The newly-opened North American EtherCAT Test Center (ETC) has reached its first milestone: Watlow's RMZ Temperature Controller is the first EtherCAT device to pass conformance testing in the test lab based in Savage, Minnesota. (Minneapolis area). During a meeting of the ETG Semiconductor Technical Working Group, the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) awarded the official conformance test certificate to Watlow. The first official certificate for a successfully tested EtherCAT device was issued not long after the new North American EtherCAT Test Center was accredited by the ETG. The North American ETC's first certified product is the new RMZ Multi Loop Temperature Controller from Watlow Electric Manufacturing Company which just recently passed its conformance test. During the official test in an ETC, the EtherCAT Conformance Test Tool is employed as its use is mandatory for EtherCAT device manufacturers. Additionally, further tests such as interoperability and interface checks are conducted during the official testing of an EtherCAT device. The certificate was issued during the 6th meeting of ETG's Semiconductor Technical Working Group, hosted by Lam Research, which is located in Silicon Valley in Fremont, Calif. Florian Häfele, who was onsite as the ETG representative and presented the certificate to Stan Breitlow, Staff Software Engineer at Watlow, explained: "Awarding the first North American ETC conformance test certificate to Watlow represents a significant kick-off and stresses the importance of the new North American EtherCAT Test Center to the semiconductor and industrial equipment industries. This is also validation to the ETG that it was the right decision to accredit a test lab in North America." Thanks to regional accessibility, the test lab in Savage, Minn. will meet the increasing demand for official EtherCAT device tests across North America. The certification of Watlow's temperature controller demonstrates how beneficial the new ETC location is, especially for the test of semiconductor-specific EtherCAT devices. North America is home to many of the world's biggest companies in the semiconductor manufacturing industry and the ETG expects growing demand for EtherCAT conformance tests from this industry well into the future. In addition to the test center in Savage, manufacturers of EtherCAT devices have the option to submit their products for testing at the other official ETCs in Germany, Japan and China. Upon the completion of successful test results at any ETC, the device manufacturers will, of course, receive the official conformance certificate.
