For your own hardware
For machine and device makers who design their own board. You get the prebuilt library for ESP32 and STM32, a demo project and the EtherCAT Configurator, with a licence per device. Your electronics, your enclosure, our master.
ENGAM-MASTER
EtherCAT master on a microcontroller: as a library or as a ready controller
ENGAM-MASTER turns an ESP32 or STM32 board into an EtherCAT master. It drives servo and stepper drives over a single Ethernet cable, with Distributed Clocks and CiA 402 motion, and gives machine builders a compact controller without an industrial PC. Use it as a library on your own board, or take the ready controller and mount it in the cabinet.
01Pick your boardESP32 with a W5500 Ethernet chip, or STM32 with on-chip Ethernet.
02Describe your machineWhich drives and I/O are on the bus, in one short machine file.
03Build and flashA ready demo project for PlatformIO / ESP-IDF; the library is linked in.
04Move the axesAbsolute and relative moves, velocity and homing through a simple motion API.
Library or controller
One master, two ways to use it
Whether you build your own electronics or need a controller in the cabinet tomorrow, ENGAM-MASTER fits: the same EtherCAT master, the same configurator and the same motion API in both forms.
Ready to install
For machine builders, workshops and retrofits that need a working controller now. Aluminium enclosure, 24 V supply, 8 isolated inputs and 8 outputs, EtherCAT and USB-C. Mount it on a DIN rail or on the wall, connect the drives and program the machine.
Start with the ready controller and move to your own board as the series grows: your machine code carries over.
Specifications
What it does today
- ESP32 + W5500: stable 5 ms cycle
- STM32 (Nucleo-F767ZI): stable 1 ms cycle
- Distributed Clocks (Sync0) with cyclic synchronous position (CSP)
- CiA 402 drive state machine, homing, absolute and relative moves
- Generic digital I/O devices on the same bus
- Cycle time set at start-up (1–50 ms)
Tested with Lichuan LC10E servo drives. Other CiA 402 drives can be added from their ESI file.
Ready controller
Ready to mount: on a DIN rail or on the wall
- Aluminium enclosure with a black glass front, 199 × 124 × 42 mm
- Runs on 24 V DC, the industrial standard: powered from the same supply as the machine cabinet
- 8 inputs and 8 outputs, 24 V, optically isolated, with a status LED for each
- EtherCAT port (RJ45) on top
- USB-C on the bottom, reachable from outside: reprogram the controller without opening the enclosure
- Screw terminals on the sides, screws reachable from the front
Two mounting options: snap it onto a standard TH35 DIN rail in the cabinet, or hang it on the wall with four keyhole slots on the back, like a Wi-Fi router.
ESP32 version
Wireless control from any mobile device
The ESP32 version keeps the chip's own wireless connections free for your machine: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can be used to control and monitor the master remotely, from any phone, tablet or laptop, while EtherCAT runs on the wired Ethernet port.
- Wi-Fi: control panel in the browser, on the local network or through your router
- Bluetooth: direct connection from a phone or tablet near the machine
- Works on Android, iOS, Windows, Linux and macOS, no special software
- Start, stop, jog and status of the axes from the device in your hand
Example
Date pitting machine, controlled from a phone
An ESP32 with ENGAM-MASTER drives three Lichuan servo motors over EtherCAT and runs the machine sequence. The phone connects over Bluetooth: start and stop, live status of every motor, the speed of each step and the clamping are set from the app.
Tools
EtherCAT Configurator for Windows and Linux
Open the ESI file you received from the drive or I/O maker and the configurator prepares the device for ENGAM-MASTER. No hand-written PDO tables.
- PDO mapping by drag and drop, with the sizes checked as you go
- Servo and stepper drives (CiA 402): mode of operation, homing, start-up commands
- Distributed Clocks: DC Sync0, SM-Synchron or Free Run, set consistently for drive and master
- Generic devices: digital I/O, measuring modules
- Output: a ready device file you add to your project
- Windows 10/11 installer and Linux AppImage
Industry 4.0 ready
Ready for Industry 4.0
A machine with ENGAM-MASTER is connected, transparent and easy to change: the foundations of Industry 4.0, built into the controller.
Connected machine
EtherCAT on the wired port for the drives, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for people and systems. The machine is on your network from day one.
Live data from every drive
Position, velocity, status and errors of every drive and the state of every input and output, read in every bus cycle. The basis for monitoring, diagnostics and maintenance planning.
Monitor and control from anywhere on site
Start, stop, settings and live status from a phone, tablet or laptop, in the browser or in an app, without special software.
Drives from any maker
EtherCAT, the CiA 402 drive profile and ESI device files: drives and I/O from different makers work on the same bus, with no vendor lock-in.
Reconfigure instead of rebuild
A new drive is added from its ESI file in the configurator, the cycle time is set at start-up and new software goes in over USB-C. The machine follows the product, not the other way round.
Your data, your systems
Machine logic stays in your own code, so the data can be passed on over the network to the systems you already use for production planning and reporting.
Why ENGAM-MASTER
No industrial PC
A low-cost microcontroller is the EtherCAT master. Smaller cabinet, lower cost, faster start-up.
Real-time by design
A dedicated high-priority EtherCAT task on FreeRTOS, separated from motion logic and logging, so the bus cycle stays steady.
Safe stop
Communication watchdog: if the bus or a drive drops out, the axes are brought to a safe state.
Your application, our master
The master is a closed library; your machine logic stays in your own code and is easy to change.
Delivery
Library, demo and licence, or a ready controller
- Prebuilt library for ESP32 (ESP-IDF) and STM32 (PlatformIO)
- Demo project with a complete machine example
- EtherCAT Configurator for Windows and Linux
- Integration guide
- Licence per device; a time-limited demo runs without a licence
- Or as a ready controller in an enclosure, with the master already installed
A Linux / Raspberry Pi version is in development.
Early access
Building a machine with EtherCAT?
We are working with first users. Tell us about your machine and drives and we will send you the demo, or an offer for the ready controller.
Have a machine in mind?
Our engineers are ready to discuss your manufacturing challenges — from initial concept to full implementation.