EASE Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
List of commonly asked questions regarding our EtherCAT Arduino Shield by Esmacat (EASE)
1. What is EtherCAT?
2. What is Arduino?
3. What is an Arduino shield?
4. Why connect multiple MCU boards together?
5. I don’t have an Arduino Uno. Could I still use EASE?
6. Why use EtherCAT to connect multiple MCU boards? Can’t I just connect the boards together by connecting a wire from an output pin of one board to an input of another?
7. What are some practical situations where EASE could be used? Can EASE be used in a professional setting, or is it more for schools and home projects?
8. Do I need to be proficient in programming to use EASE ?
9. What software do I need to run EASE?
10. Why do you need two pieces of software to run EASE?
11. Won’t the EtherCAT code impact the performance of my base board?
12. Do I need to write the SPI code for the base board or EtherCAT master?
13. The Ethernet ports on EASE look tall. Can EASE be connected to Arduino shields?
14. How do I power the base board?
15. I don’t know how to get started with EASE. Where do I start?
16. How do I connect EASE to an existing EtherCAT system?
17. Why can’t I just use a competitor’s product instead?
1. What is EtherCAT?
Many interested users asked this question. EtherCAT was developed by Beckhoff Automation and is a relatively new, high-performance, Ethernet-based fieldbus with real-time capabilities that make it popular in the robotics industry. EtherCAT relies on a daisy chain topology through which an EtherCAT “master” communicates with EtherCAT “slaves” by way of Ethernet cables. EtherCAT slaves can send data to the master for its own use (it might print them to a command line interface, for example) or exchange them with one other through the EtherCAT master. You can learn more about EtherCAT here.
We specialize in EtherCAT communication, here at Esmacat, and we have brought several EtherCAT devices to market. We want to introduce this powerful technology to a broader cross section of engineers while making it relevant to a greater number of automation-related projects. In pursuit of both objectives, we decided to build EtherCAT into an easy-to-use Arduino shield. We call it EASE, and we believe it is the simplest way to become familiar with this complex fieldbus.
2. What is Arduino?
According to the Arduino website, "Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. Arduino boards are able to read inputs - light on a sensor, a finger on a button, or a Twitter message - and turn it into an output - activating a motor, turning on an LED, publishing something online." You can learn more about Arduino here. There are other microcontroller units (MCUs), such as the STM Nucleo, that are similar to Arduino.
3. What is an Arduino shield?
An Arduino shield is a PCB board that can be plugged into an Arduino board’s female pin headers to expand its functionality in some way. Some Arduino-like boards have their own types of shields. Throughout the rest of this FAQ, we will refer to Arduino and Arduino-like MCU boards as base boards, since EASE is compatible with many non-Arduino boards. We’ll talk more about that later.
4. Why connect multiple MCU boards together?
A base board has a limited number of I/O pins, and a shield will occupy several of those, which often leaves few to none for other applications. Furthermore, some shields have only male pins, so no other peripherals can be attached. Finally, base board users tend to run many tasks on their boards, which quickly consumes the limited computing power of these tiny devices. These are some of the limitations that inspired EASE. EASE allows you to connect multiple base boards together to expand the number of available I/O pins. It also allows you to keep each base board focused on its own set of tasks, which prevents any given board from being overburdened.
5. I don’t have an Arduino Uno. Could I still use EASE?
An EASE board communicates with its base board through SPI. Each base board has ICSP pins capable of SPI communication, and EASE connects to them using its own ICSP pins. As a result, EASE will connect to any base board that will accommodate shields in the Arduino Uno form factor, including the Due, the Mega, and the Uno.
Furthermore, our latest version of EASE – the one that will ship to backers of this campaign – will have a customized female pin header, on the bottom of the board, that you can connect to a base board’s ICSP pins. (The previous prototype, which is shown on our campaign page and website, required connecting wires.)
Finally, EASE can be connected quite easily to many non-Arduino boards, such as the STM Nucleo and various Arduino Uno clones found on third-party websites, that have the same SPI pins as an Arduino Uno. Using third-party boards with EASE can be helpful if your application requires additional speed or power.
6. Why use EtherCAT to connect multiple MCU boards? Can’t I just connect the boards together by connecting a wire from an output pin of one board to an input of another?
You can, but EtherCAT has many advantages. EASE has eight registers for sending and receiving data to the EtherCAT master, so it allows you to send more data. It also saves your code from having to relay data from one slave to another. With EASE, you can choose register data from one slave and send it to any other slave you want.
You can also use a Power-over-EtherCAT (PoE) injector to power all connected EtherCAT slaves, which eliminates the need for dedicated power cables. Depending on the project, EASE can replace other cables as well, such as a serial console interface. The same Ethernet cables used for power are also used to transmit data, so you can output to the master’s command line terminal from any EtherCAT slave, not just from the Arduino IDE.
7. What are some practical situations where EASE could be used? Can EASE be used in a professional setting, or is it more for schools and home projects?
EASE can be used by anyone – from students to hobbyists to engineers – for many different types of applications. Examples include but are not limited to:
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Schools can use EASE to teach EtherCAT principles to students or to connect multiple boards for large, class-wide projects.
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Hobbyists can create high-speed home automation systems that control lights, music, robots, and other devices around their homes or workshops.
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Companies or Employees that are considering EtherCAT for future projects can use EASE to demo it to trainees, future employees, shareholders, family members, etc.
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Roboticists can connect EASE to their existing EtherCAT projects to incorporate different types of I/O into their projects. They can also use the SPI connector on EASE to add EtherCAT slaves that are not typical MCU base boards.
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Medical device companies can use EASE – along with a fast, SPI-enabled MCU – for realtime communication in applications ranging from device user interfaces to data gathering.
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Future engineers can benefit from a simple learning tool to add a high-performance communication standard to their arsenal of knowledge.
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Escape rooms can see the status of multiple connected electronic props, all in one place, using an EtherCAT master and several EASE boards.
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Small businesses can keep track of how many people enter their buildings while simultaneously controlling the activation and deactivation of various appliances.