ETG News 2006-2013

openautomation Report: 10 Years Diversity of EtherCAT Applications

Users, developers, and manufacturers of innovative automation solutions are the main target groups for the publication’s focal topics such as informative technology articles, indicative interviews, and exciting application stories about EtherCAT.

The printed version of the openautomation Report was issued in time with SPS IPC Drives 2013 with a total run of 24,000 copies in German language. In addition to the distribution together with the magazine openautomation (issue no. 6), the openautomation Report will be available at the tradeshow booths of ETG and VDE VERLAG GmbH at Hannover Messe 2014.

For the online version of our openautomation Report please visit the Download Section (see EtherCAT Publications) or use the following link:
openautomation Report (PDF)

If you want to learn more about this publishing project or want to order your personal print, please contact press@ethercat.org.

10 Years of EtherCAT Technology Group

After EtherCAT as a technology already celebrated its 10th anniversary at this year’s Hannover Fair, it is now the EtherCAT Technology Group’s turn. Since its foundation in November 2003, the organization stands for the approach that everyone should be able to use and implement EtherCAT. The success of this vision speaks for itself: Almost in perfect timing with the 10th anniversary of the organization, the ETG has reached another significant membership milestone. During a ceremony held at the Industrial Automation Show 2013 in Shanghai, representatives of the ETG honored the Chinese company, Sany Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. as member number 2,500. Sany is one of the big manufacturers of mobile machines, an area in which EtherCAT technology has gained traction during the past year.

Looking to the future of the organization, the EtherCAT Technology Group team plans to continue opening up new regional and vertical markets. Martin Rostan, Executive Director of the EtherCAT Technology Group, explains: “The remarkable success of the past 10 years shows that we were right with our strategy and could even convince entire industries to standardize on EtherCAT. The semiconductor manufacturing industry, for example, made its decision in favor of EtherCAT as a system bus for a new generation of silicon wafers. On a regional level we also achieved some significant results: In Japan, for example, EtherCAT is the only fieldbus technology that is not from Japan but has become a de facto standard there.” From the technical point of view the ETG will continue to expand with further device profiles which lead to manufacturer-independent interfaces.

For more detailed information about this topic please see related press release:Press Section

ETG @ SPS IPC Drives 2013 – Get together again!

SEMICON Japan 2013

SCF- System Control Fair 2013

ETG booth (West Hall N-03) shows the wide range of products made or supported in Japan, including hardware and software of PC/PLC/PAC masters, robots, AC servo systems, I/O terminals, inverters, valves, sensors, slave modules, slave controllers and development kits. Please obtain detailed information on the advantage of EtherCAT, the "global open network gaining on high speed and high precision control" as well as ETG membership application.

In addition, ETG will hold a seminar from 11:30 on the 7th of Nov. Presentation title is "Latest technology and specification trends of EtherCAT worldwide". The attendance is free of charge. Please feel free to join the seminar (approx. 80 attendees on a first-come-first-serve basis).

scf.jp/en

Industrial Ethernet Roadshow 2013 in Taiwan – great success for EtherCAT

Save the date for the EtherCAT Roadshow 2013 in North America

The seminar series will provide comprehensive information about using EtherCAT as an Ethernet-based real-time communication system. Attendees will explore EtherCAT technology, see best practice approaches to implementation and learn about the benefits and the challenges of Industrial Ethernet. The seminars are educational events delivered by the foremost EtherCAT experts from the ETG and the sponsoring companies. Attendees will get the opportunity to talk with these experts face-to-face, discover the additional table-top exhibition and see how EtherCAT can improve industrial applications.

The EtherCAT Roadshow in North America will be supported and accompanied by: Altera, Beckhoff Automation, Hilscher, MKS Instruments, SEW-EURODRIVE, Trio Motion Technology, and Yaskawa. Roadshow Website Free online Registration Invitation flyer

Save the date for the EtherCAT Roadshow 2013 in Sweden

Sweden will be the country where we’ll kick-off our new roadshow concept composed of practical examples and live demos about diagnosis, configuration and error localization with EtherCAT. The seminar series will provide comprehensive information about using EtherCAT as an Ethernet-based real-time communication system. Attendees will explore EtherCAT technology, see best practice approaches to implementation and learn about the benefits and the challenges of Industrial Ethernet. Attendees will get the opportunity to talk with the EtherCAT experts face-to-face, discover the additional table-top exhibition and see how EtherCAT can improve industrial applications.

The EtherCAT Roadshow in Sweden will be supported and accompanied by: Altera, Beckhoff Automation, Festo, Hilscher, OMRON Europe and SEW-Eurodrive. Roadshow Website Free online Registration Invitation flyer

Save the date for the EtherCAT Roadshow 2013 in Korea

Due to the growing demand for EtherCAT technology in the Korean market we decided to carry out the first Industrial Ethernet Seminars there to provide in-depth EtherCAT knowledge and education to all interested companies. The full-day seminars are free of charge and introduce EtherCAT technology in general as well as describe the benefits and various implementation and application possibilities of EtherCAT. The EtherCAT experts on-site share their knowledge with the participants, who additionally can get an impression of EtherCAT’s product and application variety during the sponsors’ table-top exhibition which rounds off the seminar program.

The EtherCAT Roadshow in Korea will be supported and accompanied by: acontis technologies, ACS Motion Control, Beckhoff Automation, HIGEN Motor, Hilscher, LS Mecapion, TRi-TEK, and Omron.Roadshow website Free online registration Invitation flyer

Save the date for the EtherCAT Roadshow 2013 in Taiwan

The seminar series will provide comprehensive information about using EtherCAT as an Ethernet-based real-time communication system. Attendees will explore EtherCAT technology, see best practice approaches to implementation and learn about the benefits and the challenges of Industrial Ethernet. The seminars are educational events delivered by the foremost EtherCAT experts from the ETG and the sponsoring companies. Attendees will get the opportunity to talk with these experts face-to-face, discover the additional table-top exhibition and see how EtherCAT can improve industrial applications.

The EtherCAT Roadshow in Taiwan will be supported and accompanied by: Altera, Beckhoff Automation, Delta Electronics, Jidien, Omron, and Trio Motion Technology. Roadshow website Free online registration Invitation flyer download

EtherCAT Roadshow China 2013 successfully conducted

Together with eight ETG member companies, the EtherCAT Technology Group visited China mainland again to meet the growing demand for EtherCAT there. As EtherCAT is the fastest Industrial Ethernet technology with its unique functional principle (processing the Ethernet frames “on the fly”), it perfectly fits to the fast-growing market in Asia.

