Example Fastcat Configurations

This directory contains a short list of working, tested Fastcat configuration files.

Offline Configs

faulter_config.yaml

Many Fastcat devices have the ability to emit faults, however a generic capability was needed to keep testbed configuration flexible. The Faulter device can be used to add custom fault handling to the bus. Say, you have a load cell that is protecting sensitive hardware you could create Conditional device that trips for high loads and pass the Conditional device Fastcat signal to a Faulter device that would fault all other devices on the Fastcat bus, protecting your hardware. This example configuration uses a Conditional and Faulter to create a simple fault monitor system using the Faulter device.

fts_device_config.yaml

This configuration uses a signal generator to create a FTS analog input, which is in turn transformed to another sensing frame by means of a Virtual FTS device.

offline_jsd_config.yaml

This configuration tests the offline versions of the JSD EtherCAT devices.

robotic_arm_config.yaml

A configuration with seven actuators as a simulator for a robotic arm.

signal_processing_config.yaml

Captures common signal processing step to acquire a raw signal, filter, and apply a linear function to the output to get a processed signal that can then be used internal to Fastcat by another device or external to Fastcat

zero_latency_config.yaml

Highlights the internal reordering performed by Fastcat. The device list here is ordered such that a naive processing order would result in several loops of latency. During initialization, Fastcat correctly reorders these signals such that there is no latency between the devices that use Fastcat signals.

Online Configs

Testing Setup

A test setup called a Bluebox "BBx" is contains power electronics, a Beckhoff stack, and 6 Elmo Gold Drives. This common hardware is accessible to developers within our organization who wish to test new drivers or features before field deployments.

Contact Alex Brinkman ([email protected]) if you have questions about this hardware configuration.

bbx_heater_config.yaml

This configuration uses a electrical RC low pass filter to emulate a heater-temperature system and implements a bang-bang controller to keep the 'temperature' within an acceptable range. An EGD is used as a visual display of the 'temperature'.

bbx_motor_sine_config.yaml

This configuration uses a signal generator to command several EGD devices to follow a sine wave position profile.

Device Coverage

Fastcat Device Coverage:

Config File	Actuator	Commander	Conditional	Faulter	Filter	FTS	Function	Schmitt Trigger	Signal Generator	Virtual FTS
offline/faulter_config.yaml			X	X					X
offline/fts_device_config.yaml						X			X	X
offline/offline_jsd_config.yaml		X					X		X
offline/robotic_arm_config.yaml	X
offline/signal_processing_config.yaml			X		X		X	X	X
offline/zero_latency_config.yaml		X					X	X	X
online/bbx_heater_config.yaml		X			X		X	X
online/bbx_motor_sine_config.yaml

JSD Device Coverage:

Config File	EGD	EL2124	EL3208	EL3602	JED
offline/faulter_config.yaml
offline/fts_device_config.yaml
offline/offline_jsd_config.yaml	X	X	X	X
offline/robotic_arm_config.yaml
offline/signal_processing_config.yaml
offline/zero_latency_config.yaml		X
online/bbx_heater_config.yaml	X	X		X
online/bbx_motor_sine_config.yaml	X