Power Distribution Module for a Formula SAE Combustion Race Car

TLDR: In this paper, a power distribution board (PDB) was designed to achieve the primary goal of supplying power to various systems of the race car keeping in mind the overall design concept-reliability, performance and efficient packaging.

Abstract: The power distribution board (PDB) was designed to achieve the primary goal of supplying power to various systems of the race car keeping in mind the overall design concept-reliability, performance and efficient packaging. Our power distribution system was subdivided into four parts—switching regulator, buck, overvoltage protection circuit and overcurrent protection circuit. The buck circuitry had been designed to provide filtered 5 V supply to various sensors and microcontrollers employed in the car. Subsequently, the overvoltage protection circuitry was designed to protect the buck from getting damaged due to failure of other subsystems, and the overcurrent protection circuitry was designed to protect the subsystems from getting damaged due to spikes caused by short circuits or failures of various components employed in the car. The switching regulator had been employed in the race car to control the actuation of engine-related components. All these circuitries were integrated into a single power distribution board (PDB) to manage the overall power distribution within the car, following which, thermal analysis techniques were employed to examine the PDB. Various heat dissipation techniques like the employment of thermal vias were used to minimize the effect of heat within the PDB. The systems deployed greatly increased the efficiency and reliability of the power distribution module of the car. This effort was motivated by the requirement of Pravega Racing, VIT University's official Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Combustion team to deploy a reliable and efficient PDB for distribution of low voltage (LV) power throughout various components of the car.