Power system investigation
Traced the power paths through the chassis with a meter rather than trusting the diagram. The objective was a simple one: know exactly what is energised, from where, and what happens to each rail when the pack is disconnected. Several assumptions carried over from the planning stage turned out to be wrong, including where the regulated rail originates and which subsystems stay live when the main switch is off.
What we learned
- Measuring the rails took an afternoon and invalidated a fortnight of assumptions.
- Knowing what stays live with the switch off is a safety fact, not a documentation detail.
- Every power question we could not answer from the vendor documentation became a bench measurement, and the bench measurements are now the reference.
Next steps
- Document the measured power tree as the authoritative version for the platform.
- Identify the remaining integrated circuitry on the driver board before finalising the pack choice.
Hardware referenced
- WAVE ROVER 4WDWaveshare4WD skid-steer base, integrated ESP32 driver board
- Waveshare onboard power systemWaveshareIntegrated 3S charging, regulated 5 V rail, INA219 monitoring
Open challenges touched
Charging verification
The onboard charger appears to bring the 3S pack up correctly, but termination voltage, termination behaviour, and cell balance at the top of charge have not been confirmed with an external meter. Until they are, charging stays supervised and the platform does not sit on the charger unattended.
Images
Rails and switching, annotated from bench measurements.