Fieldbuses – EtherCAT, Profinet, Profibus, SERCOS III, CAN, IO-Link
We have many years of experience in connecting LabVIEW and DIAdem applications to a wide variety of fieldbuses – on a wide range of platforms.
We connect the EtherCAT master of the NI compactRIO family with a variety of slaves (intelligent sensors, actuators such as servo controllers, embedded PCs with EtherCAT slaves, interface converters, e.g. for IO-Link) and with other masters via EtherCAT bridges. We connect valve terminals, sensors and actuators via compactRIO modules with bus interfaces for Profibus and CAN / CANopen, among others.
On PC platforms, we use the real-time Ethernet cards of the cifX family from Hilscher and LabVIEW and VB.NET libraries developed by us for the bus connection, which not only exchange data with the card but also perform the necessary data type conversions. Thanks to the multi-bus capability of cifX, Profinet, EtherCAT, SERCOS III and other real-time Ethernet buses are available as interfaces. And whether the LabVIEW or DIAdem application is the master or slave in the network can also be determined by the cifX firmware.
We have also developed libraries for automatic configuration in case it is necessary to switch between the buses (as with our multi-bus-capable test benches, where the bus can change from one DUT to the next). These transfer the configuration within seconds, the communication is restarted and the (new) bus is running.
Applications and support
We develop complete LabVIEW and DIAdem applications with bus connection according to your specifications.
We support you in the implementation of your bus connection in NI LabVIEW and DIAdem – not only at the application level, but also in the configuration and parameterization of the interface hardware and the fieldbus.
LabVIEW libraries for Hilscher CIFX (and netHost)
In addition to cyclic bus communication, our LabVIEW libraries for Hilscher cifX and netHost also enable on-the-fly change of the Real-Time Ethernet protocol and the bus configuration. Furthermore, bus-specific functions are available for identifying the bus participants (bus scan) and for their configuration (e.g. setting the Profinet station name). A detailed description can be found here.
TwinCAT extensions for LabVIEW and DIAdem
If real-time capability is required in addition to the bus connection, our NI LabVIEW real-time extension and our NI DIAdem real-time extension provide turn-key e solutions based on TwinCAT, which can of course be adapted to project-specific demands if required.
Using TwinCAT and Beckhoff hardware, we extend NI compactRIO controllers with bus interfaces that are not available as standard, e.g. for IO-Link.
We connect TwinCAT’s own EtherCAT master with a wide variety of slaves (intelligent sensors, actuators such as servo controllers and valve terminals) and with other masters via EtherCAT bridges. We communicate with pressure transmitters, mass flow meters and controllers, valve systems and much more via Bus Terminals, including for Profibus, CAN / CANopen and IO-Link.
Training
With individual training courses, we provide you with the necessary knowledge if you want to maintain and further develop your bus interfaces yourself or solve critical sub-problems for you. We can provide you with tailored know-how for your specific needs, either on-site or remotely.