Tuning Controller Performance for EtherCAT Communication Latency

The response time for reading axis demand position data varies between different drive models.

  • The response times also vary in reporting back TxPDO data such as actual position and time-based capture values.
  • These different response times can lead to different lag in applications which use camming, gearing, and registration features.
  • The KAS-IDE has several configuration parameters which allow you to tune your system to work best.

Example: Drive A has a 1 cycle latency for TxPDO data, and Drive B has 2 cycles latency.

The MC_AXIS_PARAM_VELCOMP_FACTOR parameter is used to specify 1 (for Drive A), and 2 (for Drive B) cycles.

The features and corresponding parameters are listed below.


  • If the drives in an existing system are changed (e.g., during an upgrade from AKD to AKD2G drives), the parameters need to be retuned to maintain optimal performance.

Feature

Parameters

Read Me For More Information

PLCopen Camming

PLCopen Gearing

Axis parameters:

  • MC_AXIS_PARAM_VELCOMP_FACTOR
  • MC_AXIS_PARAM_VELCOMP_FILTER

PLCopen TouchProbe

PLCopen Registration

Axis parameter:

MC_AXIS_PARAM_SENSOR_DELAY

Pipe Network External Feedback

Use a Phaser block to compensate for the delay

Phaser

Pipe Network Trigger Block

Trigger Delay

  • The AKD drive supports an object to configure the EtherCAT input data for immediate or 1 cycle delay (default for backwards compatibility).