Electrical Research

After looking for evasive wiring diagrams and electrical schematics for the speed controller and other go-kart electronics we’d previously purchased, working with veteran members Josaphat and Wilson, our new teammates Stephen and Jacob successfully powered on our motor for the first time this fall!

Photo of MACH members powering on our motor for the first time.

Beyond attempting to consolidate information on our electric motor and all of our other electronics, this fall we started looking into designing our own regenerative braking system. One idea I’ve helped explore is using a potentiometer in series with the go-kart’s batteries. We think this could achieve continuously variable resistance against the motor-turned-generator, and therefore, continuously variable braking power, mimicking a car’s pressure brake pedal. It’s a step up from a crazy idea I had for toggling the motor to be connected between series, series-parallel, and parallel wiring arrangements (to logarithmically adjust braking resistance), in which the latter setup doesn’t actually work even in Falstad. Our research into regenerative braking is on hold for now, but stay tuned to see where we take our ideas!