Beckhoff integration using Raspberry

[gustavovl]

Hello everybody, I'm new to Beckhoff and I couldn't find the solution yet, I'd appreciate if someone could enlight me! :)
I need to integrate two distinct and already functional systems: one is working with a Raspberry connected to other devices; the other one is a Bechoff unit getting sensors data. Now I need to get these data captured by the Beckhoff and send them to the Raspberry.
Does someone know if I can access these sensors data in a Beckhoffs unit (it's a CX9020, but we can use a EK1100 as well...) by the Raspberry without using any other intermediate device (just the board and the unit)? Is there some api or something where I could access these values without using the Twincat graphical interface (for example, by one new process running in the OS unit)?
Thank you vey much!

[Johannes @ Robots in Architecture]

Hello,

This is not really my main area of expertise, but I'll do my best.
First of all, if your Beckhoff system is attached to a KUKA robot anyway, you could just use the submit interpreter to "forward" the values in realtime (usually 12ms), e.g. via serial on KRC1/2 or Ethernet on KRC4.
If you want to do it without a KUKA robot - is it really necessary to use a Beckhoff? There are some very nice I/O boards that communicate with the Raspberry Pi via I2C, so you don't even need to connect all the cables directly to the Raspberry. No idea about the latency, though.
If you really need to interface the Beckhoff and the Raspberry, I would personally look into using Codesys, which is offered for the Raspberry (http://store.codesys.com/codesys-control-for-raspberry-pi-sl.html?___store=en&___from_store=default) - and if I remember is free, it just shuts itself down after a time if you don't have a license. A quick Google provided this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4ePFqxqTfY

Let us know if you can get it to run!

Best,
Johannes

[gustavovl]

Hello Johannes, thanks a lot for the answer!
I've seen already the communication using I2C, but in this case we should use Beckhoff, so I'll take a better look in Codesys then!
Best Regards