There aren't many pictures of the electrical system. It was built in a blitz of excitement and determination to finish by CPW. In the long run it doesn't seem like it has paid off. The on again, off again nature of Zoran is like something from a teenage romance novel. Something a bit more... mature, would be preferable.
Before A123 declared bankruptcy you could buy their batteries from buyA123batteries.com. Yup, sounds about right. Recently they put up a notice regarding the modules we are using:
This is kinda what we thought the problem was. Our original wiring had three batteries in series. Now we've upped it to four batteries, but have them in a series parallel arrangement for 24 volts and 80 amps. This gives faster acceleration, but lower top speed.
The XT-60 is a type of electrical connector. It will let us easily disconnect the batteries for charging and allowed for a neater routing of the wires.
So, it works again. There haven't been any issues with the fuses or batteries going out, but then again we haven't done much testing either. Time will tell, but I'm pretty sure the change is an improvement.
Yesterday we drove the kart over to Papallardo II and presented Zoran for the deFlorez competition. It was a great chance to think over and express our design choices; I wouldn't be disappointed if nothing else came of it. The back was pretty entertaining as well. I like people's reactions to something they've never seen before. As I passed a woman on the sidewalk she exclaimed "Ohh, look at that! You built that?" Yup. "Is that how fast it goes?" Nope, and I gave it some juice. "MIT kids for sure."
Until next time.
Before A123 declared bankruptcy you could buy their batteries from buyA123batteries.com. Yup, sounds about right. Recently they put up a notice regarding the modules we are using:
This is kinda what we thought the problem was. Our original wiring had three batteries in series. Now we've upped it to four batteries, but have them in a series parallel arrangement for 24 volts and 80 amps. This gives faster acceleration, but lower top speed.
The XT-60 is a type of electrical connector. It will let us easily disconnect the batteries for charging and allowed for a neater routing of the wires.
So, it works again. There haven't been any issues with the fuses or batteries going out, but then again we haven't done much testing either. Time will tell, but I'm pretty sure the change is an improvement.
Yesterday we drove the kart over to Papallardo II and presented Zoran for the deFlorez competition. It was a great chance to think over and express our design choices; I wouldn't be disappointed if nothing else came of it. The back was pretty entertaining as well. I like people's reactions to something they've never seen before. As I passed a woman on the sidewalk she exclaimed "Ohh, look at that! You built that?" Yup. "Is that how fast it goes?" Nope, and I gave it some juice. "MIT kids for sure."
Until next time.
