Hello team,
We have a customer who is considering building a machine with a tool changer. This tool changer would require us to disconnect and connect Ethercat nodes while the rest of the network is running.
These “hot connect” nodes is placed last in our line topology.
These “hot connect” nodes can be uniquely identifiable (hardware DIP switch adress).
At this stage we are just investigating, and would appreciate any input. Is it doable today, is it on the roadmap, or is it something we can’t expect to achieve?
Dynamic networks isn’t currently possible on the fly. You would need to restart your network each time the topology changed. That might not be required though. Could you just associate different IO with the function of each equipped tool head? Why would they need to be different nodes?
Hi Jesper,
I sent you an email earlier. I’ve moved this post to Suggestions. We have added your request to our roadmap and will investigate the HotConnect functionality. In the meantime, please email with answers to my questions.
Hi @stleee, yes, Hot Connect (and flexible topology more broadly) is still on our roadmap, and it’s something we’re actively working toward.
Rather than tackle full Hot Connect in one step, we’re approaching it in stages. The first milestone is sync group support: the ability to organize the network into groups so that a non-main group going offline can be tolerated without bringing down the whole network. From there, the next milestone is allowing those groups to come back online and rejoin the network through our APIs.
We don’t have specific dates or implementation details to share yet, but we wanted you to know it’s a real priority for us and not just a wishlist item.
One thing that would genuinely help us. Could you tell us a bit more about why you’re asking, and the specific use case you have in mind? Understanding how you’d actually use this, what’s in the optional groups, how the machine is laid out, and what behavior you’d expect when a group drops or returns, lets us make sure our internal goals line up with what you and others actually need. Real-world scenarios are the best input we can get while we’re shaping this.
Thanks for raising it, and please keep the feedback coming.