Beckhoff's EtherCAT Sets Record With 3,000 Vendor IDs

Verl, Germany - Beckhoff Automation’s EtherCAT has 3,000 registered device manufacturers, confirming its broadest acceptance base in the industrial Ethernet industry. The EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) further revealed that the user organization with the second-highest number of registered manufacturers has only around half many more.

For a new generation of cutting edge control concepts, this ultra-fast communication system makes forward-looking, high-performance technology accessible. Its success is based primarily on the technology itself because it offers users as many benefits as it does to device manufacturers. EtherCAT incorporates all complex and time-critical functions into the application controller chips, which are available from 12 different semiconductor manufacturers. The EtherCAT controller is entirely software-based and is combined with a broad range of 35 EtherCAT controller real-time operating systems.

The second major factor for the success of the system is the simple implementation of controllers supported by the extraordinary ETG 'ecosystem' with help from the firm. It provides comprehensive implementation guidance to the developer community on the organization's website with approximately 7,000 articles regarding the development support offered by ETG employees. 

“EtherCAT is the ideal technology for the diverse requirements of controllers as well as peripherals. On the controller side, you want to have as little specialized hardware as possible in order to put existing computers to use, while on the device side you want total hardware integration to save costs and reduce complexity,” explained Thomas Rettig, Senior Manager, Control Systems and Communication Architecture, Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG.

Image Source: Beckhoff Automation

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