Telescope control architecture based on RTOS-based EtherCAT soft motion controller

EtherCAT motion control architecture has become more and more popular these years. Its realization is based on the real-time operating system(RTOS), which utilizes one or more CPU cores of multi-core CPU computers to do the real-time operation and not interfere with the general-purpose operating system. Compared with the traditional DSP/FPGA motion controller-based motion control system, RTOS-based EtherCAT has many advantages, including much less wiring, much easier programming, easier maintenance, more flexibility, and so forth. I have tested several EtherCAT motion control systems based on different RTOS, including TenAsys INtime, IntervalZero RTX, and Acontis RTOS32Win. All EtherCAT masters present similar performance and using methods. I have used an RTX-based EtherCAT motion controller in 2 real projects, which makes my life much easier.