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ASIX Electronics Corporation

Product Design Article

Easy-to-Use EtherCAT Slave Reference Design Kits

ASIX provides various AX58400 EtherCAT slave reference design kits, such as motor control, digital

I/O control, and EtherCAT to IO-Link gateway module, to help customers expedite early evaluation

and product design timelines. These reference design kits come with comprehensive technical

documents and sample source codes, including datasheets, reference schematics, PCB layouts, design

guides, and software/firmware source codes.

Figure-4. AX58400 EtherCAT Slave Reference Design Kits

EtherCAT Products Design Process Overview

The AX58400 EtherCAT slave controller integrates the STM32H755 microcontroller, and its motor

control reference design kit combines the STMicroelectronics X-NUCLEO-IHM08M1 BLDC motor

driver expansion board and the STM32 Motor Control Software Development Kit (MCSDK) for

developing motor control applications. Therefore, designers can follow the software and hardware

design processes below, utilizing the AX58400 EtherCAT slave motor control reference design kit,

along with STM32 development tools (STM32 MC Workbench, STM32CubeMX, STM32CubeIDE,

and STM32CubeProgrammer) to rapidly complete the development of AX58400 EtherCAT slave

motor control products.

ASIX also provides a complete AX58400 EtherCAT slave digital I/O control development kit.

Designers can follow these software and hardware design processes to rapidly complete the

development of AX58400 EtherCAT slave I/O control products. Additionally, ASIX offers an

AX58400 EtherCAT to IO-Link Gateway Module solution, which integrates ASIX's proprietary IO-

Link master software stack, and can provide technical services based on customer needs.

 Hardware Design Process Overview

The AX58400 EtherCAT slave motor control reference design kit includes reference schematics, PCB

layout, and hardware design guidelines. Designers can utility these technical resources to quickly

finalize the hardware design of AX58400 motor control products. Additionally, the ASIX technical

support team offers free schematic and PCB layout review services to assist customers in smoothly

completing the development of AX58400 EtherCAT products. The following outlines the hardware

design process for AX58400 EtherCAT slave motor control products:

a. Complete the schematic design of your AX58400 device based on the reference schematics and

hardware design guidelines.

b. Create the PCB layout for your AX58400 board by referring to the PCB layout files and hardware

design guidelines of the AX58400 evaluation board.

c. If needed, submit your AX58400 schematics and PCB layout files to ASIX technical support for a

free review.

d. After fabricating the PCB of your new AX58400 device, prepare to verify its hardware functionality.