It’s so funny how every time I think something is going to be so simple but its not. After getting deeper into the sheer number of parts that needs electricity, I stopped to do some rough layout work to find out which way I need to go.
Making a drawing that can be easily edited is the only way to go. I use Adobe Illustrator to rough out the schematic. Something just to look at and think about how this is going to work. Easy to make changes on the drawing, not so much with real wires after they are all ready installed.
Laying out what I know.
I wanted K-9 to be able to shut himself off. I will use a relay to brake the main power lines and use a momentary switch to energize it to start him.
There will be two 12 volt dc batteries, one for the drive motors and the other for all of the system and computers. They tie together to make 24 volts dc for the requirements of the thermo printer.
The Arduino needs 9v, Jetson Nano needs 5v, Display monitor needs 12v. It all needs to be regulated, clean stable power. Batteries will have voltage drops as they drain. The useful time with K-9 I was hoping for is three hours but with the age and hard use of the cells I don’t know if they can do that or not. You can find out and add up all of the power requirements for every drain the system will have on it. Then you know the size of fuse or regulator you need.
Protecting from failure makes for a robust system.
If I use a simple voltage divider I can monitor the batteries voltage. So he can tell me when he needs a recharge. You don’t worry so much when you’re plugged into the wall. In the final charging setup it will be connected to solar panels and K-9 will not cost electricity to operate.
It is said that wall warts that plug into every electronic device we have, wastes so much just keeping them in stand by mode.
You don’t think about it until you’re the one generating it.
Piece by piece, wire by wire I will get it after setting down a doing some planning.
Dream it… Print it.
Disclaimer – I am not associated with BBC or Dr Who in any way. This work is for hobby purposes and fan related enjoyment.
Thanks stopping by .
Seahorse 3D Printing 