Development Kit

The netX 90 real-time communication and motor control development kit enables the design of a speed-controlled closed-loop motor control application profile synchronized over a real-time Ethernet industrial communication protocol. The kit consists of complementary hardware, software, and tool components as outlined below.

The available NXHX 90-MC software development board works out of the box with Hilscher's netX Studio CDT, a free Eclipse-based IDE that includes everything needed to configure, develop, and debug embedded applications. Intended to be used for rapid prototyping and evaluation purposes, Hilscher offers a range of plug-in modules as add-on accessories for the development board. Further information can be found in the board manual.

Table 1: Applicable add-on accessories for the NXHX 90-MC software development board

The NXHX-DH adapter as a piggyback board for the NXHX 90-MC board enables converting RS-422 (5V differential) and TTL (5V single-ended) quadrature encoder signals to 3.3V inputs for the netX 90 and provides the supply voltage for the encoder and hall sensors, including analog filter circuits for the digital hall inputs. Push-in connectors for up to two quadrature encoders and three digital hall sensors facilitate the interconnection of industrial motors with position feedback. Board schematics and layout files of both NXHX-DH and NXHX 90-MC, including the BOM components list, are available for download as a PCB reference design for KiCad EDA.

The available netX Studio CDT example projects offer different entry points, depending on project needs, and serve as a starting point for application developments. The application sample code, including the documentation of the sources in doxygen, is provided as open-source software for download. The different components and their licenses are listed and described in more detail below.

1. Motor control application

The software example demonstrates the implementation of a FOC algorithm with position feedback for a 3-phase PMSM using a software-defined MCL API for the higher application layer APPL. It "explains by use" the application-tailored interplay between hardware-assisted features and algorithmic software, intended to be used in a motor control laboratory to define, set up, and optimize motor-specific control parameters. As illustrated in Figure 2, the algorithmic software, consisting of FOC, PSE, and SC, developed by motor control experts, is based on a development board setup that serves as an application example for a specific PMSM with integrated digital hall sensors or an optional quadrature encoder. Enclosed, within the project sources, is a Hilscher-compliant dummy communication firmware file that, if programmed, generates xC trigger pulses of 4 kHz to emulate how the MPWM, hence the FOC, can be synchronized to hardware-assisted cyclic network events.

Table 2: Components and licenses - motor control application software example

2. Vendor application profile

The software example brings together Eonas' MCL API for the speed control of a 3-phase PMSM and Hilscher's cifX API for the cyclic data exchange with the protocol stack interface using the iDPM. It "explains by use" the initialization and configuration of the underlying communication protocol stack over the iDPM to connect the device to a Real-time Ethernet network, intended to be used as starting point for the development of a custom-specific vendor application profile.

Table 3: Components and licenses - vendor application profile software examples

3. PROFIdrive application class

The software example features compared to upper examples a newer FOC software version for the speed control of a 3-phase PMSM, a newer cifX API version for the cyclic data exchange with the protocol stack interface using the iDPM and Siemens' publicly available open-source code for PROFIdrive device as a vendor-neutral application class (AC) for PROFINET. It "explains by use" the network setup and configuration of the device with a PROFIdrive PLC, intended to be used as starting point for the development of AC1 and AC4.

Table 4: Components and licenses - PROFIdrive application class software example