In order to future proof the RC car I opted for an buck/boost converter in the event that the battery topology might change. At the moment we are using 4xAAA battery's with a nominal voltage of 6V, If we later want to use a 1C or 2C lipo the circuit can handle it. Furthermore, by using a converter we can assure that the power supply for all the actuators will be keeps constant independent of the charge level of the battery.

TI TPS63070

Open

https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tps63070.pdf?HQS=dis-dk-null-digikeymode-dsf-pf-null-wwe&ts=1636452449499&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.digikey.ch%2F

evm board: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15208

Pros and cons:

Simple to use, cheap, small inductor, just tie the EN to Vcc and off you go. Only issue that we cant source the IC….

Analog Devices LTC3112IFE

Open

Pros and cons:

To get the best performance we need to use the PWM/SYNC pin (only necessary at small loads) , not cheap, big inductor,we have a current output pin so we can measure the current which is cool.

https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/user-guides/dc1598a.pdf

evm: https://www.digikey.ch/products/en/development-boards-kits-programmers/evaluation-boards-dc-dc-ac-dc-off-line-smps/792?k=LTC3112

https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/data-sheets/3112fd.pdf