The presentations in the morning included EtherCAT’s beneficial features in detail: speed, performance, flexibility and comparatively low system costs, to name only a few of them. In the afternoon session, attendees got informed about the latest products and EtherCAT applications by the supporting companies. The program of all five seminars was rounded off by the sponsors’ table-top exhibition, where the participants got an impression of EtherCAT technology in practical use and got the chance to discuss their projects with EtherCAT experts on site.

We would like to thank the supporting ETG member companies for presenting their latest EtherCAT applications, products and expertise throughout the EtherCAT Roadshow 2013 China: Altera, Beckhoff, Deutschmann, Hilscher, LT-i, MKS, OMRON and Tsino Dynatron. The EtherCAT seminar series are proven events to get informed about the latest trends in Industrial Automation.

We invite everybody to visit the next Asian EtherCAT seminars in Taiwan and Korea this year! More information can be found here:
EtherCAT Roadshow Taiwan 2013 EtherCAT Roadshow Korea 2013

TECHNO-FRONTIER 2013

TECHNO-FRONTIER 2013 takes place in Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo, Japan in July 17-19. ETG exhibits EtherCAT masters, slaves and tools under the theme "EtherCAT, cutting-edge open FA network with exceptional speed and accuracy" in the booth 3D-001 in East Hall 3 providing information such as technology trend, EtherCAT introductory seminar schedules and ETG activity news. Technical demonstrations and the latest products presentation will be presented every hour a day at the booth. ETG also presents a free seminar about "EtherCAT features and merits" at 14:30-15:20 on July 18 in Exhibitor Seminar Room 2 in East Hall 3. Please stop by any time in the show, and feel free to join the seminar. www.jma.or.jp/tf/

Save the date for the EtherCAT Roadshow 2013 in China

Due to the great success of the EtherCAT seminars last year, the still growing demand for EtherCAT and the attractive market situation for the technology in China, we will carry out more of those educational events this July. The full-day seminars introduce EtherCAT technology in general and transmit an in-depth knowledge about the benefits as well as various implementation and application possibilities of EtherCAT. Experienced EtherCAT technologists on-site share their knowledge with the participants – the seminars address end users as well as system integrators. To round off the program every event is accompanied by a table-top exhibition, where co-sponsoring ETG member companies show their EtherCAT products and expertise.

The EtherCAT Roadshow in China will be supported and accompanied by: Altera, Beckhoff Automation, Deutschmann, Hilscher, LT-i, MKS, OMRON and Tsino Dynatron. EtherCAT Roadshow China website Free online registration

Save the Date for the EtherCAT Roadshow 2013 in Belgium

2013 Spring European EtherCAT Plug Fest @ wenglor sensoric

ETG @ SPS IPC Drives Italia

Save the Date for the first EtherCAT Roadshow in Israel

ETG with free EtherCAT Technology Introduction @ Indumation.be

On 24th and 25th, respectively from 3 to 4 pm, we invite all visitors to a free of charge EtherCAT Technology Introduction seminar. Learn about EtherCAT and its industry leading performance, flexibility and cost advantages. Topics will be the unique functional principle `processing on the fly´ and other beneficial features of EtherCAT technology.

Indumation.be 2013 is the second edition of the national trade fair for factory-, process- and infrastructure automation at Kortrijk Xpo in Belgium. Free EtherCAT Seminar Online Registration Indumation.be Tradeshow Website

TÜV Süd certifies Safety over EtherCAT Conformance Test Tool

Please find all details together with an interview by ETG’s safety expert, Dr. Guido Beckmann, available online: Press Section

ETG Joint Booth @ Hannover Messe 2013

ETG @ embedded world 2013 in Nuremberg

The ETG Info Booth mainly addresses EtherCAT developers and shows development products as well as environments for EtherCAT. Additionally, the EtherCAT experts on-site answer questions regarding the technology and the special requirements in the field of embedded systems. Please note that we are moved to a new location in hall 4. Feel free to make an appointment in advance by contacting us.

EtherCAT Technology Group honors 2,000th Member

For further information please see related press release:Press Section

EtherCAT Training Class & Workshop in China

To help new members in studying EtherCAT technology, development or application, ETG will hold another workshop in Beijing, China on December 17-18.

If you are interested in the event, please download the registration form and send it back ETG Office China.

ETG @ SPS IPC Drives 2012 – Productive Get-Together

Together with almost 60 co-exhibitors the ETG looks back at a successful trade show at this year’s SPS IPC Drives 2012 in Nuremberg, Germany. At the partially re-designed exhibition booth the EtherCAT Technology Group welcomed numerous visitors – ranging from end users looking for the latest product inventions to manufacturers interested in how to implement EtherCAT.

The tradeshow program of the ETG was highlighted by the press conference, which gave information on the development of the organization, the record-breaking work of the Semiconductor Technical Working Group and the official introduction of new development products from the ETG members Renesas and HMS Industrial Networks to an international audience. As usual the annual membership assembly took place, where Martin Rostan, Executive Director of the ETG, summed up the activities in 2012 and the board of directors was re-elected concordantly.

For further information please see press releases SPS IPC Drives 2012:Press Section

EtherCAT Training Class & EtherCAT Workshop with overwhelming participation

From November 12 – 13, 2012, the EtherCAT Training Class & Workshop was successfully held in Shanghai: more than 30 technical engineers from the Eastern Region participated in the two-day event, which was successfully organized by the ETG Office China. The workshop is designed to help member companies to solve problems during the development process of new EtherCAT products.

The workshop covers all details of the EtherCAT technology: communication technology protocol, hardware implementation as well as the development guides for master and slave devices. The engineers on-site were impressed by the EtherCAT technology itself and the depth with which the ETG representatives explained and solved a series of technical questions and topics along the training.

From December 17 to 18, 2012, the ETG Office China offers another EtherCAT Training Class & EtherCAT Workshop of the same kind in Beijing. All interested members are cordially invited to participate in this event. Further information can be found on the official Chinese ETG website:www.ethercat.org.cn

Shanghai Industrial Automation Show (IAS) 2012 – Successful promotion of EtherCAT

On November 6, 2012, the largest industrial automation event – the Shanghai International Industrial Fair (IAS) – had its grand opening at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. Together with 13 co-exhibitors the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG), the world’s largest Industrial Ethernet organization, participated in the five-day exhibition to promote the latest EtherCAT products and spread the technology in general.

Foreign automation vendors like Beckhoff, Omron, Lenze, ACS, HMS, TR, Trio, Kollmorgen or Sanyo Denki showed their dynamic EtherCAT control systems, servo drives, encoders, sensors, motion controls, R&D tools and interfaces at the ETG Joint Booth.

The highlight at the ETG booth were six panels working with EtherCAT, which showed dynamically the excellent performance of the technology: ultra-high-speed data transmission and nanosecond real-time synchronization as well as seamless integration of classical fieldbus devices due to flexible topology, line cable redundancy features and the fully open character of the technology. The ETG representatives of the organization as well as the exhibiting member companies welcomed the visitors to face-to-face discussions and knowledge exchange to help solving problems while developing and implementing and to spread the technology in China even further.

