EC-Inspector V4: New Features
New Features Version 4.2 - coming soon!
New Features Version 4.1
New Features Version 4.0
The new welcome page
When EC-Inspector starts, it now asks a single question: What would you like to do? The answer is given as four pictures rather than four menu entries. Each of the four operation modes is drawn as the system architecture it actually represents – where the laptop sits, whether a TAP device is in the line, which recorded file is being read – so that the right mode can be recognized at a glance instead of being looked up in the manual.
The welcome page opens on the Start Page tab and offers all four operation modes directly.
Choosing a mode opens exactly the parameters that this mode requires, immediately below the selection.
The four operation modes
In Active as MainDevice, EC-Inspector analyses the network itself. It acts as the EtherCAT MainDevice on the connected network, which means the standard controller has to be disconnected first. This is the mode that makes the Self-Test Scan possible, and it is the only one that needs neither a TAP device nor an ENI file.
Active as MainDevice requires a stopped machine and is intended for troubleshooting. EC-Inspector deliberately sets the SubDevices no further than the INIT state, so output signals cannot be activated at any point during the test. That is what makes an active test on real machinery safe to perform.
In Passive via TAP, the machine keeps running under its own controller. A TAP device copies all EtherCAT frames to EC-Inspector while the standard controller operates the network; the TAP is not recognized by the controller and does not have to be configured in any way. This is the classic operating mode for looking at a live machine without touching it.
The two offline modes work on recordings. Offline PCAP analyses previously captured EtherCAT traffic, including captures made with Wireshark, while Offline Snapshot reads back a previously recorded EC-Inspector session as a whole. Both make it possible to examine a network on a computer that has never been connected to it.
The offline modes place no requirements on the machine at all. Whatever state it is in – running, stopped or dismantled – troubleshooting, diagnosis and monitoring are all supported on the recorded data, cycle by cycle.
The Self Test Scan
The Self-Test Scan is the central function of the new Active as MainDevice mode. It answers the three questions that matter when a machine keeps stopping without an obvious reason: are Ethernet frames lost on their way, where are they lost, and why are they lost?
Inspector operates the network itself and localizes frame errors and link losses in the topology.
The starting point is an observation from the field: about 95 % of all network issues are cables and connectors. EtherCAT offers excellent diagnostic capabilities for exactly this class of fault – but many EtherCAT controllers do not evaluate that information, or do not show it. The diagnostic data exists in the devices; it is just never read out and never displayed. The Self-Test Scan reads it out.
Running the scan
Once the standard controller has been disconnected and the network is connected to the PC, the SubDevices are powered up and the mode Active as MainDevice is selected with the appropriate network interface. Pressing Start in the toolbar runs the Self-Test Scan; a progress dialog shows the scan running and can be cancelled at any time.
Start in the toolbar runs the scan.
The scan loads the network and evaluates the counters.
How EC-Inspector reports what it found
The graphical topology view shows the complete network as it was actually found, and the colour of each SubDevice port reflects the quality of that connection. A fault therefore appears at the place where it belongs – on the port, on the line between two devices – and not as an abstract error number. In parallel, the message window logs every error that occurs with a time stamp, the affected SubDevice, the port and the error type, for example an invalid frame with a CRC error on port B of SubDevice 1014, together with the total count.
For a network with dozens of SubDevices the topology view alone would still have to be searched, so the faulty device is additionally marked with a warning icon in the network topology tree. Selecting it opens the hardware diagnostics tab of that SubDevice, which states per port which of its ports behave erratically.
Finally, a message box states in plain words how the issue can be fixed. It does not stop at reporting a disturbed connection: it names the two devices whose link is affected, so what remains to be done is to check one specific cable between two known devices. After the repair, the Self-Test Scan is simply run again – if the counters stay at zero under full load, the network is clean, and the result can be written to a snapshot file as documentation.
Support universal EtherCAT Diagnosis and Monitoring without ENI file
The new EC-Inspector (as well as the latest version of the EC-Monitor) are not even more powerful, offering the new unique capability to run analysis and supervision on EtherCAT networks where the user does not have access to an ENI file!
A bit of technical Context: The ENI Requirement
The ENI (EtherCAT Network Information) file is a standardized XML file containing the required configuration data for EtherCAT MainDevices (Masters). This file includes:
- Configuration details for all SubDevices (Slaves).
