An evaluation of the CAN bus for use on the Europa Lander motor controller

This paper will present the application of the Controller Area Network (CAN) for communication between the Motor Control Processor and the Europa Lander Motor Control Cards. The Europa Lander preproject team is concerned about lowering the estimated mass, volume, and power of the mission concept so that it could maximize its science return. The motor controller uses multiple Motor Control Cards to control the 24 motors that will be operating in the extremes of the Europa environment. The CAN bus was considered because of its multi-drop nature, low power interface, and simple communication protocol.