SEMICON Japan 2012

A variety of EtherCAT products for semiconductor manufacturing will be presented at the ETG booth (Hall 3D-707). ETG also presents a seminar "What semiconductor industry expects in EtherCAT technology and EtherCAT semi device profile" every day in Exhibitor Seminar Room, Hall 4. The advantages of EtherCAT in semiconductor manufacturing will be presented by the guest speaker from Tokyo Electron Device.Further InformationEtherCAT Seminar

SPS IPC Drives 2012

This fall the EtherCAT Technology Group will be represented again from November 27 – 29, 2012, at SPS IPC Drives 2012 in Nuremberg, Germany. Accompanied by 58 co-exhibitors we will show the latest developments of the EtherCAT technology as well as our member’s components and automation solutions at our joint booth (Hall 6 - 208).
The SPS IPC Drives is one of the most important European tradeshows for the automation industry – in 2012 it will take place for the 23rd time. Many visitors from all over the world are expected to identify the latest trends regarding products, innovations and industry news in general.
The ETG joint booth offers a platform for our members to show their latest EtherCAT products, services and expertizes jointly: All in all the 58 co-exhibitors show about 360 different products at the booth.
The products and solutions shown at this year’s tradeshow range from the latest drive technologies to control systems, from I/O systems, gateways, sensors, actors and HMI to a record breaking 12.5µs cycle time demo. Additionally all visitors receive expert’s information like the development or certification process of EtherCAT devices. EtherCAT master devices, configuration tools and development products can be tested hands-on at our EtherCAT live demo.
Besides the representatives of our members on-site the EtherCAT experts from the ETG headquarters in Nuremberg as well as the ETG office in China are looking forward to an active knowledge exchange with all interested visitors at the booth.
In addition to the regular tradeshow program we will carry out a press conference as well as our annual membership assembly. SPS IPC Drives Website How to find us at SPS Membership Assembly Press Conference Press Release (PDF)

EtherCAT Training Class & Workshop in China

EtherCAT Seminar Japan

ETG offers three seminars about EtherCAT on October 26, 2012 in Yokohama: EtherCAT introduction, EtherCAT technical update and EtherCAT for developers.

This is the EtherCAT week in Japan this year, so please join us in Yokohama this October for an EtherCAT seminar - just the day after the Japanese EtherCAT Plug Fest! More information can be found on the following page in Japanese language: EtherCATセミナ開催

EtherCAT Roadshow in Australia & New Zealand

Participate in the Industrial Ethernet seminar series from October 19-25, 2012 in Australia and New Zealand. Those full-day EtherCAT seminars are free of charge – at venues in Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
Conceived as educational events, the EtherCAT seminars are a great chance to explore and understand the EtherCAT technology in your market and worldwide. The agenda contains expert’s presentations as well the sponsor’s table-top exhibition. Beyond that there’s plenty of time to discuss directly with EtherCAT experts and sponsors and learn about the benefits of EtherCAT for you and your application.
The EtherCAT seminar series in Australia and New Zealand addresses end users as well as system integrators and is supported by ANCA Motion, Beckhoff Automation, OMRON and SEW-EURODRIVE.
We cordially invite you to participate in your favorite location! Please feel free to inform your local colleagues, customers and partners about the EtherCAT seminar series 2012 in Australia and New Zealand. Invitation Flyer: Download and forward Roadshow Website: Visit and register online

EtherCAT Roadshow in Malaysia & Singapore

Be part of the Industrial Ethernet seminar series for end users as well as system integrators from October 15-17, 2012, in South East Asia!
Those EtherCAT seminars are free of charge – you can choose between full-day (Malaysia) and half-day (Singapore) events at venues in Selangor, Penang and Singapore.
The seminars are a great chance to get access to the EtherCAT technology in your market and worldwide.
Expert’s presentations, the sponsor’s table-top exhibition and time for personal discussions on-site with the speakers provide you with a complete overview on benefits and challenges of EtherCAT for you and your application. The EtherCAT seminar series in Malaysia and Singapore is specific to end users as well as system integrators and will be supported by Beckhoff Automation.
We cordially invite you to participate in your favorite location! Please feel free to inform your local colleagues, customers and partners about the EtherCAT seminar series 2012 in South East Asia.
Invitation Flyer: Download and forwardRoadshow Website: Visit and register online for free

EtherCAT Roadshow in Brazil

ETG will come to Brazil from September 11-20, 2012 at venues in Ribeirão Preto, São José dos Campos, Volta Redonda, São Paulo, Caxias do Sul, Porto Alegre and Joinville offering full-day Industrial Ethernet seminars.

The EtherCAT Roadshow brings international EtherCAT experts to Brazil to further the knowledge and use of EtherCAT technology in the Brazilian market. In addition to presentations held by experts, you will learn about EtherCAT success stories both in Brazil and worldwide. These seminars are a great opportunity to speak directly with EtherCAT experts to explore what EtherCAT can do for you and your application!

The seminars are free of charge and supported by Beckhoff Automation Brazil. In addition to the presentations, there will be a table-top exhibition at each of the seminars.
We cordially invite you and your local colleagues, customers, and partners to these seminars. Please feel free to spread the word about this exciting opportunity and register today for free, because the number of seats is limited!

For detailed information on venues, the speakers, presentations as well as the online registration form please visit:www.ethercat.org/2012/brasil

EtherCAT Roadshow in China

Following a successful seminar series in 2012, the ETG will return to China from September 11-14, 2012 at venues in Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Shanghai for full-day Industrial Ethernet seminars.

The EtherCAT Roadshow brings international EtherCAT experts to China to further the knowledge and use of EtherCAT technology in the Chinese market. In addition to presentations held by experts, you will learn about EtherCAT success stories both in China and worldwide. These seminars are a great opportunity to speak directly with EtherCAT experts and sponsors to explore what EtherCAT can do for you and your application!

The seminars are free of charge and supported by Beckhoff Automation, Copley Controls, Kollmorgen, MKS Instruments, Omron, SEW-EURODRIVE, and Trio Motion Technology. The sponsors will be part of a table-top exhibition at each of the seminars.
We cordially invite you and your colleagues, customers, and partners to these seminars. Please feel free to spread the word about this exciting opportunity and register today, because the number of seats is limited!

For detailed information on venues, the speakers, presentations as well as the online registration form please visit:www.ethercat.org/2012/china

Successful Beijing FA/PA Tradeshow Participation

TECHNO-FRONTIER 2012

EtherCAT Technology Group is a worldwide forum with about 2000 members, and most of them have EtherCAT products ready to buy. The number of the manufacturers using EtherCAT is growing in Japan - especially in the market of semiconductor machines, machine tools and mold injections.

