Beckhoff adds OCPP support to TwinCAT IoT portfolio

Electric vehicle technologies and charging infrastructure continue to develop. To support communication among charging networks, stations and electric vehicles, Beckhoff has expanded its TwinCAT IoT product portfolio to include the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP). The implementation uses the WebSocket protocol recently added to the TwinCAT IoT driver.

OCPP standardizes communication between electric vehicle charging stations and their central management systems. Combined with the new EL6761 EtherCAT Terminal, which provides a communication interface compliant with IEC 61851 and ISO 15118, the solution supports communication between charging stations, electric vehicles and charging management systems.

TwinCAT 3 IoT OCPP (TF6771) introduces OCPP as a C++ driver linked to the PLC library through a wrapper. The initial implementation supports OCPP versions 1.6 and 2.0.1. The product is designed for two primary use cases:

• TwinCAT automation software serves as the controller for a charging station. Used with the EL6761 EtherCAT Terminal, TwinCAT connects the charging station to the central management system as an OCPP client.
• TwinCAT connects to other charging stations through OCPP and functions as part of the central management system. This can support local load management for a charging station network. TwinCAT can also connect to another management system for functions such as authentication or billing.

The single-channel EL6761 communication interface supports two additional functions. The EtherCAT Terminal can enable communication within the charging infrastructure, between the charging station and the electric vehicle, and between the charging station and a higher-level charging management system.

The interface supports two independent communication standards: pulse-width modulation (PWM) communication under IEC 61851 and power line communication under ISO 15118. ISO 15118 provides a communication channel for transmitting data between the electric vehicle and the charging station.

For more information, visit beckhoff.com.