About us
The Electrical Team is responsible for building the nervous system of the WAM-V. They face various challenges, including selecting and purchasing electrical components, designing and optimizing electrical systems within (and beyond) the WAM-V, and troubleshooting issues as they arise. The Electrical Team plays a crucial role in bridging the gap between digital signals and real-world responses.
Key Systems and Projects
System Power Supply
The distribution system we developed for this version of RobotX is one of our biggest achievements. We successfully centralized the entire power delivery system into a single Pelican case, which, through waterproof connectors, provides power to our sensors, actuators, communications, and computers. By implementing the distribution box, we created a safer and more modular system, allowing us the flexibility to add any sensors we need.
With this improvement, we reduced our setup time from 3 hours to 30 minutes.
Our team uses a Raspberry Pi 4b to control the most vital parts of the system, such as the tower light, motors, and other devices. To accommodate multiple accessories connected to the GPIO of our Raspberry Pi 4b, we decided to develop a HAT that makes our system easier and safer to manage, while also improving cable organization for a cleaner look.
Integration with the Software Team
Emergency Stop
The purpose of this design is to power the motors and manage the remote stop. The Li-ion battery powers our LoRa module and the first relay, which is deactivated when the remote stop sends a signal. Next, we have the second relay, which is controlled by the physical buttons. The last relay is managed by the software team to restart the motors. All the relays are connected in series to ensure a safe stop in case of emergencies. The final component energizes our motor controllers; since they receive 5V, we need to increase it to 5.7V to compensate for the voltage drop.
Electrical Team
