Simulation connectors

Connector

A connector is a software package to read and write the I/O values, during simulation, from an external controller to the corresponding correct shared memory address of FASTSUITE Edition 2. Having said this, a connector enables:

• Communication to different third-party software components
• Signal handling and controlling outside of FASTSuite Edition 2
• Connecting of real hardware with FASTSuite Edition 2
• Logic program control validation in external software together with FASTSuite Edition 2.

Each connector is installed only once, but can be applied multiple times through the creation of instances. The picture below shows an example.

Instances of external connectors have attributes to establish the connection to the external controller.

System default connectors

The software includes two default connectors

	Internal	The software internal connector for running the motion planner for the simulation. This connector is automatically being used at start-up.
	External	While this connector is active, the system will only create shared memory for simulation. This interface is for internal test purpose only.

External connectors

FASTSUITE Edition 2 supports many different external connectors.

More controller reference information