Controllers gain Ethernet interface

Micro-Robotics has added an Ethernet interface to its range of embedded microcontroller interface products.

Micro-Robotics has added an Ethernet interface to its range of embedded microcontroller interface products and so adds to the TCP/IP networking capability already available on the company's VM-1 microcontroller.

The new Ethernet interface enables all the existing protocols and applications to be used on a local area network (LAN) and full object based software support is provided in Venom-SC, the object-oriented, control-system language developed by Micro-Robotics and built into the Flash ROM on the VM-1 controller.

Just three simple lines of code are enough to create an Ethernet object and use it to "ping" another device in the LAN.

Little more is needed to extend this capability to the whole Internet and more sophisticated applications can be easily built using the protocols already supported in the TCP/IP stack namely: UDP, TCP, POP3,,SMTP, DNS and synchronisation with Internet timekeepers.

The software support includes a detailed Venom networking guide that fully documents the software objects that implement the Internet's communication protocols and also contains examples of code, including a web server that can be adapted and used by customers.

This new capability will extend the VM-1 applications to include remote data logging with reporting by email and high performance distributed control with VM-1 controllers communicating with each other over the LAN.

It will also meet web server applications where the remote VM-1 can be monitored and controlled with nothing more than a standard web browser from anywhere in the world and also provide control and monitoring capability for applications using a character terminal without the physical limitations of RS232 serial data.

The Micro-Robotics Ethernet interface is available for evaluation or small-scale implementation as a small module that plugs into a new application board.

Custom designs will integrate the Ethernet hardware on a board with other peripheral components.

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