OBLAC Drives Box

Important

In case you are not using OBLAC Drives Box, please refer to our OBLAC Drives virtual machine installation guide

OBLAC Drives Box is a physical machine that comes preinstalled with Linux OS and runs OBLAC Drives and the related services. It supports access over WiFi or local area network.

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Connectors

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Installation

  1. Plug in the power connector; the box will automatically boot.

Note

The power supply has an output rating of 5 VDC, 4000 mA.

  1. Connect the box to your local area network using the upper LAN port. This will allow you to access OBLAC Drives over the local area network rather than having to connect to OBLAC Drives Box over WiFi.

  2. Connect the EtherCAT cable to the lower LAN port on the back of the box. Connect this to the SOMANET servo drive on port IN.

Attention

Ensure that the LAN ports are used correctly: The upper LAN port is for accessing the internet via LAN. The lower LAN port is required for EtherCAT communication. When the ports are switched, no communication is possible!

The Box can be controlled via WiFi or LAN.

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Note

The HDMI port is without function. You require a dedicated host PC to control OBLAC Box.

For tuning, you may connect several servo drives via EtherCAT and tune one by one.

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Powering the box off and resetting

If you want to manually turn the box off you can either just disconnect it from the power supply or insert a small tool into the power switch.

When you need to reset it, please hold the power switch for about 5 seconds.

Open OBLAC Drives

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Open OBLAC Drives in your browser by navigating to http://oblac-drives-networkname.local

Note

Windows users need to install the Bonjour Software to open OBLAC Drives Box at the given URL.
If this is not possible you can still access OBLAC Drives via WiFi by entering the IP address given on the sticker.

Please check in you browser that the Drive is connected:

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Using OBLAC Drives Box with WiFi

A sticker on the side of the box contains the WiFi SSID (access point name) and password. Connect to the WiFi access point using your laptop or computer.

Sharing a connection with your Host-PC

Usually you would connect the Box to the internet with a LAN connection and connect your Host-PC to the Box via WiFi as the Box acts as an access point. Your PC will then have a Internet connection through OBLAC box, even if it is not directly connected to LAN.

However, if you don’t have a LAN connection, you can also share your Host-PC’s WiFi with the Box using a LAN cable (Connection to Internet by WiFi / Connection to OBLAC Box by LAN cable):

WindowsLinuxWindows

  • Enter Settings/Network Connections

  • Select “Change adapter settings”

    ../../../_images/choose_adapter.png

  • Select two network adapters “WiFi” and “Ethernet” by selecting each while holding Ctrl

  • Right click and select “Bridge Connection”

    ../../../_images/win_bridge_net1.png

  • When you are finished working with OBLAC Drives Box you can simply delete the bridged connection

    ../../../_images/win_delete_bridge1.png
Linux

  • open the Connection editor with the terminal:

    nm-connection-editor

  • Double-click on your Ethernet connection to edit it

  • Enter the IPv4-Settings

  • Select the method “Shared to other computers”

    ../../../_images/linux_shared_connection1.png

Connecting to the internet

When you need to connect to the internet and the OBLAC Box simultaneously (for example when updating the service or the firmware), use the Wifi mode to connect to the Box and connect the LAN to the Ethernet connector of the box:

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Update OBLAC Drives

Before using OBLAC Drives, you need to install the latest version of OBLAC Drives with our OBLAC Drives Update Service.

It is possible to use OBLAC Drives Box offline and to install and run the previous versions of OBLAC Drives. Newer versions of OBLAC Drives that get installed will be cached on the box, but they will have to be downloaded from the Internet.

That’s it! You may now proceed to commission your SOMANET servo drive:

Set up your drive system

How to set the parameters for your motor and sensors correctly.