Debugging Boost Activation Switch

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Vincent Cayadi

Preface

My juniors informed me that the solenoid is non-functional and experiencing critical issues, such as arcing between the capacitors and the boost. This situation is concerning for both the safety of my juniors and the robot itself, as arcing, especially at 63V @ 2000µF, is highly undesirable.

Debugging

First, I checked the voltages of the robot itself. Unsurprisingly, I realized that the potential difference between the two solenoid outputs was 48V instead of 0V when the solenoid was not activated. This suggests that the MOSFET is always active. Later on, I examined the schematics of the printed circuit board and noticed that a resistor was missing between the 12V power source and the drain of the larger MOSFET, which is the reason it did not work.

Conclusion

The circuit was not assembled properly, causing the solenoid to be always active. As for the arcing issues, it appears that my juniors were not careful enough when debugging the board.