What is EtherCAT?

EtherCAT is short for "Ethernet for Control Automation Technology" and therefore belongs to the ethernet protocol family using Standard IEC 61158. The protocol is related to the fieldbus protocol CanOpen and has been developed by Beckhoff. The first presentation was back in 2003.

The guidelines are governed by the EtherCAT Technology Group.

Among the other protocol sin the market, EtherCAt is growing as has a market share of 7% in 2018 and 2019.