EtherCAT took the Hannover Messe by storm when Beckhoff first introduced it in 2003. Virtually the entire industry visited the company’s booth that year to see what this blindingly fast, yet uncompromisingly deterministic, new fieldbus system could do. In a project called ‘Fast Lightbus’, Beckhoff demonstrated to the world that it could take the ‘processing on the fly’ principle – the basis of its 1989 Lightbus technology – and successfully adapt it to run over Ethernet.
In an EtherCAT network, all of the slave nodes ‘see’ all of the messages initiated by the master. As these propagate around the ring, every slave reads its inputs and adds a status update to the packets as they pass through it. Think of a train travelling through a series of stations where each individual car can be loaded and offloaded, but without the train itself ever needing to stop. When the train (EtherCAT message), arrives at its destination (EtherCAT master), it can then be ascertained not only what was loaded at each station (EtherCAT slave), but also the time at which this occurred (determinism). Processing on the fly is what gives EtherCAT its unique capabilities.
Right from the outset, Beckhoff made clear its intention to develop the technology into an open standard, which led to the foundation of the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) later in 2003, and the publishing of the specification as a global IEC standard; both important milestones in the company’s history.
Headed by executive director Martin Rostan, the primary function of the ETG is to keep EtherCAT open and interoperable for all potential users. As a joint venture between OEMs, end users and technology providers, it does this through various technical committees, roadshows and the increasingly popular ‘Plug Fests’, which constantly draw record numbers of product developers and visitors (see 'EtherCAT Plug Fest fully booked again'). The open interactive atmosphere at these events is what makes them popular. In the words of one delegate, “Every year I gain new insight into the EtherCAT technology which continually enhances my journey as a product developer.”
The good news for local EtherCAT fans and aficionados is that the roadshows are coming to town. During September/October, Technews – the publisher of SA Instrumentation and Control, teams up with the ETG to host a countrywide series of breakfast seminars aimed at advancing local knowledge and application of the technology.
Delving deeper than an ordinary product lecture, presenter Martin Rostan will discuss the concepts in detail, which will also include user-oriented content ranging from installation and troubleshooting, through smooth transitioning from classical fieldbus systems to EtherCAT. Tabletop exhibitions that give supporting companies the opportunity to highlight their individual EtherCAT achievements add a nice practical buzz for our more action-oriented delegates.
Endorsed by the SAIMC
In line with its objective of elevating the profile of bus technologies in South Africa, the SAIMC (Society for Automation, Instrumentation, Measurement and Control) has given its endorsement to the 2016 EtherCAT Breakfast Series. “The EtherCAT fieldbus technology is a cost effective solution with fantastic performance,” it said in a communiquéé from president at the time, Vinesh Maharaj. “Such bus technologies are essential for the improvement and optimisation of manufacturing operations in our country. The SAIMC is excited about this event being hosted in South Africa, and is hopeful that a local EtherCAT organisation will be spawned to join our collaboration with the other fieldbus groups in driving bus technologies as an aid to industrialisation in our region.”
Save the dates
• Johannesburg – 30 September (The Fairway Hotel).
• Cape Town – 4 October (Durbanville Hills Wine Estate).
• Port Elizabeth – 6 October (The Beach Hotel).
• Durban – 7 October (Suncoast Casino).
Register at: www.instrumentation.co.za/ethercat and join us for a morning of technology and innovation.
In closure, congratulations from everyone at Technews to Johan Maartens on his appointment as Chief Operating Officer of the SAIMC ('SAIMC appoints Johan Maartens as COO'), we look forward to working with you for many years to come Johan.
Steven Meyer
Editor: SA Instrumentation & Control
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