The TwinCAT ECAD Import Tool completes the engineering chain: Everything happens automatically without user intervention, from electrical design to PLC projects. The achievable reduction in input and transmission errors ultimately also reduces costs. From an ECAD program, the required information about the structure of the I/Os and the linkage to PLC variables is exported via XML. Beckhoff uses an XML schema for specifying the structure of the XML file. The TwinCAT ECAD Import Tool reads the XML file and generates a TwinCAT System Manager configuration with all I/O devices, Bus Terminals and Fieldbus Box modules, and a basic PLC program with the I/O variables used.
A software device hierarchy can be created by importing a further XML file. An NC device with tasks, axes and, obviously, I/O variables can be created automatically. For this too, links with PLC variables can be generated automatically. Corrections in the ECAD construction drawings can be implemented at any time. Any changes that may be required in the System Manager or the PLC program are carried out automatically, as far as possible.
| Ordering information | |
|---|---|
| TwinCAT ECAD Import | Licence for using the TwinCAT ECAD Import for importing XML files from the ECAD systems. A TwinCAT System Manager configuration and a PLC program are created automatically. |