kolyur
Lifetime Supporting Member + Moderator
Can anyone share their experiences with Beckhoff's embedded PC controllers (CX series) and TwinCAT 3? Most of my internet searches have turned up 5-year-old threads that are likely outdated.
I ran across Beckhoff at the IMTS show in Chicago last month and later went to one of their "Beckhoff in Motion" hands-on seminars. The hardware seems impressive... a sub-$1000 controller with the power of a ControlLogix, or so they claim. The whole system is built around the EtherCAT bus which I don't have experience with but it looks to have a lot of advantages. I was told that everything in the EtherCAT chain--bus couplers and servo modules included--can be replaced without any reprogramming necessary. If this is true it seems like a great benefit for 3 a.m. maintenance work. I also like the idea that the safety modules can be located in the same banks as the regular I/O.
The TwinCAT 3.1 programming software uses Microsoft's Visual Studio IDE. Being a machine programmer and not a computer programmer, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. It's a bit bloated but not as much as Logix 5000 IMHO. It even installed without a hitch on my 7-year-old XP laptop which was a pleasant surprise.
I bought the promo hardware package from the seminar which included a CX9020 and a few I/O modules. So I go to hook up to this thing and of course my first question is, "what's the default IP address?" This is where my dismay began with the Beckhoff online help system. I couldn't find any kind of quick start manual or any references at all to the initial configuration of the unit. Through some Internet searches I finally found that it's set up for DHCP only, so you have to run a DHCP server on your PC to initially set an IP, then you can remote to it using Microsoft's CERHOST.exe to permanently change the address. (Kudos to Archie for his YouTube videos--they're more educational than anything Beckhoff provides.)
Next problem: I try to connect from TwinCAT and I get a message that the Windows CE image is version 2.11 but I'm using TwinCAT 3.1. Off went an email to Beckhoff support and I received a prompt, detailed reply on how to download and install the updated CE image. So my first impressions of Beckhoff support (which is free BTW) are good.
Now I guess I'm going to play around with this unit for awhile. Does anyone have any suggestions for learning structured text? I have rudimentary C knowledge so I understand the concepts, I just need to learn the syntax and commands. It took me about 20 minutes of Google searching yesterday to figure out how to address an individual bit within a word variable (again, thank you Archie).
I ran across Beckhoff at the IMTS show in Chicago last month and later went to one of their "Beckhoff in Motion" hands-on seminars. The hardware seems impressive... a sub-$1000 controller with the power of a ControlLogix, or so they claim. The whole system is built around the EtherCAT bus which I don't have experience with but it looks to have a lot of advantages. I was told that everything in the EtherCAT chain--bus couplers and servo modules included--can be replaced without any reprogramming necessary. If this is true it seems like a great benefit for 3 a.m. maintenance work. I also like the idea that the safety modules can be located in the same banks as the regular I/O.
The TwinCAT 3.1 programming software uses Microsoft's Visual Studio IDE. Being a machine programmer and not a computer programmer, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. It's a bit bloated but not as much as Logix 5000 IMHO. It even installed without a hitch on my 7-year-old XP laptop which was a pleasant surprise.
I bought the promo hardware package from the seminar which included a CX9020 and a few I/O modules. So I go to hook up to this thing and of course my first question is, "what's the default IP address?" This is where my dismay began with the Beckhoff online help system. I couldn't find any kind of quick start manual or any references at all to the initial configuration of the unit. Through some Internet searches I finally found that it's set up for DHCP only, so you have to run a DHCP server on your PC to initially set an IP, then you can remote to it using Microsoft's CERHOST.exe to permanently change the address. (Kudos to Archie for his YouTube videos--they're more educational than anything Beckhoff provides.)
Next problem: I try to connect from TwinCAT and I get a message that the Windows CE image is version 2.11 but I'm using TwinCAT 3.1. Off went an email to Beckhoff support and I received a prompt, detailed reply on how to download and install the updated CE image. So my first impressions of Beckhoff support (which is free BTW) are good.
Now I guess I'm going to play around with this unit for awhile. Does anyone have any suggestions for learning structured text? I have rudimentary C knowledge so I understand the concepts, I just need to learn the syntax and commands. It took me about 20 minutes of Google searching yesterday to figure out how to address an individual bit within a word variable (again, thank you Archie).