clock (DC) mechanism as a separate package (example: acontis).  Yaskawa requires using DC when using Cyclic motion modes as indicated in AN.MTN.01.
- The DC mechanism is possible to be implemented independent of using the DC mechanism package from the master stack vendor, but support from Yaskawa to implement a successful DC mechanism may be limited, as Yaskawa recommends obtaining the developed DC mechanism package from the master stack vendor.  Implementation of the DC mechanism may require additional documentation from Yaskawa regarding ESC registers.  This may be available upon request.
- Refer to AN.MTN.01 for a process to determine usage and settings of DC.

Supported EtherCAT Commands:

- For SGDV, as mentioned in the Yaskawa EtherCAT drive’s user’s manual SIEPC72082904, the Yaskawa drive supports: APRD, FPRD, BRD, LRD, APWR, FPWR, BWR, LWR, ARMW, FRMW.
- The Yaskawa drive does not support APRW, FPRW, BRW, LRW.

EtherCAT State Machine:

- The state transition diagram is available in the user’s manual (for SGDV, SIEPC72082904).  However, one alarm, A.A12 “Synchronization Error” will cause the EtherCAT state to drop to Safe-Operational, as described in the Yaskawa EtherCAT drive’s user’s manual (for SGDV, SIEPC72082904).

File Over EtherCAT (FoE):

- The Yaskawa drive supports FoE.  Therefore, implementing FoE in the master may be desirable to utilize future features of the Yaskawa drive that utilize FoE.

ENI File:

- When using a non-Beckhoff ENI file generator, and issues occur such as initialization failure, generate an ENI file using the Beckhoff EtherCAT Configuration Tool (ET9000), and re-test.
- Example: The drive may need to be instructed to transition to INIT, even though the assumed first state is INIT.  The ENI file generated by Beckhoff’s EtherCAT Configuration Tool (ET9000) include this.

Product Information

Product Group: Servo Products
Product Line: SGDV EtherCAT, Network-Comm-EtherCAT
Application:
Topic/Sub Topic: Applications, Ask a Technical Question, Integration, Network Communications, Networks, Operation, Start Up

Other Information

Attachments: 648KB

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Please read and understand the product instruction manual before installing, servicing or operating Yaskawa products. FAQ content and illustrations are provided as technical advice to augment the information in manual, not supersede it. It is not possible to give detailed instructions for all types of installation or support activities. The information described in the FAQs are subject to change without notice to improve the product or FAQ. Yaskawa assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions or damages resulting from the use of the information contained in any FAQ. All warnings, cautions and product instruction for product use must be followed. Installation, operation and maintenance should be carried out by qualified personnel. Failure to observe these and other precautions highlighted in the product manuals will expose the user to high voltages resulting in, serious injury or death. Qualified personnel are defined as individuals who are familiar with the installation, starting, operation and maintenance of Yaskawa products of the type described and have proper qualifications to perform the work.