TECHNO-FRONTIER 2012 takes place in Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo, Japan in July 11-13. ETG exhibits EtherCAT masters, slaves and tools under the theme "EtherCAT, cutting-edge open FA network with exceptional speed and accuracy" in the booth 4E-001 in East Hall 4 providing information such as technology trend, EtherCAT introductory seminar schedules and ETG activity news. Technical demonstrations will be presented three times a day at the booth. ETG also presents a free seminar about "EtherCAT features and merits" at 1:40 PM on July 12 in Exhibitor Seminar Room 2 in East Hall 6. Please stop by any time in the show, and feel free to join the seminar.

TECHNO-FRONTIER 2012

ETG Member Meeting Korea 2012

The next ETG Member Meeting Korea will take place in Seoul on June 14, 2012. Venue location is the GwangMyung Culture Center.

All ETG member companies from Korea are invited to join the annual ETG Member Meeting Korea. The agenda includes, among other things, presentations from several local EtherCAT applications/success stories as well as EtherCAT activities worldwide and an EtherCAT technology update.

Please have a look at the following page for details and registration:
ETG Member Meeting Korea 2012

ETG Member Meeting Japan 2012

The next ETG Member Meeting Japan will take place in Minatomirai on June 12, 2012. Venue location is the Nisseki Yokohama Building.

The agenda will comprise an update on the ETG activities worldwide and in Japan, as well as information about technology enhancements, EtherCAT applications and projects in Japan. The member meeting will also be an excellent networking opportunity, and we expect a large participation again. Participation is free of charge and all ETG members in Japan are cordially invited. Please find the agenda and the official invitation as well as registration online, now. Please note that both files are available in Japanese language only.

ETG goes North: EtherCAT Roadshow in Finland

ETG will come to Finland with an Industrial Ethernet Seminar Series from June 5-7, 2012. These EtherCAT seminars are educational events delivered by the experts and provide an insight into EtherCAT technology and its applications in Finland and worldwide.

These EtherCAT seminars are free-of-charge. Explore and understand EtherCAT technology, listen to EtherCAT success stories, talk with EtherCAT experts face-to-face, and discover the sponsors' table-top exhibition: See how EtherCAT can help you and join us for a one-day seminar in Helsinki, Tampere or Vaasa from June 5-7, 2012!

Feel free to register for a full-day seminar if you are an end user, system integrator or machine builder dealing with fieldbus or Industrial Ethernet systems and if you are interested to know the latest trends in industrial automation and how fieldbus selection plays an important role.

The seminars are supported by Beckhoff Automation, IXXAT Automation, Omron Industrial Automation and SEW-EURODRIVE.

Please find your invitation for download below or visit the EtherCAT Roadshow Finland website for further details and online registration form. Register soon, as the number of attendees is limited.

Download Invitation Flyer (PDF)Visit Roadshow Website

EtherCAT Roadshow throughout the UK

Following the successful seminar series in 2011, ETG returns to the UK on May 23-24, 2012 in Birmingham and Bristol: this seminar series specifically addresses users and system integrators to learn about EtherCAT and other Industrial Ethernet technologies.

These EtherCAT seminars are free-of-charge educational events delivered by the experts. Explore and understand EtherCAT technology, listen to EtherCAT success stories, talk with EtherCAT experts face-to-face, and discover the sponsors' table-top exhibition: See how EtherCAT can help you and join us for a one-day seminar in Birmingham (National Motorcycle Museum) or Bristol (M Shed) from May 23-24!

The seminars are supported by Baumüller Nürnberg, Beckhoff Automation, Deutschmann Automation, MKS Instruments, Omron, SEW-EURODRIVE and Trio Motion Technology.

Please find your invitation for download below or visit the EtherCAT Roadshow UK website for further details and online registration form. Register soon, as the number of attendees is limited.

EtherCAT Roadshow in Istanbul, Turkey

For the first time EtherCAT will come to Istanbul (Turkey) with a one-day seminar on May 15, 2012. We invite EtherCAT users and system integrators to a free Industrial Ethernet Seminar at the santralistabul, Museum of Energy!

The seminar agenda not only covers Ethernet and EtherCAT introductory presentations, but also addresses migration strategies, competitive advantages for machine builders through EtherCAT and applications in Turkey as well as worldwide. You are cordially invited and also encouraged to make your colleagues, customers and partners in Turkey aware of this excellent opportunity to learn about EtherCAT. EtherCAT seminars are educational events from experts and provide an insight into EtherCAT technology and its applications in Turkey and worldwide.

Please find your personal invitation available as pdf in English and Turkish.

The seminar is free of charge and is supported by Baumüller Nürnberg, Beckhoff Automation, Deutschmann Automation, Festo, Omron, SEW-EURODRIVE and Trio Motion Technology. Register today, because the number of seats is limited.

Detailed information regarding the venue, speaker and presentations as well as online registration form please see here:
EtherCAT Roadshow Turkey (English)EtherCAT Roadshow Turkiye (Turkish)

HANNOVER MESSE 2012

HANNOVER MESSE 2012, which takes place April 23-27 in Hanover, Germany, remains as excellent place to inform you about EtherCAT technology, products and solutions as well as about the EtherCAT Technology Group itself. You will find our ETG Joint Booth again in hall 9-D18.

We invite you to discover the joint EtherCAT booth (at the same location as last year), where more than 67 ETG member companies show over 270 different EtherCAT products. The range of products includes a great variety of master systems, servo drives, frequency converters, I/O systems, pneumatic and hydraulic valves, encoders, sensors, gateways as well as implementation kits and services for slave devices, software tools and Safety over EtherCAT solutions. An overview of all co-exhibitors and product types shown at the booth will be available as help planning your visit of our co-exhibitors at HMI.

Highlights are the functional Safety over EtherCAT demonstration and the product walls showing the outstanding product variety of EtherCAT devices. Furthermore you can inform yourself about EtherCAT adoption rates worldwide and talk with EtherCAT experts face-to-face about your application. Stop by any time the show or feel free to make an appointment by contacting the ETG headquarters in advance.

embedded world 2012

Visit the ETG Info Booth at the embedded world 2012, taking place Feb 28 - March 1 in Nuremberg, Germany. You will find us at a new location in Hall 4A, Booth 303. Please inform yourself about the latest EtherCAT technology and product updates as well as ETG developments. Take the chance to speak with EtherCAT experts discussing your project or implementation question.

Feel free to ask for an appointment by contacting ETG Headquarters.

