Product Description:

The EL1502 is a pulse counter I/O terminal produced by Beckhoff as part of the EL EtherCAT Terminals series. This module is mounted in a standard terminal row and connects directly to the EtherCAT fieldbus, allowing compact integration of position or flow meter feedback in industrial automation cells. It captures incoming pulse trains, time-stamps them through the EtherCAT distributed-clock mechanism, and supplies deterministic count values to motion controllers and PLCs. This arrangement keeps the counter close to neighboring I/O and avoids the need for a separate interface module in compact cabinets.

At the core of the terminal is a 32-bit counter that holds large accumulation values before rollover. This range reduces the need for frequent resets during long measurement intervals or cumulative counting tasks. Incoming pulses can be evaluated up to 100 kHz, so high-speed encoders or flow sensors are accommodated without loss of events. Only signals on the rising edge are accepted, which simplifies input handling when the signal type is a binary pulse. The connected sensor draws just 5 mA from the field wiring, while the internal electronics consume 130 mA from the E-bus, leaving headroom on typical EtherCAT power budgets. Synchronous acquisition is aligned with the EtherCAT SYNC0 trigger, and the terminal therefore supports distributed clocks for accurate time correlation. With an IP20 protection class, the device is intended for cabinet installation rather than exposed machine areas.

Digital switching channels are provided, and each can source up to 0.5 A from a shared 24 VDC supply for direct actuation of indicator lamps or small solenoids after a count event is reached. Application flexibility is increased by 4 selectable operating modes that support simple event tallying, difference counts, or gated measurements. The terminal also exposes 2 outputs for feedback to external devices, and non-volatile CoE storage allows parameter selections to survive power cycles.