Overview: Electrical Systems

Summary

The Arduino DUE is the 'brain' of the bike that receives inputs and, based on those inputs, the DUE sends outputs to other electrical systems. The DUE is attached to the PCB and through the PCB the DUE communicates with a total of four other electrical systems: Front motor, rear motor, front encoder, and IMU. On the old bike, all electrical systems use the same external power supply (24V lithium battery pack).

Actuators

The front and rear motor are simple actuators, meaning that the front and rear motor does not communicate back to the DUE. On the old bike, the front motor and rear motor operate on a 24V power supply. On the new bike, the front motor is being reduced to a 12V DC motor to minimize stress on the front infrastructure (specifically the infrastructure that holds the front motor) caused by the excessive torque produced. The new rear motor will continue to operate on 24V power supply but requires approximately 10 A (specifically 250 W) for proper operation. Both motors have a motor controller. The front motor has a standard motor controller that safely amplifies the controlling signal (sent by the DUE) to operation voltage levels of the front motor and regulates that signal. The rear motor has a motor controller that not only amplifies the commands sent by the DUE as needed but includes a diversity of functionalities (e.g. brake, headlights, reverse, etc.). These functionalities are currently not being used.