M12 connectors are circular connectors with a 12-mm locking thread designed primarily for factory automation applications, including sensors, actuators, industrial Ethernet, and Fieldbus. The IEC 61076-2-101 standard was released in 2003 for initial M12 connectors and has undergone several revisions since then, with the latest push-pull M12 standard (IEC 61076-2-010;2021) published in 2021. M12 connectors are available in different pin counts ranging from 3 to 12 pins and are designed for harsh environments with washdown and corrosive conditions. Some variants of M12 connectors have ratings of IP65, IP68, and IP69K for protection against water and dust ingress. Additionally, M12 connectors can have different coding types, such as D-coding, which is used in network cables for industrial Ethernet applications to transfer data up to 100-Mbits.