Target systems

The controller that is currently being programmed with a TwinCAT development environment (TwinCAT XAE) is referred to as the target system. In this chapter, important basics for handling target systems will be explained. These are also needed to understand the documentation based on them in the chapter TE1000 XAE.

First, a connection between the development environment and the controller must be created in order to be able to program a controller. Various channels can be used for this purpose. The individual options are explained in more detail in the chapter Routing.

If a controller is already programmed and in the field and you want to update the machine without using the programming environment, it is necessary to know which files and folders exist, what they are needed for and how you can best exchange them. The chapters Folder and file types and Machine update at file level are devoted to these topics.

Additional programs may also need to be started automatically when TwinCAT is restarted (e.g. an external HMi). This is explained in the chapter Starting the program automatically.

If several controllers in a network are working on the same process, it is necessary to correct the timestamps of the individual controllers when collecting and evaluating data so that the collected data adheres to the exact time sequence. To achieve this, you can correct the timestamps of the individual controllers accordingly. This is described in the chapter Corrected time stamps.