Machine builders are constantly under pressure to do more with less. As machines become more modular, compact and increasingly distributed, devices need to be located closer to the process rather than concentrated inside a central control cabinet.
While this brings clear advantages for machine design, it also creates a practical challenge – how do you connect all these distributed devices without making the machine more complicated?
Developed by Beckhoff Automation, EtherCAT P addresses this challenge by combining power and EtherCAT communication into a single four-wire cable. This extends the benefits of EtherCAT into decentralised applications, allowing field devices to be positioned closer to where they are needed while reducing cabling complexity.
This is particularly relevant as machine builders move towards modular and decentralised architectures. EtherCAT P should be deployed when devices are field mounted, decentralised or used outside of a cabinet. It’s also more feasible when dealing with space constraints or if there is a need to run applications that require faster and simpler installation and commissioning.
Could more distributed machines actually be easier to connect?
As field devices move out of the cabinet and onto the machine, many users may worry that the benefits of decentralisation can come at the cost of additional cables, connectors and installation effort.
When OEMs started building machines that were more distributed and modular, a lot of field devices started residing on the machine rather than inside the cabinet. The idea of being able to place a sub device anywhere on the machine meant cabling, connectors, installation labour and the points of failure were all doubled.
EtherCAT P tackles this problem by carrying power and data in one cable, reducing the number of connections required while retaining core EtherCAT benefits such as high-speed communication, flexible topology, precise synchronisation and extensive diagnostics.
The result is a simpler way to connect sensors, I/O, smaller actuators and other decentralised devices, particularly where machine space is limited.
There are practical considerations. Total current draw must be calculated across connected devices and voltage drops considered over longer cable runs, with system terminals used to refresh power where required. Supriya also recommends ETG-certified EtherCAT P components and appropriately rated cabling. Specially coded connectors help prevent a powered EtherCAT P cable from being accidentally connected to an incompatible device.
Does it have to be all or nothing?
Adopting a decentralised architecture does not mean every connection needs to change.
EtherCAT P is not necessarily an all-or-nothing choice. Engineers can combine EtherCAT P and conventional EtherCAT in the same machine, selecting the most appropriate architecture according to the power requirements of individual devices.
This flexibility has supported applications globally across packaging machinery, material handling and intralogistics, food and beverage, robotics and automation cells. More importantly, it allows machine builders to decentralise where it provides a genuine advantage rather than redesigning an entire machine around one technology.
But the significance of EtherCAT P goes beyond simplifying individual connections. The same principle (reducing complexity by combining power and communication) has helped shape a much broader approach to machine design.
Can EtherCAT P turn ‘one-cable’ thinking into a machine-wide philosophy?
EtherCAT P became an important foundation for Beckhoff’s broader One Cable Automation (OCA) philosophy, centred on combining power, signal and data communication across different areas of a machine.
EtherCAT P was the original technology the concept of OCA was built around. OCA has since become Beckhoff’s broader cabling philosophy for decentralised automation, combining power, signal and data communication in a single connector.
That philosophy now encompasses technologies such as OCT (One Cable Technology), which combines motor power and encoder feedback in a single servo cable, and CP-Link 4, which combines video, USB and power for remote HMI panels.
It has also enabled new approaches to distributed drive technology. With Beckhoff’s AMP8000 distributed servo drive system, drive electronics can be integrated directly into the motor rather than housed centrally in the control cabinet. EtherCAT P then provides power and communication to distributed motors via compact coupling modules.
At the broader system level, Beckhoff’s MX-System takes the concept further as a modular automation platform designed to replace the traditional control cabinet.
Where does machine architecture go from here?
Combining power and communication is becoming an increasingly relevant industry response to decentralisation. What began with EtherCAT P at Beckhoff, however, has grown beyond a cabling solution into a broader philosophy for how machines can be designed.
What sets Beckhoff apart is that we originated EtherCAT P then opened it up through the ETG rather than keeping it proprietary. We built an entire philosophy around it – OCA – and kept extending that same idea outward. From sensors, to drives with AMP8000, right through to replacing the whole control cabinet with MX-System.
As machine architectures continue to become more distributed, the question is therefore no longer simply how to connect more devices. It is how machine builders can decentralise while making machines simpler, more modular and easier to install.
EtherCAT P provides machine builders with a practical way to simplify connections while retaining the performance, flexibility and diagnostics associated with EtherCAT.
