Commissioning and monitoring of drives
The program goes to your drives, and the commissioning engineer sees every device on the bus in the browser: parameters, position and torque plots, state and errors.
What happens to the axis is seen, not guessed
All drives — in one list
Devices on the bus are found automatically; drives from different vendors are in one list with the same axis model.
Plots for each axis
Position, torque and following error — in real time, next to the program that caused them.
The fact — from the equipment
State and errors are read from the drive, not from the button's reply: the screen shows what really happened.
Third module: from the command to axis motion
Programs from the model screen and line automation logic arrive here — the other modules in the diagram are clickable.
What exactly the commissioning engineer gets
Bus and devices
- Bus
- EtherCAT: drives and I/O on one bus.
- Drive profile
- CiA402: states and modes of drives from different vendors are mapped to one axis model.
- Device search
- Devices on the bus are found and shown as a list with their state.
- Verified on the test bench
- 5 real servo drives — the program has passed on the test bench synctwin.ru, 12.09.2026
Drive parameters
- Read and write
- Drive parameters — in the browser, without a separate vendor utility for each drive.
- Axis profiles
- Axis settings are made once and reused across machines.
- Axis role
- An axis is bound to a role in the machine (stroke, speed, working tool), not to a specific drive.
Motion plots
- What is recorded
- Position, torque, following error, status word — for each axis.
- Rate
- 1 kHz — commissioning oscilloscope synctwin.ru
- Link to the program
- The plot is tied to the program line that was executing at that moment.
Diagnostics and machine panel
- Errors
- Drive codes and state are read from the equipment and shown next to the axis.
- Machine panel
- Start, stop, current line and state — without the cloud.
- In the implementation
- Tuning the unit’s drives is part of the per-cell implementation stages; units on your drives — as agreed during the implementation.
Bus device → profile → axis
A drive profile is set up once on the test bench and serves any machine or unit it is assigned to. A program axis does not know whose drive is underneath: it knows the profile, and the profile knows the drive.
- Find devicesBus scan: drives and I/O couplers reach the operational state and are shown in a list.
- Describe the axis profileMotor-to-joint gear ratio, conversion of speed, torque and resolution, limits with units, motor datasheet.
- Assign to a test benchA bus device is linked to an axis; on binding, the drive’s identity — model and identifiers — is recorded.
- Run and lookJog, a recorded run, a “command vs actual” oscilloscope: where the drive cannot keep up.
- Tune the loopsControl loops, backlash and friction, runout by rotation angle. A refinement is proven by the difference in feedback before and after.
The scale is derived from mechanics
“Pulses per millimetre” is never typed by hand: lead screw pitch, gearbox and encoder resolution are entered, the consequence is calculated.
Drives swapped
The bus position stays, but the machine behind it is different — the system will refuse to run such an axis. Binding is identity, not place.
Fault codes — in words
The drive status word is decoded: whether torque is on, a fault with explanation, the CiA 402 profile stage. Parameters by group.
One language for drives from different manufacturers
CiA 402 defines where to find a parameter, how to enable a drive, how to reset a fault and what the state machine is. Basic data of compatible drives sit at the same addresses — that is why they are interchangeable in the axis model.
| Mode | What is set | Where we use it |
|---|---|---|
| CSP | Cyclic synchronous position | The working mode of CNC machine axes |
| CSV | Cyclic synchronous velocity | Spindle on the test bench |
| CST | Cyclic synchronous torque | By profile — for a torque task |
| PP | Profile position | Linear axis and joint of an automation unit |
| PV | Profile velocity | Unit conveyor, auger, spindle |
| Homing | Homing method and speeds | Axis homing; on absolute encoders — no search |
The path to motion: “switch on disabled” → “ready to switch on” → “switched on” → “operation enabled”. Fault and quick stop are cleared with a fault reset. In detail — EtherCAT and CiA 402.
Torque — only while the axis moves
Torque inside a step
On servo, torque is applied only inside a motion step: enable, move, disable. Torque removal is confirmed by measurement, not by the command’s reply.
Bus loss tested
Drive reaction to a cable break was measured on the test bench: one goes to torque-off without a fault, another into a fault reset over the bus. Your drive’s behaviour is recorded in the implementation test protocol.
Only one party holds the bus
Commissioning, machine mode or automation cycle. If the bus is taken, the platform says by whom and what to switch.
Mode change — with confirmation
Switching between virtual axes and drives on a running machine asks for confirmation: control restarts from the twin and axis homing is reset.
Jog — at the equipment
Jog and raw drive commands do not pass from the cloud: they stay in the commissioning tool and on the panel at the machine.
