Ethernet or EtherCAT for Motion Control Webinar: Choosing the Right Network for Your Applications

With the increasing presence of EtherCAT in the motion control industry, choosing between EtherCAT and Ethernet is becoming an increasingly important question. This presentation will cover the technical differences between both methods and provide advice on how to choose between them based on application requirements. Strengths and weakness of both Ethernet and EtherCAT will be discussed including development time, ease of use, cost, and complexity.
Additionally, Galil’s DMC-500x0 EtherCAT Master and DMC-40x0 Ethernet controller will be reviewed with regards to the capabilities and advantages they can offer. This presentation is geared towards system developers looking to understand the differences, costs, and capabilities of both Ethernet and EtherCAT. With the increasing presence of EtherCAT in the motion control industry, choosing between EtherCAT and Ethernet is becoming an increasingly important question. This presentation will cover the technical differences between both methods and provide advice on how to choose between them based on application requirements. Strengths and weakness of both Ethernet and EtherCAT will be discussed including development time, ease of use, cost, and complexity.
Additionally, Galil’s DMC-500x0 EtherCAT Master and DMC-40x0 Ethernet controller will be reviewed with regards to the capabilities and advantages they can offer. This presentation is geared towards system developers looking to understand the differences, costs, and capabilities of both Ethernet and EtherCAT.

[@AdaptivePhenix]

Motion control is about the only application where digital has made life complicated. There was a time when a competent in-house engineer could repair this stuff. Now, the 24/7 production line that decides to have a problem on a Friday evening...he's pretty much screwed.
I was Galil's first machine-tool integrator back in the 80s. Jacob Tal and I spoke often and also Lisa Wade and Kaushal. Great times but now, if I have a DMC failure, how long before I can get a replacement?
I decided to develop my own distributed system based on garden variety MCUs....Problem solved 👍

[@GalilMC]

Hi Craig,
This is Kaushal Shah, good to hear from you. I understand your concern about having the production line that is operational 24/7 and if something fails on Friday evening. In that situation, the best option is to replace the failed unit and get the system up and operational to minimize down time of the production line. As for diagnosing and repairing the component that failed, there was time when the products were simpler and a competent engineer could repair the hardware due to design with discrete components. Over the years, the products have become more complex and with higher level of integration via FPGA, cPLDs combined with ASIC and Micro-controller, it is not practical to repair product in the field. It is more effective to keep a spare unit just in case if there is a failure. The focus is to get the production line up and going again and not on field repair of the product which has component(s) with BGA package.
Typical time to repair/replacement of a unit is between 1 to 2 weeks but with expedite process, that can be reduced to 48 hours. This is one of the best turn around time in the industry and we take pride of our staff that is able to deliver that fast response.
I am glad that you have developed an in-house solution for your project. For OEM customers, that option may not be the best choice when dealing with change in engineering staff and / or parts becoming obsolete or change to its package style. That becomes a major drain of resource to maintain an in-house design.

[@AdaptivePhenix]

@@GalilMC
Hi Kaushal, I miss the old days. Great to know that you are still there.
You guys were responsible for me starting my business...the DMC was my secret weapon and I was proclaimed a "genius" 😁
I have so many stories to tell about how I went up against an army of Allen Bradley engineers who totally failed to do what I could do with the DMC.
My first ever project was for a GM supplier, Johnson Controls/Hoover Automotive. They had procured a piece of equipment ($600K) which couldn't possibly perform with the open loop steppers. I was already familiar with closed loop servo control and all of a sudden, found myself roped into this serious problem. I was 27, jeans and t-shirt and, having recently discovered the DMC, went up in front of the GM pocket protector brigade and proclaimed that I could make this piece of junk work. Man, I'm talking beige-box IBM PC + 2 X DMC 430s. I was the laughing stock but I'd purchased a few of those analog amps and small servo motors that Galil used to sell...simulated the sequence on my desktop, ditched the huge steppers and replaced them with servo motors....no BS, the machine was working the first day I powered up 👍
Initially I was saying, "it's not me, it's the Galil“ but I soon learned to shut up and take the credit 😂😂😂
Would love to hear about Jacob and Lisa.
PS. Your site is horrible....password just to search the forum? Come on man...instant turn-off, lose the log-in nonsense. 👍😁
Best regards, Kaushal,
Craig.

[@johnnycanuck6923]

background sound in video makes this fuzzy, need a new microphone dude