Aloha all!
I am considering getting an arduino to build blinkers, brake lights & a headlight for my girl friends electric tricycle coffee cart. I have never played with an arduino before so I'm asking to see if you think its an appropriate application. I have some programming experience from college, but that was years ago.
Currently her tricycle has a 36v battery, but I want to step it down to 6v or 12v for a water pump that needs to be on there too. What can an arduino handle voltage and wattage wise?
Id need to find a turn signal switch to activate the blinkers, but there is already a switch on one of the brake levers for the regenerative braking that Im sure I can tap into to activate the brake lights.
What do you folks think? Is this project worth doing with an arduino, or do I stick with relays and such traditional style?
Hi,
Welcome to the forum.
The application can be done by the arduino, a UNO would be ideal, you need to be able to supply 5V regulated or 9-12V to power the UNO.
Any devices that you want to control will need driving devices to allow the low power output of the arduino to control the higher power devices, eg, lamps, bells, buzzers and the like.
What is your electronics, programming, arduino, hardware experience?
Tom.... 
Thanks for the reply!
I studied Mechanical Engineering in school, and we took a C++ coding class and a intro to Electrical engineering course where we built a basic circuit board and designed some simple RLC circuits. I graduated 6 years ago, and that knowledge is all but forgotten now. Since college I have soldered some things here and there and worked on some automotive electronics, but nothing much. I work as a designer for a Solar PV installation company, so I'm always thinking about electricity but in a different scale.
So I was looking at this as a chance for a refresher course!
Anyways a bit more info on the project. Basically its an electric tricycle that my girlfriend can drive around town delivering & selling coffee & breakfast foods. Right now it has a small electric motor in the rear hub & 36v battery. I'm going to put a solar panel on the roof to keep the battery charged up while shes out & about. The electronic items its going to need are a water pump for a faucet, the brake lights, turn signals & headlights. And possibly some other lighting for advertising & attention grabbing.
Im thinking of getting a 36v to 12v converter to power everything other than the electric motor. Would an Isolated dc converter be worth? I dont know how sensitive these electronics are.
Thanks again!