EtherCAT
is the open real-time Ethernet network originally developed by Beckhoff. EtherCAT sets new standards for real-time performance and topology flexibility.read more...
EtherCAT Technology Group
The ETG is a global organization in which OEM, End Users and Technology Providers join forces to support and promote the further technology development.read more...
News
Full house at ETG Member Meeting Japan
06/09 | Three weeks before the ETG member meeting Japan on July 7th already over 100 people registered for the event, which will provide an update of the EtherCAT technology, application presentations from Japan and also an overview of EtherCAT applications worldwide. This information and networking event is held annually, this year for the first time in the new, conveniently located Akihabara UDX conference center. In the last years the event was well attended, too, reflecting the enormous interest of the Japanese automation industry in EtherCAT. Details and the registration form can be found here.US membership exceeds 100
06/09 | Shortly after exceeding the 1000 member mark, ETG membership reached another milestone: there are now more than 100 member companies from the United States of America. After Germany, the US provides the second largest ETG member community, closely followed by Japan and China/Taiwan. Since member 1000 was reached, ETG experiences an ongoing strong interest in its membership: the last month has seen an average of two new members every business day.EtherCAT in Measurement Systems
05/09 | Encountered by many as the upcoming de facto standard for measurement systems, EtherCAT is quickly expanding in this industry, too. The decision of BMW, Volvo, Airbus and others for EtherCAT in test stand applications has further boosted the acceptance among the test and measurement suppliers. Consequently ETG exhibited at the Sensor & Test Exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany in May. Besides generic EtherCAT Technology displays and demonstrators also EtherCAT based measurement systems by HBM, imc Messsysteme, National Instruments, Stiegele Datensysteme, and Vector Informatik were shown.Large audience at ETG Seminars in India
05/09 | Although aimed at ETG member companies only, the recent seminar series was very well received: more than 150 registered attendants mark India’s interest in the EtherCAT Technology. The seminars in New Delhi, Bangalore and Pune covered a detailed technology introduction as well as an EtherCAT application overview. In India, EtherCAT is already used in a large variety of applications such as packaging machines, automotive test beds, wind turbines and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. ETG plans to hold another seminar series in India in October, this time focusing on end users.Historic Milestone for EtherCAT Technology Group: the 1000th Member
04/09 | With 1000 member companies joining in just over 5 years, the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) is undoubtedly a dynamic organization powered by rapid growth. The 1000th member of the ETG is Multivac, a world leader in packaging machine technology with its headquarters in Bavaria, Germany. Details can be found in the press release.EtherCAT Seminar Series and Evaluation Kit Workshops in North America
04/09 | On May 13th+14th as well as May 18th+19th there will be EtherCAT seminars and Evaluation Kit workshops in North America. Invited are end users as well as device vendors that want to learn about EtherCAT technology. The EtherCAT implementation seminars take place in San Jose and Chicago. Details and registration form are found in the event section.EtherCAT Seminar Series in India
04/09 | In May, ETG hosts EtherCAT Seminars in New Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. These seminars specifically address the needs of ETG members and their distributors in India, who may have EtherCAT or other Industrial Ethernet products either available or coming up, and who want to be prepared so that they can talk to their customers about it. Details can be found here: www.ethercat.org/india2009Technical Committee starts new Working groups - Call for Experts
04/09 | The Technical Committee (TC) established several Working Groups (WG) on the last Meeting on March, 18th 2009. These Working Groups have the goal to enhance the EtherCAT Technology and to improve the conformity. The TC asks the ETG members to join the Working Groups and send Experts for an active work within these groups. A list of all Working Groups is available within the Member Section here.Free "Safety over EtherCAT" Seminar: March, 17th, 2009
