EtherCAT Technology Group Welcomes Image Engineering as 7,000th Member

Membership in the EtherCAT Technology Group continues to grow during the 20th anniversary year of EtherCAT: recently, ETG surpassed the 7,000 member mark with the addition of Image Engineering. With more than 400 new members every year since 2014, the ETG is not only the largest fieldbus organization in the world, but also the fastest growing.

Based in Baltimore, Image Engineering designs, builds and integrates special effects systems for the world of live entertainment. They provide laser, atmospheric, lighting and pyrotechnic effects to clients ranging from NFL teams to artists such as Metallica, Lady Gaga, and BTS to create unforgettable visual experiences.

"At Image Engineering, we use EtherCAT to facilitate fast, reliable control of our special effects systems in permanent installation settings," said Shep Dick, Development Engineer at Image Engineering. "EtherCAT allows us to implement remote configuration of our equipment and real-time feedback which gives our control systems a huge advantage compared to traditional entertainment industry control protocols. In addition, Failsafe over EtherCAT allows us to incorporate the most important parts of our special effects units, the safety systems, into the same cabling and software we use for network control. The flexible topologies and interoperability of EtherCAT-based technologies give us the adaptability and reliability we need to efficiently integrate our special effects systems."

"EtherCAT has a very strong position in the entertainment industry, especially in the United States," added Martin Rostan, Executive Director of the EtherCAT Technology Group. "If you go to a show in Las Vegas, a big pop or rock concert, a festival or a theme park, you are very likely to encounter stage equipment and special effects systems controlled by EtherCAT."

About two-thirds of ETG member companies are manufacturers of EtherCAT devices, with users and universities making up the rest. According to the statutes, individuals are only accepted as honorary members.

When looking at the worldwide distribution of ETG member companies, the high distribution in Asia is particularly striking. More than 2,500 members come from China, Taiwan, Japan or and Korea. Overall, more than 40% of the members are from Asia. These figures show that EtherCAT technology has fully arrived in Asia.

The number of countries with ETG members also continues to increase. Recently ETG welcomed companies from Cyprus, Saudi Arabia and Oman, so ETG now has members from 72 countries.

Another milestone in ETG's success story occurred last year when membership in Europe alone exceeded 3,000.

The membership development reflects the spread and worldwide success of EtherCAT technology. It is largely due to the quality of the EtherCAT technology itself, but also to the comprehensive support and information offered by the ETG, to which members have unlimited access.