Getting started

Go from an empty controller to a running Motorcortex application you can see and control, in four steps and without any machine hardware.

  2 minute read  

These four steps take you from a controller without software to a running application that you control from your browser. The application runs in simulationIn simulation mode the application simulates every drive and I/O device. It computes the values a real machine would report, so you can use the whole application without connecting anything. , so you need no drives, I/O modules or other machine hardware. Work through the steps in order; click a step to open its guide.

Step 1: set up a controller 1 Set up a controller Install or use the cloud Step 2: connect your PC to the controller 2 Connect your PC Network and browser Step 3: deploy an application from the store 3 Deploy an app Runs in simulation Step 4: play with your application 4 Play Desk and a GUI

What you need

  • A controller: a cloud machine on motorcortex.io, a virtual machine on your own PC, a Raspberry Pi or an industrial PC. A cloud machine is the quickest way to try Motorcortex: you install nothing and need no hardware at all.
  • A PC with a web browser. For an industrial PC or a Raspberry Pi, your PC also needs a network port and a cable to the controller.
  • An account on motorcortex.io. You download MCX-RTOS and the applications from its store, and open the tools there.

Steps

The same steps as the diagram, as a list:

  1. Install MCX-RTOS on your controller, or create a cloud machine that already runs it: Set up a controller.
  2. Give your PC an address on the controller’s network and trust its certificate: Connect your PC.
  3. Create a project from a store application and send its packages to the controller, where it starts in simulation: Deploy an application.
  4. Read and change live values in Motorcortex Desk, and build your own dashboard: Play.

When you are ready to connect real hardware, Configure your application adapts the application to your own drives, I/O, axes and mechanism. Adding a single EtherCAT device is described in Add a device.

Next: Step 1: set up a controller.