Week 5
This week a lot of progress was made in preparation for part ordering. We discussed what method we would use to step down the battery for the control slice and the motor slice. This led to the idea of ordering a dedicated buck converter chip for each necessary voltage level. We met with the ATX power supply group to get a better understanding on how to design these systems with different voltage rails. They helped us decide what methods we should use to achieve our design and gave some inspiration in the block design. Following this week, there will be a meeting on Monday to order parts to begin assembly. Once the final parts are decided on, a circuit design can be finalized in preparation for CDR on Thursday. I was able to come up with this block diagram for the project.
Week 4
This week the battery slice subgroup of the Open Mobility project had a meeting to further discuss the battery design. The choice was in between buying individual battery cells or a pre made pack. We came to the conclusion that a premade pack would be worth the slight increase in price so we could focus our attention to another aspect of the board design. Following this, we will need to email both MBoards and DIYboards to see what comes with the BMS products. In addition, the battery slice will be focusing on designing rails necessary for communications function and motor function to better prepare for ordering parts.
WEEK 3
This week I researched 2 boards, looking specifically for the batteries used. I’m trying to look at what other successful boards use for batteries and motors so we can find effective components in our design. Following our meeting Monday we will have a completed performance envelope and done more research to prepare for the presentation Thursday.
