Whitepaper: How Space Robotics Benefits from the World Standard for Motion Communications

04/2022 | Space-specific communication technologies only partially meet the technical needs of space robotics and have disadvantages in terms of the strategic demands for openness, vendor diversity, and cost. EtherCAT is the Ethernet-based world standard for motion communication also widely used for robotics. The whitepaper describes how EtherCAT meets the specific requirements of space robotics. Moreover, we show how the space industry benefits from agreeing on this technology for robotics.

For the 37th Space Symposium (April 4-7, 2022, in Colorado Springs (CO), USA), the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) has published this whitepaper, with authors from Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Jena-Optronik GmbH, MDA (Macdonald Dettwiler & Associates), Motiv Space Systems, Inc., Tethers Unlimited, Inc., and Beckhoff Automation.

Read the whitepaper