Connect V02.09.02 Release Notes

Last updated: 30th August 2017

Getting Started - Installation

Install Connect on Microsoft Windows (7 or later) by running the installation program provided. Your computer will need to have Microsoft .Net 4 installed too - in the unlikely event it hasn't the installer will download it from the internet, or you can obtain it directly from here. Note that installation may take some time, but please be patient.

Installation Notes

1. The installer will replace previous versions of Unidrive M Connect during the installation. Normally, there is no need to un-install older versions.
2. Installation can take quite some time to complete.
3. The installation supports the following recommended operating systems and their minimum service pack: Windows 7 with SP1, Windows 8 and 8.1, Windows 10.

Changes in version V02.09.02 (from V02.09.00)

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• A new Ethernet drive discovery mode has been added which can be used to scan for drives on an EoE (Ethernet over EtherCAT) network or other subnet accessed via a gateway. A new project can be created using this scan mode by choosing the Scan Ethernet network via gateway/EoE template, or by selecting to Scan an address range in the settings page of the network explorer dialog.
• Support of firmware V1.16 for Unidrive M700-702 and Powerdrive F300.
• Support of firmware V1.05 for Unidrive M200-400.
• Added M708 and M709 drives.
• Added Commander ID300 and ID302 drives.
• Added SI-DCP module.
• Parameter database for newer MCi2xx firmware (V1.8).
• Parameter database updates for SI-EtherCAT (V1.10), E200/300 (V3.15).
• The firmware update tool will now allow updating of drive firmware when connected to an EtherCAT module via EoE. This requires EtherCAT firmware V01.02.08 or later.
• The Full scale current Kc value in a parameter file, created by uploading from a drive, will now match the value read from the drive.
• Fixed an issue where the firmware update tool would show an option to download to the Ethernet module on an M701.
• Fixed an issue that prevented access to the Motor Feedback Setup tool from a project incorporating an SI-Encoder.
• Fixed an issue that caused parameter values to be multiplied during download on a parallel drive.

Changes in version V02.09.00 (from V02.08.02)

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• Improvements to parameter upload/download providing better resilience to timeouts and clearer indication as to success, failure or cancellation.
• Support for deploying Machine Control Studio user programs to M200 and M300 drives (drive firmware V1.5 or later is required).
• Autotune tool will now detect if an SI-EtherCAT module has drive control.
• Parameter database updates for MCi2xx, SI-EtherCAT, SI-Profinet V2, M200-400, HS30, E200/300.
• Fixed an error converting from Commander SK to M200/M201 with regard to parameter 08.22.
• Various block diagram updates for F300, H300 and SI-I/O.
• The block diagrams for the EVC range of drives have been made clearer.
• Fixed a bug where using the keyboard to move up or down in a listings view would sometimes not work.
• A right-click context menu has been added to the option module tabs on a dashboard to make it easier to remove / move option modules.
• Corrected default value for motor rated speed (Pr5.008/Pr21.008) in RFC-A mode.
• Fixed an issue where the status information on dashboards for Ethernet interfaces wouldn't always update when online.
• Fixed bug where edited parameter captions in a new macro file wouldn't be saved.
• Other minor fixes.

Changes in version V02.08.02 (from V02.08.01)

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• Updated EVC drive databases.
• Updated SI-EtherCAT and SI-Applications Plus option databases to support latest firmware.
• Fixed an issue with help not being shown for Menu 17 on MCi210 modules.
• French translation improvements.

Changes in version V02.08.01 (from V02.08.00)

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• Added parameter database for the V2 built-in Ethernet module for Unidrive M600/70x that adds Profinet support.

Changes in version V02.08.00 (from V02.07.01)

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• Custom Parameters Support Support for displaying custom menu parameters has been added. Custom menus are defined alongside a user program for a drive using the Machine Control Studio application. Connect will automatically detect if any custom menus are present on a drive when adding the drive to the project, going online or uploading from a drive.
• SD card support Connect now allows you to write parameter files to an SD card that is plugged into your PC. That card can then be plugged into a drive (using an SD-Card/AI-Backup adaptor) and the parameters loaded in via the drive keypad or a special 'boot' parameter file. Connect can also read parameter files that have been created on the drive and stored on an SD card. This is all managed via a 'SD Card Manager' view in setup tools.
• Scan for new drives You can now scan for new drives and add them to an existing project via the "Add drives" drop-down in the ribbon. This may also be used to find drives where the connection settings have changed.
• Duplicating drive You can now duplicate drives in a project (right-click drive in tree and choose Duplicate).
• When creating a project by scanning for drives you can now choose which drives to add to the project by expanding the details section of the scanning window and using the checkboxes.
• It is now possible to extend the communications timeout. This may be helpful when you have intermittent timeouts or are connecting to drives via a higher latency connection (e.g. a VPN or remote link). Timeouts are extended by going to the Connection Settings of any drive in a project and pressing the Timeouts button. This is a global setting for all projects and drives.
• Various fixes in the Encoder set-up tool
• Firmware update tool will now prevent updating drive firmware using a serial connection at baud rates other than 19200 (unless using a KI-485 adapter at 115200 baud).
• Fixed issues updating Unidrive M200-400 firmware on drives set with US (1244) parameters.
• Fixed an issue where the dashboard pages for Ethernet option modules did not update correctly whilst online.
• Fixed an issue with the keypad programming tool when Connect is in the Italian language.
• Fixed an issue with option setup menus (15-17,24) not always updating when online and not being able to add parameters from them to a custom list or macro file.
• Fixed edited parameter captions not being saved with macro files.
• Fixed an issue when opening a project that has drives that reference newer parameter database versions than Connect is aware of.
• Fixed offline option module parameters potentially getting overwritten if you had edited the value whilst offline, then went online and back offline.
• When importing from CTSoft a check on the ratings is done and user will be asked to check if the rating is very different.
• Fix a scaling error with CTSoft import of stator resistance (5.017) on PCs not in US/UK region.
• Other minor bug fixes and reliability improvements.

Previous Changes

Release notes for previous versions are available online

Known Issues

• Firmware update over EoE: Connect cannot update firmware when connected to an EtherCAT module via EoE on an IPC. It is possible to update firmware over EoE when connected directly using TwinCAT.
• M702 I/O: Unidrive M702 with V01.13.xx firmware contains parameters for analogue input 3 in readiness for a future hardware upgrade to the Unidrive M702 (currently these parameters have no effect). This results in Unidrive M Connect also showing these parameters in the parameter listings and I/O setup tool. Also, with this and previous firmware versions, the I/O setup tool in Connect does not show digital I/O terminals T7 and T8 however they are still fully configurable via the block diagrams or parameter listings views.
• Option module parameters appearing red: When you open a project created in a V1.x of Unidrive M Connect you may see option module parameter values appearing in red. This was due to a bug in older versions of Connect (which has since been fixed). To resolve this upload the values from the drive or default the option modules parameters (by going to the option module dashboard and selecting 'Default Parameters').
• Error '0x80072ee7 - Unspecified error' during installation may happen if .Net Framework 4.0 is not installed and the installer cannot find it to install, or cannot connect to the internet to download it.