schematics for Thuderborg and the lid

Where can we find link to the schematics for the Thunderborg and the lid?

On Thunderborg- if we connect v+ to 12v and connect the GND would M1+ and M1- show any voltage without connecting to i2c/Pi?

For a working Thunderborg- what is the current draw without drawing any current for the motors?

If you reverse in connecting V+/GND to the supply, what happens? Seems like some component (fuse?) gets burnt on the lid? Is the Thunderborg still working? Is it possible to connect supply to the Thunderborg directly, instead of connecting to the lid? How does RPi gets powered on the PiBorg?

piborg's picture

The schematics for ThunderBorg are not publicly available at the moment. If there is something specific you wanted to know from the schematics I might be able to help you though :)

No, if the ThunderBorg is not connected to to an I2C device all four connections (M1± and M2±) are connected to GND so they should read 0 V.

The current draw from the ThunderBorg itself is very small, it mostly depends on the two LEDs. With both LEDs off the draw is < 20 mA at 5 V. With both LEDs at full brightness showing white the worst case is about 425 mA @ 5 V. The current draw from the battery itself will be lower, you can approximate it by multiplying the current draw by 5 / Vbatt.

The ThunderBorg has NO REVERSE POLARITY PROTECTION! If you connect V+ and GND the wrong way you are likely to damage components on the ThunderBorg itself. The screw terminals for V+ and GND on the ThunderBorg still work with the Lid fitted, but the power switch on the Lid will not work wired this way. The Raspberry Pi is powered from the small DC/DC circuit in the middle of the ThunderBorg.

If you have connected the power backwards and you are seeing large current draws or strange voltages when connecting the power the board is almost certainly damaged and should not be used! This kind of behaviour suggests one or more of the following has been damaged: the motor drive chip(s), the control chip, or the DC/DC for powering the Raspberry Pi.

Subscribe to Comments for &quot;schematics for Thuderborg and the lid&quot;