Hi Mark,
Sorry for the duplicated and not-ready-to-be-email, I hit the wrong
button.
For the simple inexpensive setup, one needs the EtherCAT Master, the
EtherCAT Slave, and some HW as follows:
1) EtherCAT Master : There are three different versions due to many
other reasons. In order to configure the the master, please look at my
ugly script repo :
https://github.com/jeonghanlee/ecat_setup
I think, you can find three repositories. If you have any issue to
access any of them, please let me know. And if you know better one,
please let me know.
2) HW list
* EK1100 EtherCAT Coupler (EtherCAT Terminals EL/ESxxxx)
* Some modules AI/AO and so on (depends on your selection for EPICS
EtherCAT driver&DB, please look at 3)
* EL9011 Bus end cap
In addition, you need a PC has two Ethernet interfaces.
3) EPICS EtherCAT Driver and DB
3.1) Diamond https://github.com/dls-controls/ethercat
: It has DB and Driver. And DB files help you which HW you can
buy)
3.2) PSI https://github.com/paulscherrerinstitute/ecat2
3.2*) ESS https://github.com/icshwi/m-epics-ecat2 ; (old forked
version of PSI)
: They do not have DB files, so you need another DB files for
this. Please look at
https://github.com/icshwi/e3-ecat2db/tree/master/ecat2db, then you can
find which HW can be used without writing any codes)
Well, it is not the perfect condition in terms of many issues. We
(ESS) are trying to find a way in order to minimize risks in the future.
HTH,
Han
P.S. I enclosed the photo of a EtherCAT test setup, which I built with
my colleague in our lab.
On 02/06/2018 08:37 PM, Mark Rivers wrote:
I am interested in trying out EtherCAT with a simple inexpensive
setup. What are the minimum parts I need to buy if I want to use the
EPICS EtherCAT driver to control some digital I/O, analog I/O, and a
stepper motor? I looked at the Beckhoff website, but I find it
overwhelming.
Thanks,
Mark