Hoyt St. Dadbod

Designed a custom PCB battery system for the Cascade using KiCAD. This system reduced assembly labor of each battery pack by over 50% compared to previous methods, while producing a more consistent and reliable product.

This system uses custom nickel spot welding bus bars, integrated copper bus bars in the PCB, and high current bush terminals for the main pack connections. 

All balance wiring is incorporated directly in the PCB, and uses a simple wire-to-board connector, along with a custom designed and manufactured wiring harness to connect the BMS system.

In addition to the PCB system, I designed custom wiring harnesses which were manufactured in bulk to our specifications, offshoring that low-skill labor and saving time/money.

I was intimately involved in the electrical system implementation, including the Electronic Speed Controller (ESC), radio control module, BLE telemetry, and associated accessories. 

I collaborated directly with the manufacturer of various electronic components, including the ESC, to specify and validate that each component was suitable for our application. 

Under my direction, we uncovered various issues that occurred when our ESC manufacturer made unapproved changes to the design. We had to work overtime to identify and rectify the issues this caused. 

I designed a power distribution board which incorporated BMS protection, a charge protection fuse, dedicated connectors for various accessories, and a smart relay circuit to control power output. 

This power distribution board replaced dozens of manual soldering and wiring tasks with a single component that is manufactured in bulk, dramatically reducing assembly labor for each skateboard and saving space in the enclosure.