Introducing the EtherCAT Arduino Shield by Esmacat (EASE)

A common problem between Arduino users is trying to expand a project beyond only one Arduino board. Arduino boards only have a certain number of I/O pins and peripherals including Arduino shields take up several of those limited pins leaving little to none pins left for other uses. There are several ways to communicate between multiple Arduino boards but they are not efficient. We are happy to say this problem is now a problem of the past!

Introducing the EtherCAT Arduino Shield by Esmacat (EASE)!

EASE is an Arduino shield developed by Esmacat to connect the larger Arduino ecosystem. EASE achieves such a feat through EtherCAT communication. EtherCAT is a high performance field bus normally used in the automation industry for its reliability. Esmacat specializes in this area of expertise and wants to share this type of power with all Arduino users in the form of an Arduino shield that fits on any Arduino board capable of attaching a shield with an Arduino Uno form factor.

Feature Highlights

• EASE connects Arduino boards, Arduino-like boards, and Arduino Shields for large-scale applications.
• High speed communication (200Mbps, 200x faster than CAN bus) is supported with EtherCAT which is an industrial-standard fieldbus for automation.
• EASE has the form factor of Arduino Uno, and thus can take the advantage of the Arduino ecosystem.
• Daisy chain connection between multiple EASEs simplifies the topology of wiring
• Power-over-EtherCAT (POE) technology reduces the number of required wires and power outlets.
• The data packet between Arduino Board and EASE is communicated via SPI, allowing EASE to be compatible with many different types of boards including Arduino boards and Mbed boards.

Visit our Crowd Supply page https://www.crowdsupply.com/harmonic-bionics/ease to learn more about getting your hands on EASE starting January 7th, 2020.

Visit our website www.esmacat.com for tutorials and datasheets for all of our Esmacat products including EASE.