A Big Night of Testing Electronics

Tonight was a significant event! We got a chance to do a some testing of the wiring, control box, and the motor controller circuits. Simon brought in his laptop with a debugger, and took current readings as he powered the drive motors for a fraction of a second. (Well, it only sounded like a small "click".)

Geoff finished wiring up the backup system, with a two-pedal arrangement which can drive one wheel or all three together. Simple, but it works! We got to hear the drive motors roar!

Some words of wisdom from Kevin about lessons learned tonight...

1. Fuses are good! We discovered this burning through several 10amp fuses until we realized that the diodes on the contacters were causing a short. The diodes are in the right direction for the main control, and the wrong direction for backup mode.


2. Disconnecting the power completely before messing with wires is highly recommended. We burnt through a thin wire that accidentally shorted with a loud ZZZZAAAPPPPPP which scared the hell out of us.


3. 24V will probably be too fast. But we can re-wire it for 12V very easily.


4. Chains are loud. Sorry. I shoulda used belts or gears.