If you're set on ethercat, you may want to look at an ethercat module like...
Hilscher COMX-CA-RE http://www.hilscher.com/products_details_hardware.html?p_id=P_4579e8138180c&; bs=15 Beckoff fb11xx http://www.beckhoff.de/english.asp?ethercat/et1100_et1200.htm They are drop in modules available with/without the firmware. I'm sure they're expensive too. Frank > -----Original Message----- > From: Viesturs Lacis [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Wednesday, 9 February 2011 8:46 PM > To: Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC) > Subject: Re: [Emc-users] Ethernet with EMC2 > > 2011/2/9 John L. Craddock <[email protected]>: > > > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: Jon Elson [mailto:[email protected]] > >> Sent: 09 February 2011 13:09 > >> To: Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC) > >> Subject: Re: [Emc-users] Ethernet with EMC2 > >> > >> Viesturs La-cis wrote: > >> > Guys, > >> > > >> > what do You think about these two? > >> > http://www.enclustra.com/en/products/fpga-modules/mars-starter/ > >> > http://www.enclustra.com/en/products/fpga-modules/mars-mx1/ > >> > > >> > > >> So, that's $500 US to get an FPGA on the ethernet? Yishin is right, > >> expensive. > >> > >> Jon > > > > From what I can find out, etherCAT is a proprietary development of > Beckhoff in Germany that only appears on the surface to be open. > > The catch is the requirement for special slave devices that come in the form > of ASICs or node-limited IP cores for FPGAs. > > Seems odd to consider it for open-source EMC2. Please correct me if I am > wrong. > > Thanks for the opinions! > I totally agree that it is pricey, compared to other alternatives for FPGA cards > from Mesa or other sources. On the other hand, I do not feel it that pricey, > when the machine requires one such item to be used with several servo- > amps, costing the same amount for each of them and also having several > servo motors also costing approximately the same. So cost of this thing is > pretty small, when compared to cost of all controls and motion hardware. > > I am convinced that many of EMC users have hardware that cannot be > considered as opensource. Including my ServoStar 601 servo amps. > My personal feeling (not supported with any facts, numbers or other > data) is that also Mesa or Pico Systems products contain some proprietary > components. > So I do not see a problem here - if that solution is working and delivering > expected performance, then I consider the price to make decision. > EMC is meant to be smart CNC controller to work on simple, not-that-smart > ("dumb") hardware, so I think it is acceptable to have proprietary elements in > hardware as long as it is fully configurable to fit each particular machine and > situation. > > Viesturs > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > The ultimate all-in-one performance toolkit: Intel(R) Parallel Studio XE: > Pinpoint memory and threading errors before they happen. > Find and fix more than 250 security defects in the development cycle. > Locate bottlenecks in serial and parallel code that limit performance. > http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-dev2devfeb > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The ultimate all-in-one performance toolkit: Intel(R) Parallel Studio XE: Pinpoint memory and threading errors before they happen. Find and fix more than 250 security defects in the development cycle. Locate bottlenecks in serial and parallel code that limit performance. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-dev2devfeb _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
