Application example of servo drive

Setting the operating mode on the ‘CODESYS’ parameter panel

If the device is connected to a controller, the following can be set in the plug-in of the servo drive on the ‘CODESYS’ parameter panel:

the operating mode in which the servo drive is to be addressed in the control program
the version of the CODESYS device driver

The following operating modes are available:

Tab. 8: Operating modes for servo drives
Mode	Description
‘Point to point’	The servo drive receives a positioning command from the controller. To execute the movement, the servo drive uses the integrated trajectory generator to calculate the required position setpoint values. This operating mode is suitable for controlling an axis regardless of the other axes (uncoordinated movement).
‘SoftMotion’	The controller sends the position setpoints to the servo drive over the fieldbus. This operating mode enables the coordinated movement of several axes. It requires a controller with CODESYS SoftMotion function.

Device drivers for the CODESYS extension of the Festo Automation Suite can be components of device-specific plug-ins for the Festo Automation Suite. Installing a new plug-in version also installs new versions of the device drivers. The latest available device driver version is used when establishing a device connection in the ‘Topology Editor’ section of the Festo Automation Suite. If a different driver version is required, this version can be selected in the plug-in of the respective device.

Functions in the CODESYS extension of the Festo Automation Suite with selection of the ‘SoftMotion’ operating mode

The ‘SoftMotion’ operating mode is based on the CODESYS SoftMotion and requires a controller with SoftMotion function. It is integrated into the control program as in CODESYS by transfer of the SoftMotion axis object to PLCopen modules for SoftMotion.

Functions in the CODESYS extension of the Festo Automation Suite with selection of the ‘Point to point’ operating mode

Two options for integrating the device into the control program are available when selecting the ‘Point to point’ operating mode:

Transferring an axis object to PLCopen modules (similar to "Interpolated" operating mode/SoftMotion).
Directly accessing methods and properties of axis objects.

Parameters for travel commands (e.g. setpoint position or velocity) are always transferred in user units. If necessary, the device driver automatically adapts internally to the parameterisation stored in the device (e.g. scaling of setpoints).

The mapping of the process data is also completed automatically and does not need to be implemented manually in the control program.

The PLCopen blocks are contained in the ‘Festo_PtP_Base PLCopen’ library. This library has the following categories:

Administrative FBs: modules without a movement function, e.g. for issuing controller enable, resetting device errors or importing actual values
Continuous Motion FBs: modules to execute continuous movement types (velocity- or torque-controlled operation)
Discrete Motion FDB: modules to execute positioning tasks (absolute, additive and relative)
Other FBD: modules for other or manufacturer-specific functions, e.g. homing or record operation

Methods and properties of the axis object can primarily be accessed via the structured text. Ensure that a method is only called up once and not cyclically. The device driver then executes the relevant function automatically. The status can be evaluated by querying the corresponding properties.

For additional information on the available methods, see è Library documentation.