Hello everyone,
We are KA-RaceIng, the Formula Student Team from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Each year, we design and build a new electric, autonomous race car to compete in international Formula Student competitions against teams from universities around the world.
For the 24/25 Season, Aisler gracefully provided us with numerous PCB manufacturings. In return, we offered to showcase some of these projects.
Brake System Plausibility Device
The rules of formula student mandate a so-called brake plausibility device. This is a critical safety device, which monitors both the High-Voltage Current coming out of the HV Battery, as well as the currently applied brake pressure. If there is both current coming out of the battery, as well as the brake being pressed at the same time, the device will open a shutdown circuit, which will in turn cause the High-Voltage Battery Management System to disconnect the high voltage from the rest of the vehicle. To power all components on the PCB, we use both a MPQ4569GN Switching Regulator from our sponsor MPS (Monolithic Power Systems) to power a 10V rail as well as a MPQ2029 Linear Regulator, also from MPS, to power a 5V rail. The main star of the show is a HO 60-P-0100 current sensor by LEM, which is the blue thing you can see on the pictures. This sensor induces a voltage depending on the current flowing through the HV cable that is threaded through the sensor. Together with some window comparators by TI, this PCB decides when to cause a HV battery disconnect when the brake signal and the current flow are in conflict with each other.
Thanks again to Aisler for gracefully providing us with the manufacturing budget! I hope this small post gave you an insight into our electronics. For more information visit our website or socials.