Zoe's electronic unit.

I have been asked loads of time to explain how Zoe's electronics unit works and describe how I made it. I decided to take some details photos of it, hopefully helping those who wanted a few closeups. I had to take the unit out as I am about to fit a smoke generator and needed to add a new 12v and 24v feed to the unit.

The principle behind the electronics unit is that it can easily be removed for working on, so I am not trying to work on my hands and knees inside a cramped space. The unit is secured by two blots and all the feeds that go of into the body have multi block connectors.

The electronics unit is self contained, so in theory could be used in any build, it would just be a matter of connecting up the motors and batteries. 

It is build around two perspex plates connected together via blots. On the lower plate the ESC's, sound card, sound RF trigger relays, BEC and radio gear is mounted. On the top late the fuse box, RF Trigger, power switches and motor connection port. Even though the wiring looks complex it is very simple really with the positive and negative circuits kept away from each other. The sandwich between the two plates houses most of the wiring so there is not a really problem with having to cable tie everything. The wiring can be made to measure and fit perfectly. The motor connector is a standard Speakon connector, this allow the motors to easily be disconnected when moving the Droid powered down. The Switches are high rated 40Amp meaning relays are not needed. There are eight circuits running through the fuse box, seven of which deliver 12v and one which delivers 24v: 24v is delivered to the main drive ESC and  12v to the dome motor. 

Zoe has masses of LED's and other gadgets, ranging from smoke generators, to compressed gas extinguisher, to 130db siren and water pistol. All of these are powered from fused/switched, circuits through the main fuse box. 

The charging system is the same I use on all my builds. Each of my three 12v 22Amp batteries has a IEC connector on it. When the Droid is powered up the three batteries are connected into the main electronic unit. When the Droids is powered down for transport I remove the motor connector and all three batteries. For charging the IEC connector are plugged into the front facing IEC socket mounted in the body. A battery charger is then connected into the front port for charging. I have found that charging each battery separately has been the best solution for keeping the batteries running at there best. I can also keep the 12v feed (a single battery) connected when the Droid is static and then connect another battery to the charger or solar charger if I am outside.

That is it really. It is a much more elegant solution than used on Emy with the electronics permanently connected into the body of the Droid. One main reason I went with this solution on Zoe is that I new she was going to be designed with a cut away body so aesthetics were important as well.