EtherCAT now a Korean National Standard

The South Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) has announced that EtherCAT was accepted as a Korean Industrial Standard (KS) by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards. This marks the successful completion of a two-year effort driven by the Korean ETG office. Office manager Key Yoo led this vital initiative and also translated most of the 500-page EtherCAT specification.

Pleasef ind the full press release in English and German language within the Press Section.

SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2011 | Review: ETG Joint Booth Highlights

Thanks to the active support of its members, ETG was well represented at SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2011 tradeshow showing the unique technology highlights as well as the great product variety of EtherCAT.

This year over 270 (!) different devices were shown from 65 co-exhibitors on new designed product walls, demonstrating the acceptance of the technology not only within the EtherCAT community. With more than 130 master vendors, over 90 drive vendors and across 66 I/O vendors, EtherCAT not only emphasizes its leading position on the Industrial Ethernet market, but also shows the broad support of the technology and thus leading to a huge assortment of products for users of the technology, such as machine builders, OEM or system integrators.

However, not only the number of products is increasing every day: With more than 1850 members worldwide since the foundation of ETG in 2003, ETG is still monitoring a continuous positive trend for new membership applications, especially from Asia and North America.

Among the product variety, the world record multi-axis presenter and the EtherCAT system architecture wall, another other hot topics was addressed: Safety products are available for EtherCAT since 2005 and a functional demo shows the exchange of safe data between safety devices from several companies.

We’ve made a two-part video highlighting EtherCAT features and products by means of the booth. Take a tour through the booth, commented by Martin Rostan (Executive Director ETG), here:
Highlight Video 1
Highlight Video 2

ETG Membership Assembly: Besides the ETG Joint Booth the annual ETG Membership Assembly took place in the evening right after the show hours of the first day. The introductory and main part was presented by Martin Rostan, Executive Director ETG, including ETG membership development, ETG activities worldwide and EtherCAT market situation, to name a few. Dr. Guido Beckmann, Chairman ETG Technical Committee, gave an overview over the work and the achievements of the various Technical Working Groups. He also informed about recent updates of EtherCAT technical documents and specifications. ETG members can download the slides and minutes within the download section:
Membership Assembly Files

ETG Press Conference: At the ETG Press Conference during the tradeshow ETG introduced a new concept standardizing plant-wide Safety architecture for heterogeneous control networks. Furthermore the EtherCAT chip from Texas Instruments is available now, enabling standard microcontroller for EtherCAT communication. In addition, Beckhoff now offers ETG members the most widely-used EtherCAT Slave Stack Code for free. ETG member company Aixtron stated their support of the new ETG Semiconductor Technical Working Group, backed by the market-leading semiconductor equipment vendors. See press section for details:
Press Section

SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2011

EtherCAT will be well represented at SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2011, the leading European exhibition for electric automation technology, which takes place November 22-24 in Nuremberg, Germany. You will find us at our ETG joint booth (Hall 6-208). Furthermore, there will be the ETG press conference and the annual ETG membership assembly.

ETG Joint Booth: We invite you to discover the joint EtherCAT booth in Hall 6-208 (at the same location as last year), where more than 65 ETG member companies show over 270 different EtherCAT products. The range of products includes master systems, servo drives, frequency converters, I/O systems, pneumatic and hydraulic valves, encoders, sensors, gateways as well as implementation kits for slave devices, software tools and Safety over EtherCAT solutions. An overview of all co-exhibitors and product types shown at the booth will be available as help planning your visit of our co-exhibitors at SPS.

Highlights are the new functional Safety over EtherCAT demonstration and the redesigned product walls showing the outstanding product variety of EtherCAT devices. Furthermore you can inform yourself about EtherCAT adoption rates worldwide and talk with EtherCAT experts face-to-face about your application. Stop by any time the show or feel free to make an appointment by contacting the ETG headquarters in advance.

ETG press conference & ETG membership assembly: Further details are available within the member area. An invitation and the online registration for the annual membership assembly is available there.

SCF - System Control Fair 2011

SCF tradeshow, taking place Nov 16-18 in Tokyo, Japan, offers latest technical information on systems in the fields of automatization and control for the manufacturing industries, such as those for factory automation. ETG booth (West Hall 2-27) shows the wide range of products made in Japan or supported in Japan, including hardware and software of PC/PLC/PAC masters, robots, AC servo systems, I/O terminals, inverters, valves, sensors, slave modules, slave controllers and development kits. Please obtain detailed information on the advantage of EtherCAT, the "global open network gaining on high speed and high precision control" as well as ETG membership application.

In addition, ETG will hold a seminar from 15:30 on the 17th of Nov. Presentation title is "Latest technology and specification trends of EtherCAT worldwide". The attendance is free of charge. Please feel free to join the seminar (approx. 80 attendees on a first-come-first-serve basis).

2011 Japanese EtherCAT Plug Fest announced

We invite and encourage all vendors of EtherCAT devices, code and tools to participate in the Japanese EtherCAT Plug Fest taking place December 13+14 in Yokohama, Japan, at facilities provided by ETG member company Beckhoff Automation Japan (BAJ).
Test the interoperability of your device(s) with other EtherCAT master and/or slave implementations! EtherCAT experts from the ETG will be present and support the Plug Fest. They can give useful hints for technical implementation and handling of the EtherCAT devices.
Detailed information and registration form is available in English and Japanese language.

ETG launches Semiconductor Technical Working Group

EtherCAT is growing rapidly in the Semiconductor and Flat Panel Display (FPD) manufacturing industry – including Photovoltaics and LED manufacturing. Several major equipment and tool makers have adopted EtherCAT, and many Semi component suppliers have first products readily available. Following the request from our members, ETG is now establishing a Semiconductor Technical Working Group (Semi TWG), which will address Semi specific device profiles, installation guidelines, and device tests in order to meet the special requirements of this industry.
For the Kick-Off Meeting we have secured the active participation of premium tool makers, in order to ensure that the results meet their requirements; as of today, presentations are scheduled by Applied Materials, LAM Research, Aixtron and Brooks Automation to talk about their expectations regarding EtherCAT enabled Semi components. Other presentations are being considered by ETG members Tokyo Electron and Dainippon Screen as many Semi related EtherCAT users and potential users are expected to join this meeting.
The Kick-Off Meeting which will shape the future work of this Semi TWG will take place on Oct 26/27, 2011 in the Silicon Valley, CA, USA. The invitation contains the agenda, registration information and venue details of this important event: Invitation ETG Semi TWG Kick Off Meeting For direct registration please go here: Registration ETG Semi TWG Kick Off Meeting

Industrial Ethernet Seminar Series in the U.S.