“Stop” — one command
A stop from the twin, the commissioning tool or the panel is the same command in every window.
Where to see the hardware’s answer
A button’s reply only proves that the request was accepted. The fact is taken from another channel — position, following error, drive status word — and is visible on screen.
| Window | What you see |
|---|---|
| Machine monitor | Axis coordinates, state, spindle, feed; the twin’s live track; position, velocity and torque charts as a percentage of rating |
| Commissioning oscilloscope | 1 kHz over the bus: position, velocity, torque, following error; “command vs actual” mode — where the drive cannot keep up |
| Drive card | Status word: whether torque is on, a fault with explanation, CiA 402 stage; parameters by group |
| Machine card | State tags: online, up, twin diverged, tool not found; refusal texts verbatim |
Torque is shown as a percentage of the drive’s rating: while rated torque is not set in the datasheet, an N·m scale does not exist and the platform does not draw it.
Control and monitoring without the cloud
Local web panel
Runs on the box at the machine: start-up steps, axis positions, speed, program and current line, emergency stop.
The same names
Channels and axes on the panel are named the same as in the twin, on the test bench and in the commissioning tool — the four-window rule.
Link lost — machine under control
The panel does not depend on the cloud: state and coordinates are visible even when there is no external network.
Mixed bus: models from different manufacturers on one bench
- Axes in CSP modeThree axis servo drives (verified on the test bench) on one bus: motion, profile tuning, drive indicators, position scale measured.
- Spindle in CSV modeA servo drive from another manufacturer (verified on the test bench) with an absolute encoder: CiA 402 state path, travel measured per revolution.
- Electronic gearingA follower drive from one manufacturer tracks a leader from another via a PLC program (verified on the test bench): deviation ≤ 0.004 rev, measured 20.08.
- I/O couplerEtherCAT I/O module (verified on the test bench): digital outputs and inputs on the same bus, bit order taken from the live bus.
EtherCAT CiA 402 drives from different manufacturers work through one and the same axis profile; the list of verified models is available on request; a new drive is added by its device description, and the machine and program never know the manufacturer's name. This is a test lab, not factory operation. More — “Drives and slaves”; compatibility of your drives is checked at the start of the implementation.
Compatibility — by open specifications
| Standard | What we follow | Where it is verified |
|---|---|---|
| EtherCAT | bus for drives and couplers; the master brings slaves up to OP | works on the test bench |
| CiA 402 | drive profile: states, CSP and CSV modes; servo drives from different manufacturers on the test bench | works on the test bench |
| IEC 61131-3: ST and SFC | unit logic; compiler check; execution on the test bench | works on the test bench |
| PLCopen Motion | axis motion blocks in the unit program | works |
| ISA-88 | unit model: a unit of modules, a module of channels | works |
| PackML | unit states and Command/Status tags | works |
| AutomationML | line project export; import in external systems is a subject of the implementation | export available |
| CANopen | drive on the test bench: travel measured | verified on the test bench |
For an integrator this means: the logic, bus and drives of your line can be read, verified and maintained by open specifications.
Key points for this module
- Drive commissioning in the browser— bus device search, parameters, plots, diagnostics.
- On your equipment— we connect the drives, machines and robots you already have or choose yourself; no need to buy a fleet from one vendor.
Discuss an implementation
Drives from different vendors on one machine or unit.
Axis commissioning and experimental motion validation within an R&D stage.
Test protocol with axis plots — published with your consent.
Questions about the module
Which drives fit?
Drives on an EtherCAT bus with the CiA402 profile. Models already on the bench are in the table above with their mark; we check compatibility of your model at the start of the implementation and record it in the specification.
Do we need the drive vendor's utility?
Device search, parameters, plots and diagnostics are available in the browser. If a specific drive needs factory setup, it is fixed in the specification.
Does it work without internet?
Yes: the system runs inside the enterprise perimeter, the machine panel — without the cloud.
Implementation under an R&D contract
Line virtual commissioning implementation: price per line cell, minimum 3 cells; payment in stages by acts.
- Model and cell layoutYour line’s cells in the twin: mechanisms from the library or from your STEP, layout on the site.
- SFC logic and cycle timeThe cells’ SFC program is run on virtual axes; the line cycle time comes from the run.
- Report and run videoA report on conflicts and reachability and a video of the line run.
A cell is a line unit (an ISA-88 unit). Scope — mechanisms from our library or the customer’s STEP, no modelling from scratch.
Implementation price and terms →We will run your program on your drives
Tell us which drives and how many axes — we will reply with the price and timeline of the stage.
Request access