Beckhoff EtherCAT replacement with Redlion/Other

[lukesnh0j]

Hello, I have a Beckhoff TwinCAT system with local I/O and a remote EtherCat Box I/O.

The Beckhoff TwinCAT has failed and needs replacement.

Is it possible to use a Redlion system (As I'm very familiar with these) to re-use the EtherCat Box I/O Module or is there an alternative PLC that has EtherCAT comms (Omron/Schneider/AB/AD etc)

 

[LadderLogic]

Omron NX series PLCs certainly support EtherCAT although it might be a bit tricky to correctly configure some of the ECAT slave devices in Omron Sysmac Studio software.

Don't know about any other devices you mentioned.

 

[kolyur]

If you're OK with Beckhoff hardware but you just don't want to deal with TwinCAT, you could get an EK9000 Modbus-to-EtherCAT bus coupler. This would allow the I/O to be addressed from any device that supports Modbus TCP, like a Red Lion HMI. Configuration is done by setting the IP address via DIP switches, then pointing your browser to its internal webserver.

 

[lukesnh0j]

Thank you for your responses, I'm not familiar with Beckoff hence looking for alternatives.

End customer would now like Schneider so I think everything will need to be replaced.