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To address the issues of low bandwidth, weak real-time performance, and poor synchronization in traditional fieldbuses for multi-axis motion control, a solution for the implementation of an EtherCAT master based on the IgH EtherCAT Master open-source software framework and an embedded hardware platform is proposed. On a hardware platform centered around the AM64x Sitara processor, a Linux real-time operating system based on the Xenomai real-time kernel is constructed, and the IgH master framework is ported to realize a high-performance EtherCAT master. The configuration process of the EtherCAT bus is detailed, a master application program is developed, and methods for the real-time performance optimization of the master—such as exclusive CPU usage by the master process and the optimization of the network card driver—are proposed. Finally, experiments are conducted on a six-axis servo control platform, with the packet analysis of the periodic EtherCAT data frames sent by the master. The experimental results show that the optimized master, under a high-speed communication cycle of 500 microseconds, maintains maximum jitter within 20 microseconds and average jitter within 1 microsecond, meeting the requirements for high-precision multi-axis motion control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RISC-V offers a modular technical approach combined with an open, royalty-free instruction set architecture (ISA). However, despite its advantages as a fundamental building block for many embedded systems, the escalating complexity and functional demands of real-time applications have made adhering to response time deadlines challenging. For real-time applications of RISC-V, real-time performance analysis is required for various ISAs. In this paper, we analyze the real-time performance of RISC-V through two real-time approaches based on processor architectures. For real-time operating system (RTOS) applications, we adopted FreeRTOS and evaluated its performance on HiFive1 Rev B (RISC-V) and STM3240G-EVAL (ARM M). For real-time Linux, we utilized Linux with the Preempt-RT patch and tested its performance on VisionFive 2 (RISC-V), MIO5272 (x86-64), and Raspberry Pi 4 B (ARM A). Through these experiments, we examined the response times on the real-time mechanisms of each operating system. Additionally, in the Preempt-RT experiments, scheduling latencies were evaluated by means of the cyclictest. These are very important parameters for implementing real-time applications comprised of multi-tasking. Finally, in order to show the real-time capabilities of RISC-V practically, we implemented motion control of a six-axis collaborative robot, which was performed on the VisionFive 2. This implementation provided a comparative result of RISC-V's performance against the x86-64 architecture. Ultimately, the results indicated that the real-time performance of RISC-V for real-time applications was feasible. A noticeable achievement of this research is its first implementation of an EtherCAT master on RISC-V designed for real-time applications. The successful implementation of the EtherCAT master on RISC-V shows real-time capabilities for a wide range of real-time applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of its simplicity and the support of numerous useful libraries, Python has become one of the most popular programming languages for application development, even in embedded systems. However, in existing control systems where specific tasks must meet specific temporal deadlines and support schedulability with proper priority assignments, the Python interpreter may not satisfy real-time requirements, owing to features such as the global interpreter lock and garbage collector. This paper addresses these constraints with an approach that executes periodic real-time tasks under the fixed-priority preemptible scheduler of RT-Preempt. First, we implemented a Python real-time module that allows users to create and execute periodic tasks with fixed priorities based on Python. Then, we conducted experiments on an open embedded system, in this case, a Raspberry Pi 4. We evaluated the real-time performance, focusing on test metrics for control systems, such as task periodicity, responsiveness, and interrupt response. The results were then compared to those of conventional real-time tasks developed using the C language to validate the feasibility of the proposed method. Finally, we performed experimental validation by tracking the position of EtherCAT servo motors to demonstrate the feasibility of a Python-based real-time control system in a practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a 13.2 kV class 3-phase solid-state transformer (SST) based on EtherCAT communication. In general, when the structure of the unit module is determined, the number of high-frequency isolated transformers (HFIT) is also proportional to the number of modules. The structure most considered in SST is a 1:1 combination of AC/DC converter and DC/DC converter. To optimally implement a 3-phase SST, a topology for reducing passive elements such as switching elements and HFIT is proposed. It also describes the design of HFIT used in DC/DC converter. EtherCAT communication with high transmission speed and expandability is applied to control the SST composed of unit modules stably, and a multi-core microcontroller unit (MCU) is applied to achieve both a high-speed communication cycle and complicated control algorithm execution. The discussions are validated using a 300 kW 13.2 kV class 3-phase SST prototype in various conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a real-time embedded system for joint space control of omnidirectional mobile robots. Actuators driving an omnidirectional mobile robot are connected in a line topology which requires synchronization to move simultaneously in translation and rotation. We employ EtherCAT, a real-time Ethernet network, to control servo controllers for the mobile robot. The first part of this study focuses on the design of a low-cost embedded system utilizing an open-source EtherCAT master. Although satisfying real-time constraints is critical, a desired trajectory on the center of the mobile robot should be decomposed into the joint space to drive the servo controllers. For the center of the robot, a convolution-based path planner and a corresponding joint space control algorithm are presented considering its physical limits. To avoid obstacles that introduce geometric constraints on the curved path, a trajectory generation algorithm considering high curvature turning points is adapted for an omnidirectional mobile robot. Tracking a high curvature path increases mathematical complexity, which requires precise synchronization between the actuators of the mobile robot. An improvement of the distributed clock—the synchronization mechanism of EtherCAT for slaves—is presented and applied to the joint controllers of the mobile robot. The local time of the EtherCAT master is dynamically adjusted according to the drift of the reference slave, which minimizes the synchronization error between each joint. Experiments are conducted on our own developed four-wheeled omnidirectional mobile robot. The experiment results confirm that the proposed system is very effective in real-time control applications for precise motion control of the robot even for tracking high curvature paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]