Configuration Setup: Twincat - Online Scan - Beckhoff EP3356-0022 Documentation

6.2

Configuration setup: TwinCAT - online scan

This part of the documentation describes the configuration of a physically existing EtherCAT Box in
TwinCAT.
Online configuration setup „Scanning" (TwinCAT 3.x)
Distinction between Online and Offline
The distinction between online and offline refers to the existence of the actual I/O environment (drives,
terminals). If the configuration is to be prepared in advance of the system configuration as a programming
system, e.g. on a laptop, this is only possible in "Offline configuration" mode. In this case all components
have to be entered manually in the configuration, e.g. based on the electrical design (as described under
TwinCAT configuration setup, manual). If the designed control system is already connected to the EtherCAT
system and all components are energized and the infrastructure is ready for operation, the TwinCAT
configuration can simply be generated through "scanning" from the runtime system. This is referred to as
online configuration. In any case, during each startup the EtherCAT Box checks whether the devices it finds
match the configuration.
To ensure that the latest features/settings of the EtherCAT Box can be used, always download the latest ESI
file. Please note the following information.
Installation of the latest ESI-XML device description
The TwinCAT System Manager needs the device description files for the devices to be used in or-
der to generate the configuration in online or offline mode. The device descriptions are contained in
the so-called ESI files (EtherCAT Slave Information) in XML format. These files can be requested
from the respective manufacturer and are made available for download. The ESI files for Beckhoff
EtherCAT devices are available on the Beckhoff website (https://www.beckhoff.de/english/down-
load/elconfg.htm?id=1983920606140). The ESI files should be stored in the TwinCAT installation
directory (default: C:\TwinCAT\IO\EtherCAT). The files are read (once) when a new System Man-
ager window is opened. A TwinCAT installation includes the Beckhoff ESI files that were current at
the time when the TwinCAT build was created. From TwinCAT 2.11 and in TwinCAT 3 the ESI di-
rectory can be updated from the System Manager, if the programming PC is connected to the inter-
net (TwinCAT → EtherCAT Devices → Update Device Description)
The following conditions must be met before a configuration can be set up
EP3356-0022 Version: 1.1.0
Commissioning/Configuration
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