JVL is one of the leading companies in the field of integrated servo and stepper motors. For their medium and high power MAC motor''s, from 400 W to 3000 W, yet another expansion module has been added: The EtherCAT Industrial Ethernet module.
To supplement the already existing modules like CANopen, Profibus, Devicenet, NanoPLC, BlueTooth and WLAN etc. was there a demand from the market to develop a new series of Industrial Ethernet modules starting with EtherCAT and EtherNet/IP. Later ProfiNet, Modbus TCP, Powerlink or Sercos III will be announced. One of the requests for this new module was that hardware to all protocols should be the same so customer at installation time could decide which protocol to use. Thereby can customer save money for stock and new Industrial Ethernet products could be launch very rapidly after approval of the industry. All modules are equipped with robust M12 connector to archive high IP protection and also internal switch technology with Ethernet IN and OUT so multiple bus systems up to 255 motors or more are possible.
EtherCAT, or Ethernet for Control Automation Technology, was originally developed by Beckhoff, but is now an open standard under EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG), which consist of key user companies from various industries and leading automation suppliers and it''s purpose is to further develop and promote the EtherCAT technology. EtherCAT is the fastest growing industrial Ethernet bus and is leading in Europe. Since it is based on an open protocol, inexpensive hardware and so far has an unmatched performance it is likely to become the world leader within industrial Ethernet busses.