EtherCAT Technology Group Honors 2,000th Member

Automotive parts supplier, ZF Friedrichshafen AG (ZF) has become the 2,000th member of the EtherCAT Technology Group fieldbus organization. An event marking the occasion and official distinction took place at ZF’s company headquarters in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
 
Since its foundation in 2003, the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) continues to grow and reached a significant milestone last year: with ZF Friedrichshafen AG, the 2,000th ETG member officially became part of the organization in the middle of 2012. Martin Rostan, Executive Director of the ETG, says, “We are happy to welcome ZF as a valued addition to the circle of ETG members. The fact that we broke the 2,000 member mark is clear evidence for the widespread acceptance EtherCAT has reached during the past 10 years.”
 
During his visit to Friedrichshafen, Rostan presented an award and certificate to those responsible at ZF, Rüdiger Ammann and Dr. Florian Kusche. Rüdiger Ammann, head of FC Test Bench Management at ZF Group, explained why ZF selected EtherCAT in the first place. “We joined the ETG due to EtherCAT’s high flexibility and performance. EtherCAT is becoming an important part of our automation system for control and data acquisition on our test benches,” he said.
 
The latest developments within the ETG show how rapidly EtherCAT technology is evolving: Since the addition of ZF to the ETG ranks, many more new members have joined – today, the organization has over 2,200 member companies in 56 countries, said Rostan.
EtherCAT features include high precision device synchronization, cable redundancy options, and a functional safety protocol (SIL3). EtherCAT is an international standard (IEC, ISO and SEMI).