IntellECAT PLC/Gateway

IntellECAT is our Gateway/PLC based on EtherCAT technology. It acts as a bridge between GX20 MDR Control Cards and Rockwell/Siemens/Modbus PLCs, allowing seamless data transfer between different parts of the MDR conveyor system. EtherCAT, known for its proven and reliable high-speed, low-latency data exchange, enhances IntellECAT's capability to synchronize and control multiple conveyor sections within 1 to 5ms scan time.

IntellECAT sports a built-in Ethernet switch. On any of the Ethernet port you can connect a range of devices, for example:

• PLCs (e.g. Rockwell, Siemens, etc)
• Smart3G cards (Screw terminal I/O points)
• Octo24 IP67 PLCs
• Laser Scanner (SICK)
• VPN Connection to offsite support team
• Trend Database to collect operational data (e.g. Current draw by motors, voltage, peak currents, On/Off motor cycle count)

On the other side of the Gateway, it has two EtherCAT channels where you can connect ECS1 and GX20 MDR Control Cards. You can use the EtherCAT channels in two ways. You can either connect maximum of 64 GX20 cards in a EtherCAT channel of the IntellECAT Gateway/PLC or make a redundant system of GX20 cards by connecting the first GX20 card in EtherCAT channel 1 and the last GX20 card in EtherCAT channel 2. In this way, if any of the GX20 card (eg. card no 22) fails during operation, the rest of the cards from card no 23 will not stop communicating and hence won't stop working. Here is a basic connection diagram of IntellECAT.

The IntellECAT Gateway also support full programming capability using the free VSLogix software. This allows the integrators to program conveyor sections like cross-transfer, merge, accumulation as ladder logic templates. This technique allows to use the same code in all similar conveyor sections, which results in faster integration and commissioning of conveyor systems.