We invite EtherCAT users and system integrators to a seminar series throughout the U.S. this October, taking place in Boston (MA), Chicago (IL), Milwaukee (WI), San Diego (CA), Phoenix (AZ) and Denver (CO).
These full-day seminars from October 11-13 and 18-20, 2011, will show the benefits and the challenges of Industrial Ethernet. EtherCAT seminars are educational events from the experts: Learn more about EtherCAT technology and its applications in the U.S. as well as worldwide. Talk with EtherCAT experts face-to-face, and discover the table-top exhibition. See how EtherCAT can help you! Participation is free of charge and you are cordially invited. Please find your personal invitation here for download.
These seminars are supported by Applied Materials, Beckhoff Automation, Elmo Motion Control, Omron Industrial Automation, SEW-EURODRIVE, SICK USA and Yaskawa America. For detailed information regarding the venues, speaker and presentations as well as the online registration form please see here:
www.ethercat.org/2011/us

New Online Product Guide

EtherCAT trainings in China well attended

ETG spreads EtherCAT promotion in second-tier cities in China

With the promotions in big cities as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in China during last several years, more and more electrical engineers there have been educated about EtherCAT technology and now using and implementing EtherCAT successfully. For further promotion in other important industrial cities in China and strengthen the marketing promotion, EtherCAT Technology Group Office China attended several seminars for general EtherCAT technology promotion in Shanghai, Xi’an, and Shenyang this year. In June 15th, Industrial Ethernet Technology Forum 2011, hold by Control Engineer China, took place in Shanghai. EtherCAT Technology Group introduced EtherCAT technology and actively answered questions from the interested audience.
In June 22th and July 20th, ETG attended the forum "2011 Ethernet & Wireless technology application form - offer you the suitable industry communication solution" by IIA NEWS in Xi’an and Shenyang, brought local engineers the idea about EtherCAT technology and its applications. In those promotional activities, EtherCAT was one of the most interesting topic for the audience.
In Sep.21st, ETG will also attend the seminar by CEC China in Chongqing, to meet local engineers and inform about the EtherCAT technology. All application engineers as well as R&D engineers are welcome to the seminar.

TECHNO-FRONTIER 2011

TECHNO-FRONTIER 2011, which takes place on June 20-21 in TOKYO BIG SIGHT, Japan, is an advanced electronic & mechatronic devices and components exhibition. EtherCAT Technology Group has expanded the exhibition scale by 1.5 times from last year to join this exhibition. Stop by at our ETG Joint Booth at "Booth No. 1E-001", located in front of the entrance of East 1 Hall.

The wide range of products made in Japan or supported in Japan will be exhibited, including hardware and software of PC/PLC/PAC master, robot, AC servo system, I/O terminal, inverter, valve, sensor, slave module, slave controller and development kit. Please obtain detailed information on the advantage of EtherCAT, the "global open network gaining on high speed and high precision control", and the ETG membership application.

In addition, we will hold a seminar from 13:40 on the 20th of July. We will present details of “the latest technology and specification trend of EtherCAT in the ETG Headquarters, as well as the merit of the system manufacturer and end-user developed by the fine technology and the introduction of EtherCAT”, which would be of great interest to every Japanese users and vendors. The attendance is free of charge. Please feel free to join the seminar (approx. 70 attendees a day on a first-come-first-served basis).
TECHNO FRONTIER Website

Popular 11th European Plug Fest

The 11th European EtherCAT Plug Fest was well attended again by 41 participants from 25 companies. The main goal was again testing interoperability of EtherCAT master and slave device implementations. ETG member company Kuhnke Automation hosted this event from May 10-11, 2011, in Malente in the North of Germany.
Overall 11 different EtherCAT master and 27 diverse slave device implementations were tested. The EtherCAT Conformance Test Tool was used in addition to check all slave devices with regards to conformance to the EtherCAT specifications.
Due to the persistent demand and success of these Plug Fests, ETG is preparing further dates in Europe, Asia and North America. These well attended events are a very valuable contribution to device interoperability and help to ensure simple configuration of devices from different vendors within heterogeneous EtherCAT networks.

Texas Instruments implements EtherCAT® in ARM®-based processors

HANNOVER MESSE 2011

Comprehensive Japanese Guide for EtherCAT Slave Implementation

The document is written based on actual demands from number of the local Japanese members to guide through the whole process step-by-step with information of technical documents to be essentially referred at each step, and is useful particularly to design engineers who are less experienced on the implementation tasks.
Click below to download the document within the member area. Your feedback to enhance the content is appreciated.
EtherCAT Slave Development Procedure Guide

Industrial Ethernet Seminar Series in Switzerland

Happy Chinese New Year

ETG office China wishes you a happy Chinese new year!

Industrial Ethernet Seminar Series in the UK

ETG is addressing users and system integrators with a seminar series in the UK that is being held in Dundee, Manchester and Reading on March 15-17, 2011.
Industrial Ethernet and in particular EtherCAT are hot topics in the world wide automation industry. The all-day seminars in the UK will look at EtherCAT and its application as well as at the competitive advantages that machine builders generate by adopting this fast yet low cost open communication technology. The seminars address users and system integrators alike, and participation is free of charge.
A detailed agenda, information regarding the venues and the online registration form can be found on the ETG website here:
www.ethercat.org/2011/uk

More than 100 Chinese ETG Members

There are now more than 100 ETG members in mainland China. Since ETG built up its China office in Beijing in 2007, there is a strong member growth in China. The member variety covers local vendors, universities, institutes and end users, many of them are leaders in their industry. There is much interest of studying the EtherCAT technology as well as implementing EtherCAT in Chinese products and applying EtherCAT in various applications there.

Industrial Ethernet Seminar Series in India

Following two successful seminar series in 2008, ETG returns to India on February 21-25, 2011 in New Delhi, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Mumbai: this time the full-day seminars specifically address potential EtherCAT users, such as machine builders, system integrators, control system consultants and end users.
The seminar agenda not only covers Ethernet and EtherCAT introductory presentations, but also addresses migration strategies, competitive advantages for machine builders through EtherCAT and applications in India and worldwide. ETG members are encouraged to make their customers and partners in India aware of this excellent opportunity to learn about EtherCAT. Participation is free of charge.
Seminar Details & Online Registration

Industrial Ethernet Seminar Series in France

Industrial Ethernet Seminar Series in Italy

Christmas Illumination with EtherCAT

ETG successfully participated in IAS

November 9th to 13th, 2010, EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) attended with a Joint Booth at the IAS tradeshow in Shanghai, China.

13 member companies showed 25 different products on the ETG booth, including EtherCAT controller, I/O, servo drives, HMI, software, valves, encoder, CNC systems, PC104 equipment as well as development tools etc. Also three local Chinese ETG member companies joined the booth and presented their own products on the booth, which is specially a highlight. These EtherCAT implementations from local companies show the success of the technology as well as strengthen the confidence for other members in China.

