Map I/O from the Project Explorer

  1. In the Project Explorer, expand the Controller node and the EtherCAT nodes to access the devices.

    2. Figure 1: AKT (K-Bus) devices

    Figure 2: AKT2G (E-Bus) devices
  2. Accessing the device properties is slightly different depending upon the device.
    See Access to Device Properties.
  3. There are several ways to map variables:
    • Drag and drop a variable from the Dictionary onto a table entry.
    • Use the PLC Variable Creation Wizard for Kollmorgen devices.
    • Directly map/unmap the Inputs/Outputs to PLC variables using the PLC Variable Selector.

      • Select the channel(s) to map. Selection may be done by click-dragging or shift-clicking a range of entries. The entire table may be selected by clicking on its border.

      After the selection is made, right-click and select Map or press <Enter>.
      This opens the PLC Variable Selector.

      Figure 3: Map or Unmap options


      • The Unmap command in the contextual menu is used to remove the link between the variable and the associated channels.
        In addition, deleting a variable from the dictionary which is mapped to the channels also removes the links.

      Choose the variable to be linked to the channels or PDO object.

      Figure 4: PLC Variable Selector dialog


      • The list of variables is filtered to display only those with relevant types.

        • PLC Variable Selector displays Read Only variables when mapping the Input channels from the I/O tab.
        • Variables assigned to the Safe Digital Input and Safe Digital Output channels must be Read Only.


  • The limitations of PLC variable mapping are:

    • Each PLC variable can be mapped to an EtherCAT I/O and exclusively to either:
      • A Controller Onboard I/O.
      • An external driver.
    • Because a variable can only be mapped to one channel or PDO object, when you link a variable to a new channel or PDO object, the previous mapping is removed (even if linked to another slice or device).
    • Individual bits within a variable can be mapped to multiple I/O channels on different devices (AKD, AKD PDMM, PCMM, PCMM2G, or Slice).

    Example: The same PLC variable cannot be mapped to both PROFINET and a Controller Onboard I/O but it is possible with a regular EtherCAT I/O.

When a device is removed using ECATDeviceAction:

  • Variable mapped to an Analog or Digital Input Type
    • The value of the variable becomes '0' when the mapped device is removed.
    • The device I/O value is automatically reconnected to the variable when the device is reconnected to the network.
  • Variable mapped to an Analog or Digital Output
    • The value is not sent to the device when the mapped device is removed.
    • When the device is reconnected, the value is sent to the I/O automatically.

All of the I/Os mapped to the X22 connector are grayed out in the IO tab:

Figure 5: X22 I/O Map

Access to Device Properties

AKD or AKD2G

In the project tree, double-click the drive and select the I/O tab. (Figure 6)

Figure 6: Example: AKD or AKD2G

KAS Controllers

In the project tree, double-click Controller Onboard I/O in the project tree. (Figure 7)

Figure 7: Example: Controller Onboard I/O

I/O Slice

In the project tree, double-click the I/O Slice under EtherCAT (e.g., AKT2G) or the Coupler entry (e.g., AKT) and click the I/O tab. (Figure 8)

 

For Slice Analog I/O and thermocouples, the offset and gain parameters must be defined. (Figure 9)

Figure 8: E-Bus Properties

Figure 9: K-Bus

Safety I/O Slice

In the project tree, double-click the Safety I/O Slice under EtherCAT (E-Bus) and click the I/O tab. (Figure 10)

Figure 10: E-Bus Safety

See Also