CANopen and XNET

[MimiKLM]

Hi,

I need to use CANopen protocol to code my application, but reading the CANopen product description it looks like it doesn't support NI-XNET only the PXI and cRIO modules.

Is it possible to use the CANopen library with the NI-XNET or other NI CAN dongles (USB)?

Cheers,

K.

[rmarcink]

Hello K.,

I believe It is possible to use CANopen for NI-XNET cards through the NI-CAN Compatibility Layer.  If the NI-CAN Compatibility Layer is not supported, then you cannot use the CANopen Library.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards, 

Ruta

[tolltroll]

The recommended NI products for CANopen communication are NI-9881 or the PXI-8531 module. These are compatible with our NI-Industrial Communications for CANopen driver, which is specially designed for CANopen and allows for quick development and a more-or-less plug-and-play experience.

Since CANopen is an application layer built on top of CAN, it is technically possible to create an CANopen application using NI-XNET hardware and the API. However, in order to implement this, you'd basically be writing your own implementation of CANopen from scratch.

There is also a CANopen library for our legacy NI-CAN hardware, but this is not recommended for new designs as NI-CAN hardware and software is in maintenance mode and is greatly outstripped in functionality and performance by NI-XNET.

This KB is a handy resource on the topic as well.

Hope this helps!

Nick

National Instruments