voraus.app //EtherCAT
The voraus.app //EtherCAT contains the EtherCAT master and a corresponding python client package to provide access to PDOs of EtherCAT devices within Python applications.
Highlights and Architecture
Eni files: The master works with EtherCAT Network Information (ENI) files that describe the network.
Communication: OPC UA is used as communication protocol. The EtherCAT Network is reflected in the OPC UA structure.
Docker: The master is published as a docker image.
The architecture is shown in the figure above: As described, the voraus EtherCAT master requires an EtherCAT network information (ENI) file, which can initially be generated using TwinCAT3 or comparable software. The EtherCAT devices are then connected to the IPC on which the master is running. The master uses the generated ENI file to communicate with the devices and set up an OPC UA server for the process data. The individual process data can now be read or written from a python context using the voraus-ecat package.