Re : Communication with Bosch IndraDrive

[giusceppe]

Hi,

I'm Trying to communicate with an IndraDrive Bosch device Via Ethernet/IP but I have no Idea how to establish the communication.

In fact, I didn't found any information in the IndraDrive Support about the Ethernet/IP protocol and its specifications.

If possible can someone guide me how to begin with the communication via Ethernet/IP and how to know if this device is compatible with the Industrial Communication Add on for LabVIEW.

Thank You.

[Aix-La-Chapelle]

Hi giusceppe,

Please post the datasheet for the device.  We can take a look and see what you'll be able to do.  Typically, if the device supports EtherNet/IP you should be able to communicate with other EtherNet/IP devices as it is based on a standardized specification.  Please note that the EtherNet/IP toolkit is an EtherNet/IP Adapter, which means the device would need to be an EtherNet/IP scanner in order to initiate Implicit communication, but you can do explicit communication.  If the Bosch device is a I/O Scanner, then you will be able to use implicit communication, initiated by the Bosch device.  You can find some getting started examples in LabVIEW.  In LabVIEW, go to Help » Find Examples, then Hardware Input and Output » NI-Industrial Communications » EtherNet/IP » EtherNetIP Adapter.lvproj.  

[giusceppe]

Hi Aix-La-Chapelle

Please find attached the EDS file for the IndraDrive Device

In fact, i'm having some progress in my work, thanks to the Help provided by IndraWorks. Our device seems to be compatible with the EtherNet/IP toolkit because I make it working by getting and setting some single attributes 🙂 

I found in the Help provided by IndraWorks the addressing method used that allows me to get acces to parameter's Data.

Below an extract from the Help. 

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For EtherNet/IP communication, the objects are addressed according to the following scheme:

Class → instance → attribute

Class

All parameters of a sub-device (e.g. drive) are mapped to the manufacturer-specific classes 100 (0x64) + sub-device index, i.e. sub-device 0 --> class 100, sub-device 1 --> class 101,…, sub-device 98 --> class 198.

Instance

The instance number is identical to the IDN of the drive parameter.

Bit Significance 15 0: Standard data (standardized) 1: Product data (specified by the manufacturer) 14 … 12 Parameter sets from 0 to 7 11 … 0 Data block number from 0 to 4095

Structure of the IDN

The instance number can be calculated with the following formula:

Inst	Instance number
type	Parameter type (0 for S-parameters and 1 for P-parameters)
set	Set number
block	Data block number

Calculating the Instance Number

Attribute

The format of the parameter depends on the attribute number.

The operating data can have four different formats:

• Data length 2 bytes → W

• Data length 4 bytes → L

• ASCII text with max. length of 64 bytes → T

There are three types of parameters:

• Single parameters

• Command parameters

• List parameters

[giusceppe]

Hello,

I think that I attached the wrong eds file.

Please find attached the correct eds file configuration.

In fact, I didn't found how to send implicit messages to the Drive. 

Please take a look at the attached file and tell me if it's possible to do or not

Thank You

[Aix-La-Chapelle]

Hi giusceppe,

Apologies, I didn't notice any question in the previous post.

The EDS file typically tells us what we can communicate with using Implicit messaging, so technically, yes, you can communicate implicitly with the Bosch IndraDrive.  However, and this is important, in order to initialize implicit communication you MUST have an Ethernet/IP Scanner.  Our EIP driver is an EIP Adapter, meaning it can communicate implicitly, but it cannot initiate that communication.  So, the question then becomes, is the Bosch IndraDrive a EIP Scanner or Adapter.  Typically, I've seen EDS files used by Adapters, however, this does not mean the Bosch IndraDrive cannot be a Scanner.  In order to determine this, we would need to see the manual for the device you are using, or for you to contact the vendor of the device, Bosch in this case, to see if they're a Scanner.

Hopefully this helps.

[giusceppe]

Hi  Aix-La-Chapelle,

In the EIP description section, Ifound that Via our device it is possible to exchange real-time data with an EtherNet/IP^TM scanner.

Is it meaning that the used device is an EIP Adapter?

Please find attached the EIP description section for the IndraDrive Bosch device

[Aix-La-Chapelle]

Hi giusceppe,

I took a look at the attached PDF.  It looks like this device can act as both a Scanner and an Adapter.  It never outright says Scanner in that document, but does call itself a master.  Master and Scanner are similar concepts for EIP.  You will need to follow the steps of your device to set it up as a Master device. 

[giusceppe]

Hello Aix-La-Chapelle,

In fact, our device cannot be a Master, only the integrated PLC or the PC or an external PLC can be a Master for EIP communication.

I will give you more detail about our issue :

Implicit message: is used when trying to read value from Cyclic Real-Time Channel and writing value to Cyclic Command Channel

• The Cyclic Real-Time Channel contain the Field bus: Status word
• The Cyclic Real Command Channel contain the Field bus: Control word

The structure of these two words is described in the attached pdf document “Status-Control Words”

Referencing to the section “Configuring the Cyclic Process Data” page 7 of ETHERNETIP-BOSCH.pdf“, we found that the channel described above, are in Class 4, instance 101 for Control Word and instance 102 for Status Word

I used the same code as Acyclic parameter for reading(Attached below)  with Class = 4, instance = 102 and attribute = 3 I receive a 1D array with two U8 Data line which represent a 16 bits word description for the status word. I verified this word and I find it compatible with the state of the device.

When trying to write a 16 bits word for the Control Word (Class = 4, instance = 101, and attribute = 3), I didn’t receive any error but without any effect on the device’s state.

So, the problem is when writing to the Control word

[giusceppe]

Hi,

I think that's impossible in our case to use the Labview ethernet ip driver to communicate with Rexroth Bosch Device, because this device cannot be a scanner device for implict messaging.

The question is how to use UDP function to build a scanner code for Ethernet/IP? or there is any other way to fix the problem?

Thank you

[LewisL]

Hi giusceppe, Without a scanner (and NI EIP toolkit can only be an adapter), you can not communication using implicit messaging, which is UDP. However, you can use explicit messaging (TCP). For a generic EIP device, Attribute_Set/Get_Single.vi can be used to explicitly communicate with objects on the device. You can even use this VI to set/get the assembly(which is essentially an attribute of an instance/class) on the device, if only the device manual says that it's allowed. You should refer to the EIP examples - Access Assembly Instance Data (Explicit).vi, Access Identity Attribute (Explicit).vi