Objective:

• Design a custom PCB to protect and regulate a 14.8V LiPo battery for use with an autonomous RC car

Features:

• 12V undervoltage and 10A overcurrent protection
• 8.4V, 7.4V, and 5V regulated outputs

Main Components:

• LT6109 High Side Current Sense Amplifier
• RT8288AZSP Synchronous Step-Down Converter

Skills:

• Reading and understanding datasheets
• Schematic capture and PCB layout in Altium Designer
• Board bring-up
• Hardware debugging

Achievement Unlocked:

• A mechanical engineer doing electrical engineering

Acknowledgements:

This project was completed under MistyWest with the guidance of Dave MacLeod, Div Gill, and Ryan Walker.

Completed PCB in all its glory, like a newly erected city skyline.

Schematic capture of the designed circuit.

PCB layout of top overlay (right) and bottom overlay (left).

3D render of PCB in Altium Designer.

Boards ordered and received from OSH Park.

Stencil cut out and prepped for applying the solder paste.

Solder paste applied and components placed.

PCB cooking in the reflow oven.

After much debugging, the board finally works! Red LED indicates protection circuit is active; Green LED indicates each regulated output is active. Multimeter shown is connected to the 8.4V output.