Unit 5: Electrical Power and Actuation

Two paths run through most robots

A robot often has an energy path and an information path crossing the same components.

battery → protection → driver → motor
                     ↑
controller → command ┘

Confusing those paths makes electrical troubleshooting miserable.

Follow the Power traces energy from source to load. DC Motors and Motor Drivers explains why the controller does not directly power the actuator. Electrical Failure Without Guessing turns symptoms into boundary measurements and fault hypotheses.

Watch what happens under load

Voltage, current, power, resistance, driver limits, stall behavior, and protection become meaningful when the robot asks for real torque. A battery reading with no load is not the whole story.

Build a power-and-signal diagram plus a fault-isolation table. The table should connect one symptom to several plausible layers, then show what measurement separates them.

No energized improvisation

The core path can be completed from diagrams, recorded telemetry, simulation, or supplied cases. Powered electrical work requires the approved supervision and equipment boundary. Do not move wiring, defeat protection, or "just try" a higher-current configuration as a diagnostic shortcut.