EtherCAT Cube Chassis

EtherCAT developers can now harness the power & flexibility of the Cube. The EtherCAT Cube is suited for a variety of industrial, aerospace, lab data acquisition and control applications. Perfect for high reliability applications, UEI hardware has a 10-yr obsolescence guarantee and a 3-yr warranty. Learn more at www.ueidaq.com/applications/ethercat.

The CPU Module occupies the top portion of the Cube and provides the CPU, Ethernet Network Interface Controller (NIC), indicator lights, timing/trigger interface, configuration ports and internal power supply. It’s the brains of the Cube and controls the unit’s operations, including the interface with the host Controller (and other Cubes), as well as supervising the activity of the I/O boards. The CPU module also includes rotary switches that set the Cube’s EtherCAT device address. If the switch is set to address 0, the unit’s address is programmed by any EtherCAT master. In addition to connecting to other Cubes, the DNA-ECAT series can be installed in any chain with ETG conforming devices.

The remainder of the Cube is dedicated to I/O slots or layers. These slots are populated with the I/O modules that are selected to match your process or test application. With over 60 different I/O boards available we’re sure to have just what you need. We currently offer: A/D boards to measure voltage, current, strain gages, thermocouples, D/A boards with outputs to ±40V or ±50 mA, Digital I/O interfaces for logic and “real-world” signal levels, counters and timers, quadrature encoder inputs, RVDT/LVDT, and simulated signals such as RTDs, TCs, etc.

You can choose from 2, 4, and 8 slot styles. The DNA-ECAT series cubes feature:

  • > 2 kHz scan rates
  • Configuration via EtherCAT Master - Modules and Slots
  • No external program or connection needed
  • Wide input power range: 9 to 36 VDC
  • Up to 200/256 analog input/output and 384 digital I/O channels per Cube
  • Extended temperature range: -40 C to 85° C
  • Rugged: 5g vibration, 100g shock