Background: EtherCAT (Ethernet Control Automation Technology) is a kind of real-time Ethernet fieldbus protocol for industrial automation. The control system of many large-scale scientific facilities such as Beijing electron-positron collider (BEPCII)

Chinese spallation neutron source (CSNS) was designed based on EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System). Purpose: The aim is to implement EtherCAT as a real-time high speed control system solution for the EPICS based control system. Methods: The communication between EPICS IOC (Input/Output Controller) and EtherCAT devices was realized by using the OPC (Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control) Gateway driver. A real-time temperature monitoring appliance was taken as testing example. Results: The test results show that the communication between EPICS IOC and EtherCAT devices using the OPC Gateway driver is efficiently implemented. Conclusion: EtherCAT devices can be applied to communicate with the EPICS IOC to achieve real-time high-speed control by using the OPC Gateway driver. Abstract