A humanoid means orchestrating dozens of drives across arms, legs, torso, and hands as well as encoder and sensor data over a single high-speed EtherCAT network. The acontis EC-Simulator lets you run and validate that entire system in real-time, without waiting for hardware.

EC-Simulator virtualizes the complete EtherCAT network, simulating every SubDevice (drive, sensor, actuator) so your MainDevice controller and motion software run exactly as they would on the physical robot. Load the ENI file of your real network and the simulated bus behaves like the genuine article, same topology, process data, and timing.

Proven at Humanoid Scale

EC-Simulator has been demonstrated simulating 1,000 drives within a 1 ms EtherCAT cycle time, fully in real-time, enough to model a whole group of entire humanoids and full sensor-actuator loops with cycle-accurate fidelity, on a single computer with RT-Linux.

Model the Physics Your Way

SubDevice behavior can be simulated many ways: simple process-data logic, ready-to-run CiA 402 drive samples, full firmware based on the Beckhoff ET9300 stack, or complete physics models via the Functional Mock-up Interface (FMI). Connect a plant model from MATLAB, Dymola, or any FMI-compliant tool as an FMU, no FMU-specific coding, and drive your controller against a true digital twin.

Quick Verification of Any System

Run it as Software-in-the-Loop together with the EC-Master on a single computing device, or Hardware-in-the-Loop over a physical cable, allowing to mix real and simulated drives to bring the robot online step by step. Test dangerous fault scenarios, drive dropouts, and cable breaks safely, and fold it all into automated CI regression tests.

The Result

Development and verification time slashed, controller, motion, and safety logic validated long before hardware exists, and issues reproduced in-house in a fraction of the time. Exactly what’s needed to win the race to market in humanoid robotics.

Features 

MainDevice Software Development

• Run the EtherCAT MainDevice application without real EtherCAT SubDevices
• Convenient and easy integration of the EtherCAT MainDevice stack software with the MainDevice application, for example, implement and test functions for SubDevices which are not available
• Enable implementing and testing of advanced EtherCAT features like Hot Connect, Firmware download via FoE, etc.
• Validate the MainDevice application with different network configurations and topologies → As simple as loading a different ENI file into EC-Simulator
• User-friendly debugging of complex topologies and complicated scenarios with numerous varying SubDevice types

Fieldbus MainDevice Test

• Replace manual test procedures by automatic programmable test procedures
• Simulate SubDevice errors, e.g. a SubDevice drops down from OP to SAFEOP state
• Simulate cable breaks, frame loss, bad connections, etc.
• Simulate large networks with many SubDevices and large amounts of process data
• Simulate error scenarios at precise locations within the network, including before or after real SubDevices
• Implement enhanced test scenarios like simulating topology changes

Virtual Commissioning

• Develop and test applications based on a software emulation (Digital Twin) of the machine logic
• Test and optimize the application at a very early stage of the development prior to having any real target hardware and devices
• Test error scenarios that are dangerous and/or could lead to physical damage

SubDevice Firmware Development

• Develop SubDevice firmware before real hardware is available
• EC-Simulator is based on the Beckhoff® EtherCAT SubDevice Stack ET9300, and all standard APPL_XXX() functions are available on the application layer
• Develop firmware in Windows or Linux with a convenient and easy-to-use IDE
• Use recorded network frames or generated test data as process data input for SubDevice firmware
• Capture and trace process data outputs and states to files
• Test upload and download of parameters via CoE and VoE