In a ceremony in Beijing in October—hosted by the Instrumentation Technology & Economy Institute of the People's Republic of China and ITEI President Jinsong Ouyang—a representative of the Standardization Administration of China (SAC) announced EtherCAT as National Standard GB/T 31230 in China. The event brought numerous experts from a wide range of industries to the official guesthouse of the Chinese government to listen to the announcement from SAC Director Dr. Wei Sun.
In close cooperation with ITEI, several EtherCAT Technology Group member companies from China, as well as the local EtherCAT Competence Center at Beihang University in Beijing, contributed significantly to the completion of the standard, Wei Sun said.
“China is growing into the world’s largest automation market,” added Martin Rostan, executive director of theEtherCAT Technology Group(ETG). “We have seen an outstanding adoption rate of EtherCAT within this market in all kinds of applications, from machine controls, power generation and distribution, to mobile applications, scientific systems, and beyond.”
Becoming a recommended national standard in China will provide “even more local language access to the technology, and ensure acceptance in all publicly-funded projects,” Rostan said.
Several Chinese company representatives shared their experiences with EtherCAT systems and applications at the event. When Yunying Huang, vice president of Shenyang Machine Tool R&D Institute Shanghai, introduced the company’s new, intelligent i5 CNC machine tool entirely based on EtherCAT, he emphasized that performance, openness and the large product selection available from many of the world’s largest vendors were the main decisive factors for selecting EtherCAT.
Dr. Frank de Schepper, CEO of Wenzhou-headquartered SIBONAC Laser Technologies, which is also heavily involved in CNC applications, reported that “the EtherCAT protocol is open, easier to use, and faster than alternative protocols.”
Professor Ji Huan from Beihang University said, “Besides the performance, I see the main advantage of EtherCAT for Chinese users and implementers alike being the excellent support that the technology enjoys in China. Training classes and workshops, sample code, documentation, and implementation support, as well as test and certification services, are readily available.”
北京的ETG中国办事处经理Beryl Fan表示，“当地有超过400名当地成员，ETG在中国巨大地增长，特别是在过去几年中。作为中国国家标准的接受是我们组织的重要里程碑。通过这种发展，它现在将更轻松地对最终用户，制造商和供应商来理解，实施和使用以太网。“
罗斯坦说，ETG现在有1000家亚洲成员公司。两个成功的Ethercat Plug Fests，以及日本和韩国的两种安全性，突出了亚洲大陆以太网的广泛实施。
EtherCAT Plug Fests are developer meetings conducted by the EtherCAT Technology Group. ETG events in Japan have seen particularly large growth, with significant increases in member attendance over the past four years, said Rostan. The EtherCAT Plug Fest in Japan, conducted for the first time in 2010, has reached the same attendance level as its European counterparts.
FlorianHäfele从德国纽伦堡的ETG总部，德国指出，“在2014年日本Ethercat Plust Fest，我们有10个不同的Ethercat大师，带来了资格。这些实施的高技术水平是显着的。“
The Safety over EtherCAT seminars, conducted in Japan and Korea for the first time, were also very successful. More than 65 participants received information about safe data transmission via Safety over EtherCAT (FSoE), as well as a detailed update on the latest developments of the technology.
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