Creating a virtual slave
Additional virtual slaves can be created on the same hardware interface. This enables more data to be exchanged with a CANopen master, or a connection with a second CANopen master can be established. Up to three virtual slaves can be created on the same hardware interface of a slave.
Because a maximum of 16 PDOs can be configured for each slave, the additional three virtual slaves increase the maximum possible number of PDOs to 4 x 16 PDOs in each send direction. Each virtual slave is assigned a dedicated address via TwinCAT and is configured like an independent device for the CANopen master.
Requirements for this step:
- A CANopen slave, created in TwinCAT.
Create a virtual slave as follows:
- 1. Right-click on a CANopen slave in the tree view on the left.
- 2. In the context menu click Add New Item.
- Another box (virtual slave) is created.
Own variables can now be created for the virtual slave. In the next step you can set the address for the slave.