How to correctly map signals with NT151 Hilscher gateway

[tecnico]

Hi all,

          I am trying to configure a Hilscher NT151 (Ecat slave to Ecat master) to split a previously single ethercat network.

While doing some tests, I succeed in almost all taks, the networks operate correctly but I am not able to properly configure the PDOs on the PMAC side. 

While on the Hislcher side I have a correctly structured process image, on the PMAC side I just have a byte array (and can't even edit the data type to match the secondary mapping)

On the Sycon.net software I can export different config files, but none of them is accepted by the IDE (as done with ESD ECX-EC where  the configurator generates an ESI file that is imported with the ESI manager in the IDE)

 

What am I missing here?

Thanks

Andrea

 

 

[MoMo]

The PDO items displayed in the IDE are determined by the imported ESI file(Including whether PDO can be edited is determined by the ESI file), so I think your problem is that the IDE does not import the ESI file exported by Sycon.net.

It's not clear to me that the difficulty you're having is when importing the ESI file, the IDE reports an error? Or is it another problem?
Usually the IDE cannot import ESI files because ESI does not comply with the EtherCATSlaveInformationSpecification standard. If an error occurs when importing an ESI file, usually the IDE software will report.

Edited February 20 by MoMo

[tecnico]

That's exactly what happens.  The IDE reports that the ESI is invalid and can't be added.

Tried all the export possibilities to no avail

For example if I export Ethercat ENI I get this message

[MoMo]

From the file name of your picture "HLS_RTA_ENI", I guess that this is not an ESI file, which means that it is not a file used to describe the slave station information, but an ENI file, which is a file used to describe the master station settings.The meaning of the ENI file is "EtherCAT Network Information (ENI) Specification"

Usually used to set and notify the master station of its network topology and slave station information.

[tecnico]

of course ENI file is not the correct type but I tried all the export possibilities

I can also export a gateway mapping but IDE does not like it as well

 

[MoMo]

I don’t know much about your device. It may be that it cannot export the modified ESI file. You may need to consult Hilscher about this.

I'm also not sure that the Mapping file exported in your picture is an ESI file.

But judging from your current situation, it should not be a problem that can be solved by PMAC.

I can give you an example.

If the Fixed attribute of the 0x1a0 PDO in the ESI file is 1, the PDO group cannot be edited or modified in the IDE.

So all your current troubles are caused by the ESI file. PMAC cannot know your mapping information in the slave station. It must be obtained through the ESI file.

Edited February 20 by MoMo

[tecnico]

HLS_RTA_mapping.xml

This is the exported mapping.

Don't know enough to understand if it's correct or not

 

[MoMo]

Based on the content inside, this is obviously not an ESI file.

I guess your module is similar to the user-defined memory in PMAC.

In other words, it only delimits the data length of ECAT slave PDO communication. You need to reorganize the data through these bytes described in its existing ESI file.

For example, if a 32-bit data is mapped on the master side, it corresponds to a 4-byte PDO on the slave side.

In other words, you may need to reorganize the data by writing a program in PMAC.

Edited February 20 by MoMo

[tecnico]

This is exactly what I want to avoid if possible.

Let's see what Hilscher has to say

[tecnico]

Hilscher NT 151XX ECS V4.2.X.xml

Tried searching  for "fixed" in the XML but could not find any string.

Looking at other ESI files in comparison it appears that it's not a "fixed" type  problem but rather that only "byte" data is defined inside the XML file.

When I try to edit I just have the possibility to change the name of the entry but not the data size.

If nothing comes from Hilscher then I am afraid the only way is to mirror the exchanged tata in a user memory area and then access it as desired with suitable pointers.  Not exactly elegant...

[MoMo]

Add your slave station in my IDE, PDO can be edited, just add the content is still byte.

The content that can be added or modified in PDO is also determined by the ESI file, so you still need to consult Hilscher on this issue.
But there is a high probability that it will be what I guessed before, and it won’t be very elegant.

[tecnico]

I have been talking to Hilscher technical support  and, as I was afraid of, only bytes are available in the process image.

The only way to get the data properly formatted is to have a PLC / C function copying the process image to a memory area (like user memory) and then configure pointers with the correct size.