EtherCat support

[io]

As the fastest growing protocol for motion, robotics and industrial control it would be nice to have it inside the VL world. Nugets are available but as usual it is a bit overwhelming trying to patch something together at that level.

[catweasel]

I don’t know what it is, but I approve this message…

[nissidis]

@io I am interested, never heard before for EtherCAT. How it can be tested? Is there need of physical a device?

[io]

Hallo, to make it dead simple EtherCat is to Rtu/Modbus or direct control what Artnet/Sacn is to DMX, get an ageing protocol and encapsulate into a “modern” network stream, which can be used on long run Ethernet cables.
In the beginning only a few company adhered to the protocol, mainly for CNC milling and routing machines, therefore the cost for a servo/stepper controller were on the thousands of euros but now I can see more and more low cost options, arduino shields, drivers, etc.
Basically you only need a double Ethernet port in a PC to act as a master and directly to the drivers, or use dedicated gateways.

More info :

EtherCAT Technology Group | EtherCAT

EtherCat shield : EtherCAT® & Arduino - AB&T

Ethercat Nuget: NuGet Gallery | EtherCAT.NET 1.0.0-alpha.9.final (installs nicely in VL)

[nissidis]

@io which means that this could be tested with an arduino shield in terms of simplicity in a home studio ?

[yar]

Isn’t it over-complicated? Almost any application you can think of can be replaced with conventional Ethernet using almost the same hardware. EtherCAT was designed for real-time system environments with microsecond delays and many kHz updates.

Don’t get me wrong, I can imagine a large-scale installation using this technology, but I can’t see why it would be needed in the general public. Seems like it’s a very unique application leading to a unique development.