03/09 | The EtherCAT Technology Group organizes a "Safety over EtherCAT" seminar in Raunheim, Germany, on March 17th, 2009. Decision makers, product manager as well as R&D engineers who are involved in their companies safety product strategy are invited to this seminar. We will give you a comprehensive overview about today's requirements for safety machine architectures with the focus on safety communication with the Safety over EtherCAT protocol. You should get a basis for the strategy of your machine or device implementation. Safety over EtherCAT is a safety communication protocol used within the EtherCAT Technology. Several companies already use this technology or offer products. If you are interested in joining the seminar, please register immediately here.50 Devices successfully Conformance Tested
02/09 | Starting operations in October last year, the EtherCAT Test Center in Nuremberg has successfully tested 50 EtherCAT devices so far. Among the first vendors that received conformance certificates were Hilscher, SMC and Beckhoff. ETG invites the device vendors among its members to bring their EtherCAT products to the official test center and also encourages end users to check for the ETG Certificate when purchasing EtherCAT products. The Test Center is operated by Beckhoff on behalf of the ETG. Details can be found here.ETG Team expanded
02/09 | The EtherCAT Technology Group welcomes a new team member: Rainer Hoffmann complements the technical team in the Nuremberg ETG headquarter in Germany. Rainer Hoffmann has a background in software development and will provide high level implementation support, contribute to the conformance test and look after EtherCAT sample code. He started his new job in February and is currently receiving advanced training.7. European Plug Fest announced
01/09 | The 7th European EtherCAT Plug Fest will take place in Garbsen, near Hannover, Germany, on March 16/17, 2009. The interoperability meeting will be hosted by the local SEW Eurodrive training center. At the Plug Fest both master and slave devices are interoperability tested in various configurations. The meeting also serves as forum for developers. Details can be found here."Safety over EtherCAT" wins SAFETY AWARD 2009
12/08 | Nominated by a jury that included safety experts from TÜV, BGIA, VDMA and ZVEI and voted for by the readers of the German magazines "Sicherheit + Management" and "MessTec & Automation" the EtherCAT Safety Technology "Safety over EtherCAT" has won one of the three GIT SAFETY AWARDs 2009 in the category "Safe Automation". "Safety over EtherCAT" was the only winning safety technology, all other winners were products.Omron selects EtherCAT as its next Motion Bus System
11/08 | Following an extensive study and evaluation period, Omron has selected EtherCAT as its next Motion Bus System. Along with that step, Omron has also decided to take an active role in EtherCAT Technology Group in Japan and Asian Market: Omron will pursue the adoption of EtherCAT as a national Japanese standard and will help to establish the conformance and interoperability test lab in Japan. Omron will develop EtherCAT based servo motors and inverters as well as the motion controllers in the next summer, initially for the European market and for Japanese OEMs exporting their machines.National Instruments selects EtherCAT as System Bus
11/08 | National Instruments has selected EtherCAT as System Bus for its Programmable Automation Controller (PAC) product line. Rahman Jamal, Technical & Marketing Director of National Instruments Central Europe, presented at the ETG press conference at SPS/IPC/Drives show how third party slave devices can be integrated in the system by using the LabView configuration tool. ETG expects that NIs' decision will have major impact both in North America and in the test and measurement field in general, where EtherCAT is already well established.Multi-vendor Multi-axis Demonstrator @ ETG Booth at SPS/IPC/Drives 2008
11/08 | 25 different Servo Drives from 16 Vendors, one EtherCAT network, one application program: ETG shows new multi-vendor multi-axis demonstrator at SPS/IPC/Drives show in Nuremberg, Germany. This unparalleled setup, in which all servo drives are synchronized, underlines the leadership of EtherCAT in motion control.ETG develops new Safety Drive Profile
11/08 | Because current Drive Profiles do not cover functional safety, the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) is developing a new Safety Drive Profile to close this gap. With this new drive profile, the Safety Functionality of EtherCAT drives with CiA402 (CANopen) or SERCOS Drive Profile can be used and configured in a "manufacturer-independent" way.Power over EtherCAT
