Battery and Buck Converter Board Test

There were several aspects of the battery perfboard that needed to be tested. It’s input is 12V from the battery. Using the buck converter, 8V is provided to the arduino. The direct 12V power from the battery is sent through a fuse and then to the motor controller. Finally, a voltage divider is used to drop the voltage to a 4V reading. This is used by the arduino to detect the battery charge. As the voltage of the battery drops with its state of charge, the arduino can detect a drop in the voltage reading at an analog pin.

Each part of the battery perfboard was verified with a voltmeter and a power supply. The next step was to test and use the battery. With a battery charger, the battery’s state of charge was increased to 90%. It was then plugged into the battery perfboard, and once again the various outputs were verified with a voltmeter.

Figure - Battery charging