Table of contents
- Introduction/ Motivation
- Block-diagram
- Main board
- Structural Layout
- Tools
- Outlook
1. Introduction/ Motivation
The challenge from the previous intakes was, that there was no detailed electrical documentation available.
• No information about implemented functions
• No information about pin assignment
• No information about used hardware
During our user roadmap, we defined different functions, which should be fulfilled by Pluto and which are directly influencing the electronical system of Pluto. The functions, which are influencing the electronical system are the following:
- Enough battery life time
- Implement different kind and types of sensors
- On board charging
- Fast connection of sensors and other electrical equipment
- Advanced safety
- Battery control systems
- Platform thinking
During defining the functions, we decided also that we should use an PCB-board in Pluto to reduce the amount of cabling inside Pluto. Why is that necessary?
Let’s take as an example a temperature sensor (MCP9808). A temperature sensor has the following pins:
- SCL
- SDA
- VIN
- GND
So normally you would need one cable per pin, which you need to connect with our controller. In our case, the Rasberry Pi pico 2040. At the moment we are planning to use >26 sensors in Pluto. That would result in a big number of cables laying in Pluto.
To avoid that, we decided to create our own board as measurement to reduce the number of cabling.
Our plan is to place connectors on the board. These have fixed connections (conductor tracks) over the board with the Rasberry Pi Pico. The sensor can then be placed on any position on Pluto.
The cables which go out of the sensor are then bundled in a plug, which fits to the connector on the board.
For the generation of a PCB board, we need as a basement an electric diagram. We planned to generate the electric diagram in KICAD (Version 7.0).
2. Block Diagram
The Blockdiagram shows all electrical connections. Center element is the Mainboard, which connects all signals of the individual parts, to ensure modularity, und future expansion without redesigning everything from scratch.
3. Mainboard
4. Structural Layout
