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Vehicle Platform Mission Specific Payload and Sensors Mission Strategy
Connection systems
All external connections from each water-tight compartment are provided using Impulse brand connectors. These connectors are rated to depth of 1,000 feet. Except for the main power lines (again for safety reason), all connectors are designed to be wet-pluggable.
All necessary splicing is recasted using liquid polyurethane using a custom-built mold.
Batteries
Power for this year’s vehicle is provided by three battery packs mounted in the lower hull. Each battery pack consists of seven Yardney 9Ah Li-Ion cells, for a 28V pack capable of supplying about 200Wh each (80% discharged). Two of these cells operate in parallel to supply the thrusters, and a single pack provides an isolated power to the upper hull. These battery packs represent approximately an 8x improvement over the lead-acid cells used in previous designs, offering twice the power at a quarter the weight. Monitoring circuitry is mounted for each cell, and is combined using a wired-or circuit on the top board to provide two lines that warn of a low or empty battery pack. This information is then relayed to one of the on-board computer as well as the rack mounted LCD panel.
The different chemistry used also necessitated the implementation of an affordable battery charging module. The charging module can simultaneously charge three battery packs, and takes in 110 V AC line.
Each terminal seen in the picture above can output a nominal 3A current (upgradeable to 6A current) into a battery load. Each battery cell tops at ~ 4.2V
The three battery packs –along with the motor control electronics- are mounted on the bottom hull of the vehicle. The battery interfaces with a blind mount connector inside the hull to provide external connections.
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