Step 1: Building the Hardware Network

Build the EtherCAT network by connecting the following hardware items:

• Host—A desktop or laptop running Windows and LabVIEW. You use the host to configure the real-time controller and EtherCAT slave devices.
• Real-time controller—An NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT-supported controller. Refer to the NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT Readme for a list of supported hardware. The controller has the following Ethernet adapters.
  • Adapter 1 is for communication between the host and controller through TCP/IP.
  • Adapter 2 is exclusively for EtherCAT communication between the EtherCAT master and EtherCAT slave devices. Adapter 2 is referred to as the EtherCAT adapter.
• EtherCAT slave device—EtherCAT slave devices from National Instruments and other vendors.

The following figure shows a typical EtherCAT network that you can build.

Next: Step 2: Installing the Software