What's New in Logix Echo Version 2?

FactoryTalk Logix Echo is Rockwell Automation's next generation of controller emulator and I previously introduced all of the features of Logix Echo here.

In November 2022, Rockwell Automation released version 2 of Logix Echo and in this post, I'll introduce all of the new features that are available in Logix Echo version 2.

Let's start by talking about the expanded controller support in Logix Echo version 2.

GuardLogix 5580 Emulation

Logix Echo can now emulate GuardLogix 5580 controllers with firmware version 35+.

This means that you can fully test your safety code in a safe, virtual environment since Logix Echo is able to emulate both the standard and safety tasks, the safety instruction set within the safety task, and safety add-on instructions.

Logix Echo can be used to emulate both SIL2/PLd and SIL3/PLe applications. It supports emulation of safety applications by mimicking the safety partner in the Echo Dashboard and the API.

Other safety features supported by Logix Echo include;

• Tag mapping between safety and standard tasks,
• Project Online Editing,
• Safety Produce/Consume communication between emulated GuardLogix® controller instances,
• Safety Virtual SD Card handling, and
• Safety Lock/Unlock

Multi-Chassis Emulation

Logix Echo version 2 also supports multi-chassis emulation within a single node.

This allows you to emulate more complex distributed control systems and to exceed the limit of 17 controllers per chassis.

You can configure communication across multiple chassis using Class 1 (Produce/Consume)or Class 3 (Messages) communication between emulator instances in multiple, different chassis within the single Node.

API Improvements

As well as improvements to the product itself, Logix Echo version 2 brings some improvements to the API that allows you to integrate Logix Echo with simulation software, digital twins, and custom .NET applications.

In version 2, the Client Library is modified to support the "Any CPU" platform. This means that the Logix Echo API can be used with 32-bit and 64-bit applications.

The Client Library has also been extended with new functions to return all user application tags and to access individual bits of integer tags.

CIP Motion Axis Simulation

Logix Echo version 2 supports the Axis Test Mode feature set that allows physical motion axes to be placed into a test mode during evaluation, emulation, and testing.

When a project is downloaded into an emulated controller, motion axes are automatically placed into test mode. This allows you to emulate motion applications without physical hardware to refine and improve motion applications before physical commissioning of a machine.

Wrap Up

In this post, I explained the new features that were introduced with Logix Echo version 2. Those features are;

• Support for emulating GuardLogix controllers,
• Multi-chassis emulation,
• API improvements,
• CIP motion axis simulation

If you want to learn more about Logix Echo, you can check out this post that explains its key features.