Open source
Ambimat Electronics designed the AE170 power distribution unit for autonomous racing systems and released the design so the RoboRacer and F1TENTH community can build on it. The complete package — schematic, Gerber, DXF and bill of materials — and the user manual are below, with an explanation of what each file is for.
Watch
A walkthrough of the 1:10-scale vehicle being put together, from the bare chassis to the mounted compute, LiDAR and power hardware.
The build sequence for the vehicle: fitting the battery and electronics to the Traxxas chassis, mounting the equipment deck, and routing the LiDAR, motor-controller and power connections.
Watch Video — F1Tenth Assembling on YouTube, opens in a new tab
Context
A 1:10-scale autonomous vehicle runs three different supply voltages off one battery, while a brushless motor on the same pack draws current in violent steps. The power distribution unit is what keeps the compute alive through that.
RoboRacer PDU Wiring & Connection Guide (PDF)
— opens in a new tab
Detailed wiring, power distribution, and PDU connection reference for the RoboRacer build.
The board takes input either from the 3S lithium-polymer traction pack (connector J9) or from a wall adapter through a DC jack (J10), selected by switch SW1, with SW2 as the master power switch. From that single input it produces three regulated rails across seven output connectors:
Those currents are totals across all outputs on a rail taken together, not per connector. The specifications page summarises the same figures alongside the rest of the vehicle, and the user manual below documents each switch scenario in full.
Files
Two downloads: the design package for anyone manufacturing, modifying or designing against the board, and the manual for anyone operating one.
The complete open-source design package for the AE170 power distribution unit V02.04 — schematic and assembly drawing, mechanical drawing, Gerber manufacturing set, DXF outline and the bill of materials. This is what a fabrication house and an electronics engineer need; the file-by-file breakdown is below.
Operating guidance for the assembled board: what SW1 and SW2 do, which connector is which, the maximum current on each rail, and the switch scenarios for battery versus wall-adapter operation. Read this before connecting anything to the board that did not ship with the kit.
Package contents
Five documents, each answering a different question. Most people need one or two of them, not all five.
| File | What it is | Who needs it |
|---|---|---|
| AE170_PDU_02.04.pdf | The main board document — schematic and assembly detail for revision 02.04. The authoritative answer to "what is actually on this board and how is it wired". | Anyone adding loads, debugging a rail, or reviewing the design before modifying it. |
| GERBER_AE170_PDU_02.04.zip | The Gerber manufacturing set — copper, solder mask, silkscreen and drill data. This is the format every PCB fabricator accepts. | Anyone having bare boards manufactured, in any quantity. |
| BOM_AE170_PDU_02.04.xlsx | The bill of materials — every component, its reference designator and its specification, as a spreadsheet. | Anyone quoting, sourcing or substituting parts, and anyone sending the board out for assembly. |
| MECH_AE170_PDU_02.04.pdf | Mechanical drawing — board outline, mounting-hole positions and connector placement. | Anyone designing a base plate, a mount or an enclosure around the board. |
| DXF_AE170_PDU_02.04.DXF | The same mechanical outline as a CAD vector file, importable into essentially any mechanical CAD or laser-cutting toolchain. | Anyone cutting a custom MDF or acrylic deck, or modelling the vehicle assembly in CAD. |
roboracer-board containing
ROBORACER Power Board Files. If your extraction tool also shows a __MACOSX folder,
ignore it — it is macOS archive metadata, not part of the design.
Practical
Send GERBER_AE170_PDU_02.04.zip to your PCB fabricator as-is — it is a standard Gerber set
and needs no conversion. Pair it with the BOM spreadsheet if you are also having the board assembled,
and check component availability against the BOM before committing, since passives and regulators go in
and out of stock.
Import the DXF into your mechanical CAD or laser-cutter software to place mounting holes and check clearances, and use the mechanical PDF to confirm connector orientation before you cut anything. This is the route to a custom equipment deck that still fits the standard board.
Before hanging a depth camera, an external IMU or a custom board off a spare output, read the manual for the rail totals and check your added load against them. The schematic PDF shows where the headroom genuinely is, which is more reliable than measuring an idle vehicle with a multimeter.
The manual is the reference for SW1 source selection and SW2 power switching, including the case where SW2 is off and SW1's position stops mattering. The getting-started guide puts the same switches in the order you will actually touch them on the first day.
Beyond the board
Compute, LiDAR, VESC, rails, interfaces and delivered software versions for the complete RoboRacer Core Kit.
The community's ROS 2 packages and the f1tenth_gym simulator, published under the
f1tenth GitHub organisation.
The Slack workspace where teams, laboratories and organisers discuss builds, algorithms and events.
Manufacturing a handful of boards from the Gerbers is rarely economical. If you would rather buy the assembled and tested AE170 power distribution unit — or the complete RoboRacer Core Kit built around it — from Ambimat Electronics, use the Order Now option below.