The Baja SAE competition challenges engineering student teams to design, fabricate, and race off-road vehicles, with the electrical system playing a critical role in E-Baja vehicles.
This abstract outlines the design and implementation of the electrical system layout for the E-Baja vehicle. Using electrical CAD software, we designed the circuit for our vehicle, which incorporates primary and secondary batteries: a 12V low voltage (LV) battery for the low-voltage circuit and a 48V high voltage (HV) battery for the motor and controller. This separation is intended to reduce power consumption from the HV battery. To verify the starting conditions the PCB design was proposed with fatigue and finite element analysis to analyze the failure modes of the circuit board, we utilize an Arduino Nano microcontroller, which simplifies the verification process. Upon meeting the conditions, the microcontroller sends a signal to a two-channel relay connected to the TSAL (Tractive System Active Light) and a Solid-State Relay (SSR). The SSR then signals the controller to start the vehicle. The dashboard displays the battery percentages for both LV and HV batteries and monitors the battery's temperature. Additionally, various LED lights are used on the dashboard to indicate the vehicle's reverse mode, TSAL status, and starting condition.
This paper presents a comprehensive overview of our electrical system layout, emphasizing its design, functionality, and the integration of critical components to ensure optimal performance in the Baja SAE competition.
Keywords: Overall electrical system layout, Starting conditions, PCB design, FEA, Fatigue, Reducing the complexity of the layout, Wire harness.