Monday, March 6, 2017

Week 5

It was decided to reduce the batteries from 6 cells to 4 cells in order to drop the voltage. This would allow the motors powering the bogie to be ran directly off the batteries without requiring a buck converter. Modifications were made to prototype a 4 cell battery from a 6 cell battery. This battery was tested to be capable of powering the Arduino, sensors, and motors. Before retrofitting more 4 cell batteries, I tested this prototype battery over the weekend to ensure charging components are compatible. The weather this weekend was terrible with random showers throughout both days. A brief window of direct sunlight allowed me to charge the battery to roughly 15 minutes.


Over the weekend, the connectors for the batteries and associated components arrived. Heat shrink wrap for additional battery modifications were purchased. I can begin making modifications to all the batteries and associated connections.

The manufacturing team created a prototype of the overlaying rib. This design of the rib will allow the rib to bolted down along with a clamp instead of needing to weld. The fitment of the rib was tested with the solar panel clamped onto the rib. The edge of the solar panel needs to rest on the rib without any overlap passed the bend of the rib.


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