TheElectricDream
commented
1 month ago Solution 1: the ground wire for the magnet was not plugged all the way into the connector block above the 12V regulator. By plugging in all the way, this allowed for the magnet to work at full strength.
Solution 2: upon completion of Solution 1, it was found that the magnet was always ON, despite the input to the gate of the MOSFET. I suspected that the MOSFET fried closed. I switched out the MOSFET and tested for different inputs to the gate (e.g., GND, 3.3V, and switching on GPIO482). Now seems to have nominal performance.
Similar to the thrusters, the current available from the pins on the Xavier is too low and thus turning the magnet off using the GPIO pins is not working as expected. We will need to pick a new resistor that will ensure the electromagnet can turn on.