The excellent EtherCAT technology which has been well-tested by practice and oriented for the future was well known to most of the visitors. By visiting the associated booth in the exhibition, they took the change to get more knowledge about the current situation of EtherCAT. Through the rapid development of the community in China as well as worldwide, companies are more confident to implement EtherCAT into their devices. EtherCAT is getting more and more popular at the Chinese market by an increasing number of products and applications. This development of the technology will help to continue the EtherCAT success story.

During the IAS, ETG office China attended the 6th CIIF • MM • China Automation Days (Industrial Communication Boosts High Speed and Intelligent Development of Machines) and introduced EtherCAT technology to the audience. ETG also had a presentation on EtherCAT products news and a technology press meeting.

SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2010

EtherCAT will be well represented at SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2010, the leading European exhibition for electric automation technology, which takes place Nov 23-25 in Nuremberg, Germany. You will find us at our ETG joint booth (Hall 6-208). Furthermore, there will be EtherCAT Presentations at the Conference, the ETG Press Conference and the annual ETG Membership Assembly.
ETG Joint Booth: Please visit the joint EtherCAT booth in Hall 6-208 (at the same location as last year), where more than 60 member companies show over 250 different EtherCAT Products, including 25 different masters using 10 different operating systems controlling I/O terminals. The range of products also includes servo drives, frequency converters, I/O, pneumatic and hydraulic valves, encoder, sensors, gateways as well as implementation kits for slave devices, software tools and Safety over EtherCAT solutions. An overview of all co-exhibitors and product types shown at the booth can be found here as help with planning your visit.
Highlights will be the enhanced Master demo, the functional Safety networks and the extended Multi-Axis presenter, showing now 35 synchronized servo drives from 24 (!) different vendors within one EtherCAT network. Several manufacturers will also demonstrate Master-Master communication, redundancy and gateway solutions in live applications. Certified products will be highlighted and parts of the booth will be Conformance & Interoperability themed.
EtherCAT Presentations: ETG and Beckhoff Automation present two presentations at the SPS/IPC/DRIVES Conference on both days. Please have a look at the conference program to attend the presentations.
ETG Press Conference & ETG Membership Assembly: Further details are available within the Member Area. An invitation and the online registration for the annual membership assembly is also available there.

Mail-based technical support service is now available in Japan

Through surveys at various trade shows and seminars, ETG Task Force Japan has been studying issues and requirements regarding support and services to be provided by ETG, and solving them step-by-step in order of priority. As a first step, the Task Force has just started offering mail-based technical support and service in the local language. ETG Office Japan will continuously improve its support and service system. For further information in Japanese, please click here.

ETG website available in Japanese language

Industrial Ethernet Seminar Series in China

ETG offers Industrial Ethernet / EtherCAT Seminars taking place in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen on October 20-26, 2010. Next to a comprehensive overview of existing Industrial Ethernet solutions, the seminars will help you to understand the EtherCAT Technology and how it can help your application!
End users as well as device vendors, system integrators and consultants are addressed to join the seminars. Participation is free of charge and you are cordially invited!
Further seminar details and free online registration is available here.
Please register as soon as possible, because the number of seats are limited.

EtherCAT Plug Fests with record participation

A record number of 54 participants attended the 10th European EtherCAT Plug Fest, hosted by Lenze Automation in Braunschweig, Germany on September 22-23. At this EtherCAT Plug Fest, 10 different master implementations were tested with the slave variety of 21 different vendors. All slave devices were operated individually and in groups with all master devices. The EtherCAT Conformance Test Tool was used in addition to check all slave devices with regards to conformance to the EtherCAT specifications.
The second North American EtherCAT Plug Fest was well attended again. At this Plug Fest seven master implementations were tested with the slave variety of 10 different devices. Yaskawa Electric America in Waukegan (IL), USA hosted this interoperability testing event of EtherCAT implementations on September 9-10.
Due to the persistent demand and success of these Plug Fests, ETG will announce further dates soon here and within the event section. The main goal of EtherCAT Plug Fests is to test and improve interoperability of the devices from various vendors. In addition, the events act as a forum for discussing implementation tips and tricks as well as for clarifying questions regarding the technology.

Asian ETG Member Meetings well attended

Many Japanese and Korean member representatives of the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) used the opportunity to get the latest EtherCAT technology updates at first hand on one of the local member meetings.
The annual ETG Member Meeting Japan was held in Tokyo. It was well attended again like previous meetings by over 100 representatives of ETG member companies. Martin Rostan, Executive Director of the ETG, provided a detailed update on EtherCAT technology and ETG activities. Technology enhancements have been developed by ETG Working Groups: amongst others the Safety Drive Profile for Functional Safety in drives and an update of the EtherCAT Slave Information Specification that defines the format for slave device description files used by configuration tools have been published within the ETG.Besides the technical highlights the global status and activities of the ETG were in focus: more than 1400 companies joined the organization so far; including the fast-growing number of about 330 members from Asia. The ETG Task Force Japan is a group of Japanese member companies which contribute with ideas and man power to take an active role in EtherCAT promotion in Japan.
More than 60 representatives of Korean ETG member companies joined the ETG Member Meeting Korea, held in Seoul. In addition to the ETG update a highlight was the speech of Prof. Yongseon Moon from Sunchon National University: he presented several successful robotic applications – all equipped with EtherCAT which has been established itself as the de facto standard for robotics in Korea. The highly technology-oriented Korean market identified early the outstanding advantages of EtherCAT and now profits in its various machine applications.

EtherCAT included in EUROMAP specification

The European association of manufacturers from plastics and rubber machineries has approved EtherCAT for their applications: EtherCAT was added as basic communication technology to the EUROMAP 75 specification which contains protocols for communication with peripheral equipment. Part 3 of the specification describes the implementation of real-time Ethernet systems.
Beside the standardization of EtherCAT for the semiconductor industry, this is another international standardization of EtherCAT within an industry specific sector. Both show the increasing acceptance and diffusion of the EtherCAT technology.
The final edition of the EUROMAP 75 specification can be downloaded at the website of the EUROMAP Technical Commission.

International EtherCAT Plug Fest Series

To support ETG Members all around the world the ETG continues its Plug Fest series on three continents: North America, Europe and Asia.
At the Plug Fest both master and slave devices are interoperability tested in various configurations. Thus we invite and encourage all manufacturers of EtherCAT Devices, Codes and Tools to participate. The meeting also serves as forum for developers. ETG experts will attend the Plug Fests to share implementation tips and tricks and clarify questions regarding the technology. The Plug Fests have established themselves as pragmatic and effective means to achieve interoperable EtherCAT products.
The general boot-up, process data and mailbox communication will be tested as well as device behaviour with enhanced functionality, like support of Modular Device Profile and CiA402 servo drive profile. The current EtherCAT Conformance Test Tool is available and EtherCAT Analyzer Tools are used to check device behaviour and interoperability.
Participants of the last Plug Fests are encouraged to attend again. We expect new devices (both master and slaves) to be present, so that the interoperability tests will be enhanced, too. Companies with subsidiaries in several countries may participates on multiple Plug Fests to test with a big variety of devices.