- Process Data Objects (PDO) mapping and startup commands.
- Network-specific data, such as topology and device addressing.
So far, the EC-Inspector required the ENI-file of the network to enable diagnostics. However, in some cases, the ENI-file might not be available:
- Access restriction: End-users often do not gain access to the ENI-file which has been generated by the machine builder and is only accessible to the machine builder’s development team.
- Dynamic configuration: In small networks with simple functionality, selected MainDevice implementations support auto-configuration of the EtherCAT controller – i.e. the acontis EC-Master can be operated with a dynamically generated configuration instead using an ENI-file.
- Proprietary Systems: Some MainDevices employ proprietary or fixed configurations, bypassing the standard ENI structure. This also includes open-source software like SOEM and Etherlab EtherCAT Master that do not support ENI files.
Configuration Learning Mode: Operation and Requirements
The new EC-Inspector integrates a "Learning" mode to overcome the ENI dependency. This mode generates a runtime equivalent of the ENI file by passively sniffing and extracting the requisite network configuration information from the data traffic.
This learning mode can be used either with online analysis via TAP (mode 1) as well with captured Wireshark capture-files (mode 2).
In the pictures below we will use mode 2 with a pre-recorded Wireshark capture-file:
- Specify the capture file
- Select button for Mode 2
- Activate the Learning button within the menu interface
The EC-Inspector sequentially reads the Wireshark-capture file to identify all necessary information and will automatically stop as soon as all relevant data are identified.
If the online mode is selected, the EC-Inspector will notify the user when all relevant data have been identified, so that the user can switch to the diagnostic mode.
Prerequisite: In the learning-phase, the EC-Inspector requires the network to switch between different operational states e.g., INIT, PRE-OP, SAFE-OP, OP). Consequently, the network must be booted by the user respectively the capture file shall include the boot-sequence of the network.
As soon as the Learning phase is completed, the EC-Inspector lists all identified SubDevices and also shows that it is ready for Diagnosis mode with the internally generated-ENI replacement file.
This derived network information is stored within the EC-Inspector project file, ensuring persistence and avoiding repetitive learning cycles.
With the generated-ENI replacement file, all functions are available now and the network can be supervised and diagnosed – including access to all process variables as well as performance measurements, error analysis and the powerful trigger functions.
New modern and more user-friendly design
The version 4 of the EC-Inspector received a significant rework and update of the user interface, which combines several benefits for users and operators:
- Improved usability by enabling a better focus on the most relevant features in any view or tab of the EC-Inspector – e.g. highlighting active buttons, using high-contrast colors for key user elements, removing ornaments which did not prove useful.
- Updated icons and button styles for immediate information on status of the tool, connected MainDevice as well as SubDevices – even when used on modern tablet-style computers with reduced screen size.
- Keep compatibility with modern tools and Windows-software – a similar look and feel helps users to complete tasks faster.
- Apart from the immediately recognizable new look, there are many optimizations done to improve handling and speed up many work-steps – including automatic wizards to help with the generation of output files for Data Acquisition and more.
- We also increased the information shown in many screens – providing relevant information on EC-Inspector functions or EtherCAT data in sight when working with the EC-Inspector, eliminating the need to check the manual or online-help in many cases.
Trigger for Snapshots
The built-in snapshot function is now much more powerful, as you can get automatic generated snapshots based on trigger conditions. Any trigger can compare any variable (input or output) with either a fixed value or with another variable. Various comparison operators are available for the trigger conditions. When using the new Automatic Snapshot Mode, a snapshot will be triggered automatically, but you can continuously monitor the network – and can use the automatically generated snapshots to deep dive into key situations afterwards without the need to load in a long PCAP recording or similar.
Performance Measurement
The new performance measurement function is a great tool to quickly get an overview on the systems as well the EtherCAT MainDevice performance: You can verify CPU load respectively CPU-time to identify if the control system can handle the selected EtherCAT cycle time. In addition you can monitor the busload to avoid any lost cycles or data-communication issues due to network overload.
Improved Inspection Report
The Inspection Report which is generated automatically during each diagnosis session has been improved and extended – providing a lot of highly usefull data which can either be used for qualification reports as well as to identify system changes or possible root causes for any EtherCAT-based issues.
