QiTech Control is a real-time control system for industrial machines. A Rust backend drives the hardware directly over EtherCAT on a fixed 1 ms cycle, while an Electron + React interface lets the operator run the machine. One codebase runs a range of machines, each built to a common pattern, so new machine types can be added without changing the core.

The backend is split into two sides that never block each other. A real-time side steps every machine once per cycle and exchanges process data with the hardware. A non-real-time side serves the operator interface, the live-data feed, and device discovery. The two are connected only by message-passing channels, so the real-time cycle is never stalled by the interface or the network.

The real-time work runs on two isolated CPU cores at real-time priority, one core runs the control loop and the machines, the other handles EtherCAT IO - which keeps the 1 ms cycle stable.

The hardware-abstraction layer (the EtherCAT device drivers and the typed IO layer) and the core machine traits are provided by a separate library, qitech_lib, which this repository depends on. This wiki documents the control repository.

→ See Architecture for the full picture.

What does it run on? A Linux system with a real-time kernel. It is deployed as a NixOS system that ships the kernel and the device setup. See Getting Started.

What hardware does it support? Standard EtherCAT terminals (for example from Beckhoff and WAGO), reached over the EtherCAT bus. Serial and Modbus transports are also available, see Other transports.

Can I run it without hardware? Yes. A mock mode runs the backend with no machine connected, so the interface and the machine logic can be developed on any computer. See Getting Started.

How do I control a machine programmatically? Through the REST API for commands and the Socket.IO interface for live data. See Communication & API.

How do I add a new machine? Start from the boilerplate template in machine_implementations and fill in the marked steps. See Extending.

Where does the hardware layer live? The EtherCAT device drivers, the typed IO layer, and the core machine traits are in qitech_lib — a separate library this repository depends on, not in control.