EtherCAT Master Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Linux with PREEMPT_RT kernel (recommended) or standard kernel for evaluation
• A dedicated NIC for EtherCAT (Intel i210/i219 recommended)
• EtherCAT Master license file (Community edition is free — see Downloads)

1. Install the Package

curl -sSL https://pkg.adeebrobotics.com/install.sh | sudo bash
sudo apt install adeeb-ethercat-master

2. Identify Your Network Interface

ip link show
# Look for your dedicated EtherCAT NIC, e.g. enp3s0

3. Configure the Master

Edit /etc/adeeb/master.conf and set your interface:

[master]
interface = enp3s0
cycle_time_us = 1000
license_file = /etc/adeeb/license.key

4. Start the Master and Scan Slaves

sudo systemctl enable --now adeeb-master
adeeb-ctl scan

You should see all connected slaves listed with their ESI data and current state.

5. Run the Hello World Example

adeeb-ctl example hello-world --interface enp3s0

This cycles all slaves through INIT → PREOP → SAFEOP → OP and prints cycle timing statistics.

Next Steps

• Configure distributed clocks
• Explore the API reference
• Motion Controller REST API