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, support and training
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.
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.
LabVIEW libraries for Hilscher CIFX (and netHost)
The following libraries for integration into your LabVIEW application are available as turn-key solutions:
Bus interface for Hilscher CIFX
- Cyclic read and write access to the interface
- available for all bus protocols supported by CIFX (EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, Sercos III, EtherCAT, Open
- Modbus/TCP, POWERLINK, VARAN)
- Optionally master or slave
Bus configuration for Hilscher CIFX
- Exchange of firmware (Real-Time Ethernet protocol)
- Exchange of the configuration (Sycon.net project)
Profinet configuration for Hilscher CIFX
- Setting the Profinet station name of IO devices
- Setting the IP address of IO devices
- Resetting IO devices to factory settings (resetting the station name and IP address)
- Bus scan (identification of IP address, subnet mask, gateway, name, product type and MAC address of the connected IO devices)
EtherCAT bus scan for Hilscher CIFX
- Bus scan (identification of vendor ID, product code, revision number, serial number and port status of the connected EtherCAT slaves)
Data sheet for download: LabVIEW libraries for Hilscher CIFX
TwinCAT extensions for LabVIEW and DIAdem
If real-time capability is required in addition to the bus connection, we add a TwinCAT driver layer to LabVIEW and DIAdem applications.
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.