This Application Guide

Scope and Architecture

Both Everest and Capitan are highly integrated universal servo drives. This means that a lot of features are available, although only a set of them might be required in a specific application. This set of features can be activated by populating an interface board with simple components, like transceivers, voltage dividers, or filters. However, due to its miniature scale and power density, setting the required electronics might require specific design practices. This guide is intended to provide advice on these practices, from thermal dissipation to PCB layout.

Whenever designing an interface board for holding either Everest NET or Capitan NET is out of the scope, please consider Everest XCR or Capitan XCR as a ready-to-go alternative.

Naming and Reference

This same guide applies to 4 different products. Although most of its content is valid for any of them, some comments and recommendations are product-specific. To avoid misunderstanding, the following naming is to be used:

Further distinctions between variants among a specific product will use the respective product codes, like EVE-NET-E or CAP-NET-C.

Parts of an EVE/CAP integration solution

EVE/CAP servo drive: includes the Power Stage, the Motion Controller, and the Communications Controller. 

Interface board: should include the adapter electronics and connectors required to allow interconnection between the drive, the motor, the specific feedback or sensors in use, and the Master.

Heatsink: when delivering output power, the drive generates small amounts of heat. In low-power applications, the metal case of the drive might be enough to dissipate this heat, but applications driving higher power or running at high ambient temperatures would require to thermally attach the drive to a heatsink.

Single-Axis or Multi-Axis approach

The simplest way to integrate Everest or Capitan servo drives is to develop an interface board to hold 1 drive module. This way, 1 Master device can command the EVE/CAP as a slave, so that it can drive the motor accordingly. The Master can even be part of the interface board or be externally wired to it.

Alternatively, multiple drives can be controlled from a single master device along with several communication protocols and topologies. While the classic approach would be to provide individual interface boards for each drive and interconnect them by wiring a Fieldbus along with each node, the compact size and low power dissipation of the EVE/CAP now allows having a decent number of axis controllers in a single interface board, tracing the communications physical layer among the PCB for maximum performance and minimum wiring complexity.