This years pod, Mujinga, contains three different Eurocircuits PCBs

First of all, we designed a circuit needed for our network communication. It processed the input data of the microcontroller and directed it further to the wireless radio.

Next we had Eurocircuits produce a PCB for our brakes. We had two independent braking systems, including two solenoid valves each. To be able to brake properly, we designed a switching circuit based on a logical input for each valve and printed it on a board in a compact format, which was able to withstand the peak currents of the valves and also very robust. Our hydraulic braking system was able to decelerate our pod with more than 5g.

For reaching high speeds, we needed a high power energy source, which in our case was a self made 10 kWh battery consisting of a 180S3P configuration of LiCoO2 chemistry cells. This pack was able to deliver us a peak power of 500 kW.

To ensure a safe operation we use a BMS measuring all the cell voltages and temperatures. To route the voltage and temperature sensing lines to the slave modules of our Battery Management System, we used custom PCBs produced and partly assembled by Eurocircuits, which were screwed onto the busbar connections between to cells.

Since the cells could not operate inside a low pressure environment, we had to build a pressurized containing the packs and the monitoring electronics. To be able to nicely route the data lines from the BMS to our microcontroller, we made a PCB which got mounted on the feedthrough of the enclosure.