Function: The command adds a general SoftMotion CiA402 axis below a fieldbus slave in the device tree.
Call: Project menu; context menu of a device object in the device tree
Requirement: In the device tree, a device is selected which supports this drive. Examples: EtherCAT slave or CAN slave.
CODESYS provides several dedicated drivers that support a servo drive model in particular. If a servo device drive is added to the device tree, then it automatically has a child device that represents the SoftMotion axis. A standard driver is used for communicating with the device. Therefore, you can use this command to support any servo drive that complies with the CODESYS implementation of CiA402. The way in which the drive works or not with the device depends on the implementation in the device itself. Experience has shown that different manufacturers have interpreted the standard differently, especially regarding error handling and limit switches. Therefore, there is no guarantee how the driver works or not with the device.
The generic CiA402 driver supports up to 8 axes in case the device description of the drive does not specify a number. Otherwise, the number of axes defined in the device description is supported.
CANopen: The number of possible axes depends on the profiles of the logical devices in the EDS file (1000H object and 67FFH + X * 800H, where X = number of logical devices). For more details, see the CANopen CiA301 standard.
EtherCAT: The number of possible axes depends on the defined CiA402 channels (CoE DS402Channels) in the ESI file.
An adaptation of the EDS or ESI file needs to be done by the device manufacturer.