How to customize EtherNet/IP adapter for developing simulator

2021-06-29
2023-07-11
  • AlfredoQuintero - 2021-06-29

    Hello. I have sued in the past the Codesys as an EtherNet/IP adapter, and it is a very good solution to communicate with other PLCs which have EtherNet/IP scanner function.

    I have a customer who develops applications on an EtherNet/IP scanner capable PLC which has tenths of robots and the problem when developing his logic is that usually he does not have all the IO as it is a line which costs millions of Euros, so very few chances to test his logic with all the IO.
    Using Codesys EtherNet/IP adapters and configuring several IP addresses I thought I could configure many instances of the Codesys EtherNet/IP adapter so the line controller could be fooled to believe it is communicating with the actual remote IO and robots in the line. However, in the "tags" property pages for the EtherNet/IP adapter the connection path is hard coded so it is not possible to modify it, so there is no way of mimicking other EtherNet/IP devices.

    Is there anyway to be able to modify the connection path? For example, by buying the professional engineering environment, so that it is possible to pass different connection path parameters?

    I think EtherNet/IP system integrators would love to have such a functionality, because they could test their PLC programs without simulation logic, that is the logic tested is the logic to be deployed in the4 field.

    Will be grateful for your comments.

     
  • i-campbell

    i-campbell - 2021-07-01

    Hello Alfredo, I was able to export the Device description for an Ethernet/IP Adapter... and change the connection path in the EDS. If I change also some identifiers in the devdesc.xml I can then reimport the device description, and have the original CODESYS Adapter and this new modified one in the device library at the same time...

    I have not experimented further, whether you can have two adapters running at the same time...

     
  • AlfredoQuintero - 2021-07-02

    Hello i-cambell, thanks very much for this information. I am not fully understanding your explanation. I will be grateful for your patience. What do you mean to export the Device description of an EtherNet/IP adapter. Normally, when you use the Codesys as an EtherNet/IP scanner you have to import the EDS file for the EtherNet/IP adapter you want to communicate with. In the opposite use case, you configure Codesys as an EtherNet/IP adapter and you export the EDS file so the Codesys adapter can be configured in the engineering tool of the EtherNet/IP adapter. So you mean that what you do is:
    Configure Codesys as an EtherNet/IP adapter, export the EDS file, edit the EDS file and re-import it?
    I do not know where this "device.xml" file is located. Is this like a catalog of devices? Is there a document that explains how to edit this file, or at least what this file means and so on?

     
  • i-campbell

    i-campbell - 2021-07-02

    Hi Alfredo, The Device Descriptions were once only documented for OEMs, but there is now some documentation here: https://forge.codesys.com/drv/io-drivers/doc/Generic/

    By export I meant: Codesys Menubar > Tools > Device Repository > Ethernet/IP Local Adapter > Export

    And once modified: Codesys Menubar > Tools > Device Repository > Ethernet/IP Local Adapter > Install

     
  • mikek10 - 2023-06-28

    Hi, I have a setup where have 2 robots which are Ethernet/IP Scanner only. I would like to be able to set Codesys up with 2 separate Ethernet/IP adaptor modules on the same network port each of which would be controlled by a single robot. However it seems that if I add a second ethernet adaptor on the same inteface only the first in the list is used. If I add a second module under the same adaptor it comprises part of the same device so cannot have a different master. I have tried doing as described above but it does not seem to work for me

     
  • jickisticki - 2023-07-11

    Effective communication and collaboration are crucial for a successful partnership https://mlsdev.com/blog/hire-a-development-team. Evaluate how responsive and transparent the development team is in their communication. Consider their ability to understand your project vision and their willingness to provide regular updates and progress reports.

     

    Last edit: jickisticki 2023-07-19

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