Industrial Communication Protocols and Interfaces for Motion Control Applications
Industrial communication protocols and interfaces are the key to empowering intelligent motion. Machine-to-machine (M2M) communication is not only used on the factory floor; it’s also gaining popularity in lab automation, office automation, robotics, and even household devices. While different real-time requirements demand different approaches, it’s important for diverse industrial technologies, systems, and subsystems to communicate with each other and their environment to maximize efficiency and minimize downtime.
ADI Trinamic™ technologies leverage a wide range of industry-standard communication protocols and interfaces, enabling us to transform digital information into perfect physical motion even for the most precision-oriented applications.
CANopen
CANopen is a communication protocol and device profile specification originally designed for embedded networking applications. Based on the controller area network (CAN) protocol, CANopen offloads the system from CAN hardware-specific tasks, such as bit-timing and acceptance filtering. CANopen is the standardized protocol for time-critical processes and configuration, allowing for communication between devices from all manufacturers offering CANopen products. ADI Trinamic solutions are designed to fulfill the CANopen DS402 and DS301 standards while supporting unique features like StallGuard™ and CoolStep™.
CANopen over EtherCAT
CANopen over EtherCAT®, or CoE, is a protocol that supports all CANopen products to be used over EtherCAT. Making direct use of the service data object’s protocol, existing CANopen stacks can be used while they stay practically the same. By using the EtherCAT bus instead of CAN bus for transmitting and receiving data, this interface merges the advantages of the widely used CANopen protocol with the EtherCAT high speed field-bus system. As such, CoE enables CANopen for use in applications with real-time requirements, making it ideal for robotics and industrial automation, as well as other devices requiring high reliability, high synchronicity, and high bandwidth.
Modbus
Originally created by Modicon (now Schneider Electric), Modbus® is a data communications protocol commonly used for connecting industrial devices over the RS485 interface. While most ADI Trinamic modules normally use TMCL™ as their RS485 protocols, some modules support the Modbus protocol with special firmware. These modules do not fulfill real-time requirements. While this makes RS485 less suitable for applications such as cobots and highly synchronized multiaxis applications, the simplicity of Modbus makes it the preferred bus system for devices with an independent motor axis or for cost-sensitive applications.
