Set up a Festo CPX-AP-A/AP-I, CPX-E Remote-IO System with ctrlX CORE using EtherCAT

Requirements

Hardware

· ctrlX CORE with EtherCAT Master

· Festo Remote-I/O-System CPX-AP-A / CPX-AP-I / CPX-E

Software

· EtherCAT ESI Files for Festo devices CPX-AP-A / CPX-AP-I / CPX-E

· ctrlX I/O Engineering

· ctrlX OS V2.6.4 (or higher)

Get and install ESI Files

Download ESI Files for your device from the Festo website.

Go to Website, search for your device and search in the Download Section in Software for the EtherCAT XML File:

Fig. 1: Example for finding the product EtherCAT Slave Information (ESI) file

Fig. 2: Download dialogue EtherCAT Slave Information

After downloading install ESI Files in ctrlX I/O Engineering software.

Open menu Tools -> Device Repository.

Fig. 3: Select the device repository to add the product

Click Install... and select the ESI File to install it.

Configuration of System

The System can be configured in two ways:

· Offline Configuration by manually setting the devices and modules in the correct physical order.

· Online Configuration by scanning the System and automatically detecting devices and modules in the correct order.

Offline Configuration

Add device to EtherCAT-Master by right-click in the device tree on ethercatmaster -> Add Device:

Select the device from the device catalog -> Add Device.

Now add all modules of the device. The order must be identical to the physical order.

Right-click on the device -> Add-Device. Select the module and click on Add Device.

Add all modules of the device.

If there are other devices add the devices and modules the same way.

Fig. 9: Overview additionally inserted module and completed setup

After completing download of the configuration to the PLC, hardware configuration is completed.

Fig. 10: Download to control with login window

Online Configuration

It is also possible to automatically scan the topology of the system. The device and modules are detected and set in the hardware configuration.

Right-click on ethercatmaster -> scan for devices. Now all devices should be found.

Fig. 11: Scan for devices selection menue

Fig. 12: EtherCAT scan for devices result

Insert all found modules and devices into the hardware configuration.

Fig. 13: Modules transfer from scan result to project

All devices and modules should now be in your hardware configuration.

Download to PLC to activate and complete the configuration.

Hint: If not all modules appear after the first scan, a new scan and an additional download of the hardware configuration could help to find all modules.

Setting up parameters of modules

Some of the modules have special parameters that can be set using the engineering tool and are automatically downloaded to the device during the startup phase.

To set the parameters, double-click on the device CPX_AP_A_EC_M12.

In the right window, select Startup Parameters and click on the button + Add.

Starting from object index 2000, the module parameters are listed.

Object 2000 represents the parameters for module 1, 2010 for module 2, and so on.
Each object contains specific parameters that can be set.

Fig. 17: Startup parameters menue second page

By changing the parameter and acknowledging the change by clicking OK, the parameters will appear in the startup parameter list.

The parameters are now downloaded during every system startup.

These parameters are module specific. Descriptions can be found on the Festo website.

Search for your Remote-I/O-System. In the User Documentation section, you can find the documentation for the different modules.

Fig. 19: Location for finding product documentation