3. B&R Automation Studio

This tutorial guides you through the configuration of ros_powerlink_tutorial project in B&R Automation Studio. B&R X20CP PLC is used for this purspose, however the same procedure should also work with different B&R POWERLINK compatible hardware. Tutorial project archive creaeted in follwing steps is also available within this repository.

1. Create new project

Open B&R Automation Studio and use Project Wizard to create new project named ros_powerlink_tutorial.

Enter the parameters of new configuration manually or let B&R Automation Studio to identify your hardware

In case of manual configuration, select a specific type of your PLC

Complete your hardware configuration by adding all peripherals, your configuration should look similar as shown in the picture below:

2. Add POWERLINK CiA401 device

If your hardware configuration is ready, you can proceed to importing external fieldbus device:

Select CiA401 device representing your PC from POWERLINK software stack. The file consisting definition of protocol is available within the official openPowerlink github repository .

Add CiA401 Powerlink device to your hardware configuration:

Drag a connection between PLC and particular port of POWERLINK device (representing your PC):

3. POWERLINK configuration

Enter configuration menu of POWERLINK device:

Increase default response time from 22ms to 100ms:

Select which channels from CiA401 protocol you want to activate for cyclic exchange:

Your final configuration should look similar as shown in the figure below:

Your project is now configured for communication with ros_powerlink ROS CPP node:

4. Build and Install Project

As a last step you need to upload your configuration to the Compact Flash Card, use standard Offline Install tool

Select your Compact Flash Card and hit Create Compact flash button

Insert Compact Flash Card to the PLC and you are ready to communicate over POWERLINK!