11/08 | The EtherCAT Technology Group has enhanced its technology with a new "Power over EtherCAT" option. The specification enhancement makes use of the IEEE802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE) functionality and can be implemented with commercially available chips. Power over EtherCAT is particularly suitable for encoders or linear position sensors, which now can connected to EtherCAT using a single, standard Ethernet cable.EtherCAT Seminar Series in South Africa
10/08 | November 11+14 ETG will hold Industrial Ethernet Seminars in South Africa. Invited are end users as well as device vendors that want to learn about EtherCAT and other Industrial Ethernet technologies. The seminars take place in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Details and registration form are found here."Safety over EtherCAT" nominated for SAFETY AWARD
10/08 | A Jury that included safety experts from TÜV, BGIA, VDMA and ZVEI has nominated the "Safety over EtherCAT" Technology for the final round of the 2009 GIT SAFETY AWARD in category A: Safe automation. The winner is selected by an online poll system which can be found here."Engineering-driven Ethernet" Webcast
09/08 Control Engineering online has premiered "Engineering-driven Ethernet" - a highly informative Webcast featuring Joey Stubbs, EtherCAT Technology Group and other industry experts. Click here to register and view the archived Webcast.EtherCAT Plugfest with 13 Master Vendors
09/08 | At the EtherCAT Plugfest on Sept 22/23 13 different master implementations were tested with the slave device variety of 17 different vendors. It is the goal of the event, which was hosted by Lti Drives in Lahnau, Germany, to check the interoperability of EtherCAT implementations. All slave devices are operated individually and in groups with all master devices. In addition, the devices are checked with the Conformance Test Tool.1st Asian EtherCAT Plugfest announced
09/08 | The first Asian EtherCAT Plugfest will be held in Suncheon, South Korea, on October 15/16. The event is hosted by Prof Moon, ETG Representative Korea, in facilities provided by Sunchon National University and will be attended by master and slave device manufacturers from several Asian countries. Establishing plug fests in Asia reflects the importance of the Asian market for EtherCAT. The technology is currently being implemented by many Asian automation device vendors.IEC approves ETG Liaison with IEC SC65C JWG10
08/08 | The Standardization Management Board of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has approved the Liaison of the ETG with the workgroup for industrial cabling, JWG10. The decision was taken unanimously. ETG experts are actively contributing to the installation profiles elaborated in this workgroup, e.g. to the next edition of IEC 61784-5.EtherCAT SEMI Standard enhanced
07/08 | The EtherCAT SEMI standard E54.20 was enhanced by the vacuum pump device profile. The SEMI committees unanimously accepted the proposed specification at the standards meetings during Semicon West in San Francisco, CA, USA. The new standard release is expected to be published soon. ETG had an info booth at this show, which was well frequented.EtherCAT Robots are Vice-World champions
07/08 | EtherCAT Robots finish a strong second in soccer championship. The EtherCAT equipped robots from the Dutch Team, Tech United had a near perfect record at the RoboCup World Championships in Suzhou, China: the finals went to the 14th match, which was the first that the EtherCAT soccer robots from Eindhoven finally lost. In the semi finals, Tech United defeated the former world champion, but the win from the round robins against the eventual world champion team CAMBADA from Portugal could not be repeated in the finals. However, 2nd place is a great achievement and everyone at the ETG offers congratulations to Tech United!ETG Member Meeting Japan: over 100 Attendees
07/08 | The members meeting in Tokyo was very well attended: over 100 representatives of Japanese ETG members followed the invitation. Seiko Epson and the bio-mimetic control research center Riken presented robot projects.ETG Member Meeting Japan on July 8th
