A complete solution for communication with the charging infrastructure and electric vehicles

With the new function TwinCAT 3 IoT OCPP (TF6771), OCPP was implemented as a C++ driver with the associated PLC library as a wrapper. Due to their high market relevance, OCPP versions 1.6 and 2.0.1 are being implemented first. The focus is on the following two use cases:

• TwinCAT is used as a controller for a charging station together with the new EL6761 EtherCAT Terminal, and is then connected to the central management system as an OCPP client.
• When connecting other charging stations via the OCPP protocol, TwinCAT represents part of the central management system, e.g., to enable local load management of a charging station network. In parallel, TwinCAT can be connected to another management system, e.g., to implement authentication or billing mechanisms.

The EL6761 1-channel communication interface also offers two options: the EtherCAT Terminal can be used to enable communication for the charging infrastructure, directly to the electric vehicle and from it to the higher-level charging management system. Two independent communication standards are supported – PWM communication according to IEC 61851 and powerline communication according to ISO 15118. The latter provides a flexible communication channel to transmit all necessary data between the vehicle and the charging station.