Command: Enable SoftMotion
Function: The command enables the components of SoftMotion for the selected controller and makes it possible to use the controller as a motion controller.
Call: menu; context menu of a selected device in the device tree
Requirement: For the selected controller, SoftMotion is not enabled.
The command causes the SoftMotion General Axis Pool device to be added below the controller configuration as long as the object is still missing. There is at most one SoftMotion General Axis Pool per PLC device. Moreover, the SoftMotion libraries (with prefix SM3_) are added to the Library Manager.
As a result, you can use the SoftMotion functionality on all conventional PLCs and, for example, call the SoftMotion function blocks even without a license at least in demo mode.
Automatic activation
If your device is disabled for SoftMotion and you added any SoftMotion object below the device, then the Enable SoftMotion command is immediately executed implicitly. A SoftMotion object is a cam object, a CNC object, an axis group object, or any SoftMotion axis.
Device update from a SoftMotion PLC to a standard PLC
If SoftMotion has been enabled and devices have been configured below SoftMotion General Axis Pool, then you can update your device to a standard PLC anyway. This is because these devices remain available even after the update. For example, you can update from CODESYS SoftMotion RTE to CODESYS Control RTE without any losses.