Anyone had experiance with the XMC Series from Infineon?

• Anyone had experiance with the XMC Series from Infineon?
  Posted by CM800 on 15 Aug, 2016 11:14
• Out of curiosity, has anyone tried out the XMC Series of Microcontrollers from Infineon?
  
  http://www.infineon.com/cms/en/product/microcontroller/32-bit-industrial-microcontroller-based-on-arm-registered-cortex-registered-m/channel.html?channel=db3a30433c1a8752013c3e221b9d004f
  
  They seem rather nice... expecially considering there is a Chip under £10 with EtherCAT in 1pcs quantities...
  
• #1 Reply
  Posted by Sal Ammoniac on 15 Aug, 2016 16:23
• Yes, we use them here. What would you like to know about them?
• #2 Reply
  Posted by CM800 on 16 Aug, 2016 07:01
• Quote from: Sal Ammoniac on 15 Aug, 2016 16:23

  Yes, we use them here. What would you like to know about them?
  

  
  I'm curious about the ease of use / setup, how well they are supported, learning curve..... have you used the EtherCAT functionality too?
  
  I'm thinking of getting ahold of one for a motion control project.
• #3 Reply
  Posted by donotdespisethesnake on 16 Aug, 2016 07:53
• I have been playing with the XMC4300 eval board, I got the Ethercat example running with not much trouble. I was pleasantly surprised with the DAVE environment and documentation.
  
  The onboard Ethercat seems to be a unique feature in this type of MCU, which is what interested me.
• #4 Reply
  Posted by CM800 on 16 Aug, 2016 08:11
• Quote from: donotdespisethesnake on 16 Aug, 2016 07:53

  I have been playing with the XMC4300 eval board, I got the Ethercat example running with not much trouble. I was pleasantly surprised with the DAVE environment and documentation.
  
  The onboard Ethercat seems to be a unique feature in this type of MCU, which is what interested me.
  

  
  Indeed, the actual chip is lower cost then the EtherCAT SoC from Beckoff.
  
  Is the EtherCAT soley Slave or can it even master?
  
  I've ordered a 4300 demo like yourself.
• #5 Reply
  Posted by donotdespisethesnake on 16 Aug, 2016 22:08
• Quote from: TCWilliamson on 16 Aug, 2016 08:11

  Is the EtherCAT soley Slave or can it even master?
  
  

  
  I believe it is slave only, but I wouldn't swear to that.
  
  It would be nice if it could run as a master, that is something I want to look at. But maybe you can use an ethernet port as a master, with a suitable stack. I've only just started looking into EtherCAT.
• #6 Reply
  Posted by CM800 on 18 Aug, 2016 21:51
• Quote from: donotdespisethesnake on 16 Aug, 2016 22:08

  Quote from: TCWilliamson on 16 Aug, 2016 08:11

  Is the EtherCAT soley Slave or can it even master?
  
  

  
  I believe it is slave only, but I wouldn't swear to that.
  
  It would be nice if it could run as a master, that is something I want to look at. But maybe you can use an ethernet port as a master, with a suitable stack. I've only just started looking into EtherCAT.
  

  
  That sounds about right. EtherCAT is a really great performance protocol. I'm quite intrigued with this chip, the price makes EtherCAT possibly as inviting as CANOpen...
  
  Know any good pointers for getting familier with the Infineon XMC series?