2nd North American Plug Fest: Info & Registration
- September 09-10, 2010, Waukegan (IL), USA. Hosted by Yaskawa Electric.

10th European Plug Fest: Info & Registration
- September 22-23, 2010, Braunschweig, GER. Hosted by Lenze Automation.

2nd Asian EtherCAT Plug Fest: Info & Registration
- October 28-29, 2010, Kyoto, JPN. Hosted by ASTEM.

EtherCAT powered robots win RoboCup German Open

ETG Booth @ Beijing FA/PA, May 12-15

Hannover Messe 2010 (HMI)

EtherCAT will be again well presented at Hannover Messe 2010, which takes place Apr 19-23 in Hanover, Germany. You will find us at our ETG Joint Booth (Hall 9-D18) at an enlarged booth.
ETG Joint Booth: Please visit the joint EtherCAT booth in Hall 9-D18, where 54 member companies show again over 200 different EtherCAT products, including 17 different masters using 10 different operating systems controlling I/O terminals. The range of products also includes servo drives, frequency converts, I/Os, pneumatic and hydraulic valves, encoder, sensors, gateways, as well as implementation kits for slave devices, tools and Safety over EtherCAT solutions. A highlight will be the EtherCAT Multi-Axis presenter, showing 30 different synchronized servo drives within one EtherCAT network. Certified products will be highlighted and parts of the booth will be Conformance & Interoperability themed.
EtherCAT Introductory Presentation: There will be a daily EtherCAT Introductory Presentation at 4:15 pm in Hall 9-G08. This free seminar will include the EtherCAT functional principle, technology features, benefits for vendors and end users, application examples as well as implementation notes. Take the chance at the end of the tradeshow day to inform you about EtherCAT within only 45 minutes! The training classroom is located close to the ETG Joint Booth in Hall 9 at booth G08.
If you have questions on the EtherCAT technology, how to become a member and on your application or EtherCAT implementation, then please come by and discuss these topics with EtherCAT experts. Stop by any time the show or feel free to make an appointment by contacting the ETG headquarters before the show.

Interoperability Testing at 9th EtherCAT Plug Fest

embeddedworld 2010

9th European EtherCAT Plug Fest announced

Industrial Ethernet Seminar Series in Norway

The ETG offers Industrial Ethernet / EtherCAT Seminars taking place in Horten, Stavanger and Trondheim on February 9-11, 2010. Next to a comprehensive overview of existing Industrial Ethernet solutions, the seminars will help you to understand the EtherCAT Technology and how it can enhance your application!
End users as well as device vendors and system integrators are addressed to join the seminars. Participation is free of charge and you are cordially invited!
Further seminar details and online registration is available here.
Please register as soon as possible, because the number of seats are limited.

EtherCAT also for factory automation

SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2009

Industrial Ethernet Seminar Series in India

Learn about the benefits and the challenges of Industrial Ethernet. Come, explore and understand the EtherCAT Technology & see how it can help your application! These seminars specifically address end users as well as device vendors and system integrators to learn about EtherCAT technology and other Industrial Ethernet technologies.

Participation is free of charge & you are cordially invited!
Further seminar details and online registration is available here.

Please register online as soon as possible, because the number of seats are limited.

Well attended 8th European EtherCAT Plug Fest

Great success with 1st North American EtherCAT Plug Fest

The first North American EtherCAT Plug Fest was well attended with over 20 people from 11 ETG member companies. At this Plug Fest four new master implementations were tested with the slave device variety of 8 different vendors. The main goal of this event, which was hosted by National Instruments in Austin, Texas, was to check interoperability of EtherCAT implementations.
Please find the full article as press release and additional pictures from the event here.

Japanese EtherCAT Test Center fully operational

As of September 1st the Japanese EtherCAT Test Center (ETC), operated in Kyoto by ASTEM, is fully operational and can serve the Japanese as well as the overall Asian EtherCAT community. The European ETC, operated by Beckhoff Automation GmbH in Nuremberg, Germany, has been providing Conformance Testing for ETG members since end of 2008.
Please find more information about conformance and contact details of the ETCs within the Conformance Section.

Industrial Ethernet Seminar Series in Taiwan

8th European EtherCAT Plug Fest announced

1st North American EtherCAT Plug Fest hosted by NI

ETG opens new Conformance Test Center in Japan

Full house at ETG Member Meeting Japan

US membership exceeds 100

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

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

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

EtherCAT Seminar Series and Evaluation Kit Workshops in North America

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.

Industrial Ethernet Seminar Series in India

In May, ETG hosts Industrial Ethernet / 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.

Call for Experts: Technical Committee starts new Working groups

Free "Safety over EtherCAT" Seminar: March, 17th, 2009

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

ETG Team expanded

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.

7th European Plug Fest announced

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

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.
Please read more about Safety over EtherCAT here.

Omron selects EtherCAT as its next Motion Bus System

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

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

ETG develops new Safety Drive Profile

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.

Technology enhancement: "Power over EtherCAT"

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.

Industrial Ethernet Seminars in South Africa

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

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.

Webcast: "Engineering-driven Ethernet"

Control Engineering online has premiered "Engineering-driven Ethernet" - a highly informative Webcast featuring Joey Stubbs, ETG representative North America and other industry experts. Click here to register and view the archived Webcast from October 8th, 2008.

EtherCAT Plugfest with 13 Master Vendors

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

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

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

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

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!

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 tradeshow. 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.

ETG Member Meeting Japan: over 100 Attendees

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

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 can be found here.

EtherCAT IP Core now supporting 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.

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.

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.

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. As of 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

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

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 about performance can be found here.

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.

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.

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.

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.

EtherCAT standardized as communication technology for SERCOS and CANopen Drive Profile

EtherCAT now IEC standard!

SEMI approves EtherCAT standard

Chinese EtherCAT Website online

The ETG website is now also available in Chinese language, maintained by the new ETG Office in Beijing.

Enhanced Product Guide online

The updated and enhanced version of the EtherCAT product guide is now online. If you want to add your EtherCAT product, please contact ETG Headquarters.

ETG Member Meeting Japan on July 10th

ETG Japan Office will host a members meeting in Tokyo on July 10th. More than 50 Japanese ETG member representatives have signed up so far. Highlight of the meeting will be several presentations from Japanese end users about their EtherCAT deployment. Detailed information can be found here.

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. For more details please see graphics here.