06/08 | ETG Japan Office will host a members meeting in Tokyo on July 8th. The meeting is intended for employees of Japanese ETG members as well as for the Japanese representatives of ETG members located in other parts of the world. Latest EtherCAT technology enhancements, ETG news, and the status of the worldwide and Japanese EtherCAT deployment will be covered as well as EtherCAT slave device development resources. Detailed information and the registration form can be found here.EtherCAT IP Core now with 3 Ports
06/08 | The EtherCAT IP core turns Altera or Xilinx FPGAs into an EtherCAT Slave Controller. The core now supports up to three EtherCAT ports. The third port allows one to directly connect drop lines and branches with further devices and take full advantage of the topology flexibility of EtherCAT. So far this functionality was implemented in the ASICs only, now EtherCAT devices with integrated junction can be designed with FPGAs, too.EtherCAT 1st RTE Choice for Packaging Machine Builders
05/08 | According to a survey recently published by the consultancy and market research firm Quest TechnoMarketing (Bochum, London) the trend towards Ethernet is particularly visible in packaging machines. While in 2005 21% of the machine builders supported Ethernet, 76% plan to use this technology by the end of 2008. Generic TCP/IP without real time capabilities still has the largest share with 45%, but for 31% real time Ethernet already is the way to go. Within this group EtherCAT is the first choice (see graphics).EtherCAT Robots win RoboCup German Open
04/08 | EtherCAT equipped soccer robots of the Dutch Team Tech United Eindhoven won the RoboCup German Open in Hannover. In the semi-final they defeated the reigning world champion of the Middle Size League, the Brainstormers Tribots from Osnabrück, Germany, a team that had not been beaten since 2004. In the finals it took a penalty shoot-out to beat the current number 3 in the world ranking, the CoPS Team from Stuttgart. The Tech United Robots use EtherCAT for interfacing to drives, sensors and actuators.EtherCAT at Hannover Industrial Fair
04/08 | EtherCAT is shown at the worlds largest industrial show in a variety of ways. The focus is on the Joint Booth of the EtherCAT Technology Group in Hall 9, F13 where 54 Vendors present more than 150 different EtherCAT Products. Shown for the first time are several control systems - including a new safety controller with Safety over EtherCAT protocol, drives, sensors, I/O systems, interfaces and gateways from various vendors.EtherCAT introductory presentations at the convention center in the middle of the fair ground are held at 4 p.m. on April 22-24. There will also be implementation seminars and workshops, which have been fully booked for some weeks, adjacent to the trade show.
ETG Gains One New Member Every Business Day
04/08 | The growth rate of the EtherCAT Technology Group is further accelerating. In the last 12 months membership of the worldwide group increased by 250 - an average of one new member every business day. There are 732 member companies from 41 countries. The member distribution shows the migration from a primarily German to a truly global association. At the end of 2003, 70% of the 35 founding members were from Germany. Today the percentage of German members is down to 38%. The US has the second highest percentage of members, followed by Japan, Switzerland and Italy.ETG Technical Committee Spring Meeting
03/08 | 86 participants attended the spring meeting of the ETG Technical Committee and the associated training classes. The Technical Committee meets twice a year to discuss the results of the various working groups and task forces, pass implementation guidelines and implement new work groups. One topic at the spring meeting was the EtherCAT master/master communication: the protocols and services are part of the specification since 2005 and are also included in IEC 61158, now a uniform configuration interface was introduced. The Technical Committee is accompanied by training classes which are also open to all ETG members. The fall meeting will take place Sept 23/24.EtherCAT at Hannover Industrial Fair
01/08 | EtherCAT is the fastest Industrial Ethernet Technology. This was found by researchers in a project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. More details can be found here.
The world's largest Industrial Ethernet organization with 1050 member companies.
Upcoming Events
July 7, 2009, Tokyo, Japan
ETG Member Meeting JapanJuly 14-16, 2009, San Francisco, USA
SEMICON West 2009ETG Booth # 2531
Sept 1-4, 2009, Herning, DNK
hi[09]: EtherCAT @Industrial Bussystems Pavillion
Sept 15, 2009, Verl, GER
EtherCAT Technology Basics for Developers (Seminar)Sept 16, 2009, Verl, GER
EtherCAT Evaluation KitWorkshop
Sept 17, 2009, Verl, GER
EtherCAT Master Sample CodeWorkshop