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EtherCAT Control I/O Solutions

Industrial 4.0 will create huge demands for integrating information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT). To bridge IT and OT, big data needs to be aggregated from the field. For this reason, EtherCAT has become the major protocol of choice for automation control because of its fast communication, flexible topology, and distributed architecture.

Advantech’s EtherCAT control I/O solutions integrate hardware and software foundations to offer a complete portfolio of EtherCAT MainDevice (MDevice) and SubordinateDevice (SubDevice) modules, supporting the integration of OT and IT for increased efficiency and performance.

Why choose EtherCAT for Control I/O System?

High Performance

Achieves outstanding performance on I/O handling with 276 μs cycle time at 44 % Bus Load and 122 μs telegram length.

Precise Synchronization

The distributed clocks in EtherCAT can lead to exact adjustment with less 1 µs in synchronization

Flexible Wiring Topology

  • Flexible tree structures – arbitrarily extendable
  • Supports various topology variants like Line, Star, Tree, Daisy Chain + Drop Lines

High Availability

Enables cable redundancy with a ring topology that avoids communication failure when a cable is broken or unplugged

Why choose Advantech?

  • Advantech EtherCAT hardware MDevice products adopt SoC (System-on-a-Chip) design to execute the EtherCAT protocols, guaranteeing real-time capabilities of the I/O access with the shortest cycle time up to 200 μs.

  • Advantech offers two types of EtherCAT SubDevices, slice I/O and distributed I/O modules, to meet diverse demands. Slice IO modules are compact and flexible, allowing customers to integrate high-density I/O within a space-limited enclosure or machine. Distributed I/O modules feature a high-density channel design anddeliver cost-effective performance.

  • Advantech’s AMAX-5000 series provides a removable push-in terminal design with easy slide-in mechanism, ensuring wire insertion without screws and front accessibility for easy installation and maintenance. In addition, AMAX-5000 features dual power inputs to enhance system reliability.

  • Advantech PC-based EtherCAT I/O Solution offers dedicated Windows-based API to satisfy rapid development and diverse requirements for vertical industry applications. Featuring compact size and high flexibility for integration, Advantech provides an efficient control I/O solution with lower TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).

  • Advantech EtherCAT MDevices support a utility with debugging tool to monitor communication quality and easily proceed ESC (EtherCAT SubDevice Controller) error counts diagnostics. Furthermore, Advantech EtherCAT SubDevices are fully equipped with EtherCAT IC (e-bus), providing a real-time diagnostic function for firmware updates and status reports back to the MDevice.

  • EtherCAT Hardware MDevice to Guarantee Real-Time Performance

  • Advantech EtherCAT hardware MDevice products adopt SoC (System-on-a-Chip) design to execute the EtherCAT protocols, guaranteeing real-time capabilities of the I/O access with the shortest cycle time up to 200 μs.

  • SubDevice Modules Provide Different Form Factors

  • Advantech offers two types of EtherCAT SubDevices, slice I/O and distributed I/O modules, to meet diverse demands. Slice IO modules are compact and flexible, allowing customers to integrate high-density I/O within a space-limited enclosure or machine. Distributed I/O modules feature a high-density channel design and deliver cost-effective performance.

  • Easy for Wiring and Installation

  • Advantech’s AMAX-5000 series provides a removable push-in terminal design with easy slide-in mechanism, ensuring wire insertion without screws and front accessibility for easy installation and maintenance. In addition, AMAX-5000 features dual power inputs to enhance system reliability.

  • Lower TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) for PC-based EtherCAT I/O Solution

  • Advantech PC-based EtherCAT I/O Solution offers dedicated Windows-based API to satisfy rapid development and diverse requirements for vertical industry applications. Featuring compact size and high flexibility for integration, Advantech provides an efficient control I/O solution with lower TCO (Total Cost Ownership).

  • Diagnostic Tool for Communication Quality Checking

  • Advantech EtherCAT MDevices support a utility with debugging tool to monitor communication quality and easily proceed ESC (EtherCAT SubDevice Controller) error counts diagnostics. Furthermore, Advantech EtherCAT SubDevices are fully equipped with EtherCAT IC (e-bus), providing a real-time diagnostic function for firmware updates and status reports back to the MDevice.

Solution System Architecture

Success Story

  • Electrical Coil Winding Machines
  • Electric Discharge Machine
  • LED Chip Sorter
  • Integrated IC Packaging Machine

Advantech Deploys EtherCAT Control I/O Solution for Electrical Coil Winding Machines

Electrical coil winding machines are used to wind coils for motors, transformers, inductors, and chokes. In this case, the machine station uses PCIE-1203IO for high speed and accurate remote IO control, providing a solution to reduce trouble-shooting and increase the output of the equipment…

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Advantech’s AMAX Series of EtherCAT Modules Help EDM Manufacturers Realize Industry 4.0

For machine builders, the transformation and upgrading of equipment is essential to improve manufacturing accuracy and streamline equipment construction. Therefore, Advantech provides a high-performance industrial fieldbus system with EtherCAT technology, including the PCI-1203 I/O MDevice card and AMAX-5000 slice I/O module…

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Advantech's high-speed pick and place solution for the LED sorter machine

In this high-speed pick & place application, PCI-1203 provided a "Torque Limit Table" function to ensure that rapid pick and place processes did not cause the eject needle to damage delicate LED dies...

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Advantech's EtherCAT Solution for the Integrated IC Packaging Machine

To deal with faster and more powerful chip technology, semiconductor process linewidth technology has continued to evolve down to the nano level, and the back end of semiconductor processes also needs to provide shorter production cycles in order to increase production throughput per unit of time...

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Product Offerings

I/O MainDevices

EtherCAT Intelligent I/O Controller

AMAX-324IO

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EtherCAT Intelligent I/O Controller

AMAX-337IO

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EtherCAT I/O MDevice Card

PCIE-1203IO

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1-Port EtherCAT I/O MDevice Card

PCM-26R1EC

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SubordinateDevice Modules

EtherCAT Coupler for AMAX-5000 Slice IO

AMAX-5074

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EtherCAT Slice IO Extension Module

AMAX-5079

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Power Input Module for EtherCAT Slice IO

AMAX-5001

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Digital I/O and Position Measurement Modules

AMAX-5000 (Digital I/O)

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Analogue I/O and Temperature Measurement Modules

AMAX-5000 (Analogue I/O)

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Resources

Sales Kit

Introduction to EtherCAT Control I/O Solutions

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Flyer

Quick Guide to Advantech EtherCAT Control I/O Solutions

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