| 06/08 | ETG Member Meeting Japan on July 8th 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. |
| 06/08 | EtherCAT IP Core now with 3 Ports 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. |
| 05/08 | EtherCAT 1st RTE Choice for Packaging Machine
Builders 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). |
| 04/08 | EtherCAT Robots win RoboCup German Open 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. |
| 04/08 | EtherCAT at Hannover Industrial Fair 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. |
| 04/08 | ETG Gains One New Member Every Business Day 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. |
| 03/08 | ETG Technical Committee Spring Meeting 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. |
| 01/08 | EtherCAT: the fastest Industrial Ethernet
Technology 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. |
| 12/07 | 10 Master and 22 Slave Device Vendors at
EtherCAT Plug Fest The 5. EtherCAT Plug Fest, hosted by Baumüller in Nuremberg, Germany, was well attended: 10 Master and 22 Slave Device Vendors from Europe, Asia and North America tested and proved the interoperability of their devices. The technical focus of this plug fest were the CiA402 Implementation Guideline for Servo Drives and the Modular Device Profile, which allows one to easily integrate and configure such modular products in EtherCAT networks. |
| 12/07 | More than 100 Asian Members The number of ETG members from Asia has exceeded 100. This milestone shows the great interest in the fastest Industrial Ethernet Technology in Asia, underlined by a growing range of EtherCAT enabled products from local automation vendors. |
| 11/07 | EtherCAT at SPS/IPC/Drives in Nuremberg, Germany Please visit the joint EtherCAT Booth (Hall 6/309), where 50 (!) Member Companies show over 100 EtherCAT Products, including 20 masters using 10 different operating systems. The range of products also includes drives, I/O, pneumatic and hydraulic valves, sensors, as well as implementation kits for master and slave devices, and Safety over EtherCAT solutions. |
| 11/07 | ETG opens Korea Office The EtherCAT Technology Group has opened a regional office in Korea. The office is supported by the new ETG Regional Committee, which was established to promote EtherCAT is this important market. EtherCAT is already widely used in Korea, in applications ranging from semiconductor and flat panel display manufacturing via robotics and machine control to ship building. The new ETG office is based in Seoul and is managed by Mr. Key Yoo, CEO of Tri-TEK, who has been deeply involved in EtherCAT promotion and support in Korea since 2004. Chairman of the Regional Committee Korea and official ETG Representative Korea is Prof. Dr. Yong Seon Moon, CEO of RedOne Technologies. Prof. Moon is a well known researcher in the field of robotic controls and has been involved in numerous Korean technology projects. |
| 10/07 | EtherCAT standardized as communication
technology for SERCOS and CANopen Drive Profile On Oct 12, IEC 61800-7 also passed the final voting unanimously. IEC 61800-7 is particularly important for motion control applications, since it makes EtherCAT a standardized communication technology for the SERCOS and CANopen drive profiles, on an equal footing with SERCOS I-III and CANopen respectively. The drive parameters and state machines as well as the process data layout of the device profiles remain untouched when mapped to EtherCAT. Hence the user interface does not change when moving from SERCOS and CANopen to EtherCAT, and device manufacturers can re-use major parts of their firmware. |
| 09/07 | EtherCAT now IEC standard! The voting period for lEC/FDIS 61158 ended midnight on Friday, Sept 28 - and it passed with 100% YES-votes. After four years of standardization work this makes EtherCAT an official IEC standard. In 2004 the EtherCAT Technology Group became an official standardization partner of IEC SC65C. Since 2005 EtherCAT had been an IEC specification (IEC/PAS 62407), which will now be replaced by the international standard IEC 61158. IEC will publish the standard in a few weeks, it will be made available in the IEC web-shop. EtherCAT is also part of IEC/FDIS 61784-2, which specifies profiles for real-time Ethernet networks. This standard also passed with 100% approval. The voting period for the drive profile standard IEC 61800-7 ends October 12. |
| 09/07 | SEMI approves EtherCAT standard SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International), the leading standards organization for the semiconductor industry, has approved EtherCAT for their applications. The EtherCAT SEMI standard was accepted by the SEMI North American Information & Control Committee in July and meanwhile also passed the final review. Currently SEMI staff in San Jose, CA, prepares the publication. EtherCAT is added to the E54 Sensor/Actuator suite of standards. This important milestone further increases the acceptance of EtherCAT within the semiconductor and flat panel display manufacturing industries. |
| 08/07 | Chinese EtherCAT Website online The ETG Website is now also available in Chinese language, maintained by the new ETG Office in Beijing. |
| 07/07 | EtherCAT at SEMICON West, San Francisco The semiconductor industry recognizes EtherCAT as the upcoming communication technology. Major players in this industry call on their suppliers to provide EtherCAT interfaces for semiconductor manufacturing devices, and as a result several such products were already shown on the recent SEMICON West show. Many visitors informed themselves about EtherCAT technology, products and implementation options at the ETG info booth, which also displayed a live multi vendor demo with controllers, sensors, drives, gateways, mass flow controllers, gauges and I/O. EtherCAT Implementation workshops will be held at the main US semiconductor locations San Jose, CA and Boston, MA in August. |
| 07/07 | Enhanced Product Guide online The updated and enhanced version of the EtherCAT product guide is not online. If you want to add your EtherCAT product, please contact ETG office. |
July 8, 2008, Tokyo, Japan
ETG Member Meeting Japan
July 8, 2008, Denver, CO, USA
Fundamentals of EtherCAT Seminar
July 10, 2008, Seattle, WA, USA
Fundamentals of EtherCAT Seminar
July 15-17, 2008, SF, USA
SemiCON West Trade
Show
ETG Booth: North Hall, #5157
Sept 11, 2008, Torino, ITA
C2 Control & Communication
Sept 16, 2008, Pescara, ITA
C2 Control & Communication
more news