Ethernet Powerlink Managing node.
A Powerlink network consists of two device types, an MN (Managing Node)
and one or several CN (Controlled Node). The Epl_MN object is used when
ProviewR acts as an MN in a Powerlink network.
The Powerlink circuit is configured in the node hierarchy with Epl_MN, Epl_CN
and Epl_Module objects. But a corresponding configuration also has to be done
in the openCONFIGURATOR. The openCONFIGURATOR imports xdd and xdc files provided
by the CN vendors, and will generate a cdc-file that is used by the Powerlink
stack to initiate the communication.
Configuration
Before the use of a Powerlink agent object a configuration
file must be created (cdc-file).
The preferred software for building the cdc-file is openCONFIGURATOR.
When using openCONFIGURATOR you have to provide the device description
files (.xdd) for all the slaves that will be used in the Powerlink network.
See section "Case study Powerlink tool openCONFIGURATOR" below for more
information.
The mapping of the input and output areas will be made by the
openCONFIGURATOR. All communication parameters such as cycle time
will be configured using openCONFIGURATOR.
When the configuration is complete you build the cdc-file and transfer
it to your project. Preferred location of the cdc-file is $pwrp_exe in the
current project. Then all you have to do is to specify the path in the
CDCfile attribute.
When building the cdc-file you will also get a file named xap.h. This
file contains two structs that represents the input and output areas.
You can use this as a map when you configure the channel objects for
the module. The channel types and representation has to match the area
descriptions in the xap.h file.
The NodeId is always 240 for a Powerlink MN. The address range
1-239 is used for CN. The address of a CN is specified in the
openCONFIGURATOR.
Epl_MN object also requires configuration of an EplHandler object, see
figure below.
Example Epl_MN settings
Example 1
A basic configuration with the ProviewR managing node configured with an
Epl_MN object. Below this two controlled node with one module each,
configured with Epl_CN and Epl_Module objects. Below the module objects
channel object are configured with input channels first and output
channels last.
Epl_MN
Epl_CN
Epl_Module
ChanAi
ChanAi
ChanAi
ChanIo
ChanAo
Epl_CN
Epl_Module
ChanAi
ChanAo
Example 2
This is an example with an ABB ACS880 frequency converter.
Note that the channels are contained in the Io attribute
of the module object M1.
The result will be like this three class object
Case study Powerlink tool openCONFIGURATOR
openCONFIGURATOR is an open source tool contributed by www.Kalycito.com.
openCONFIGURATION is used for easy setup, configuration and maintenance
of any POWERLINK network. openCONFIGURATOR ideally complements openPOWERLINK,
the open source POWERLINK protocol stack for master and slave.
Every node in a Powerlink network must be configure through this tool.
In a ProviewR project all Powerlink CN nodes is a reflection of this memory
mapping.
The Case
The case study is found in class help for object ABB_ACS880_Epl, see this
class for more information.
See also
