Lab week 7 saw the team test the benefits and drawbacks of coasting vs. power braking. A pro of coasting is that not as much energy is consumed. The graphs only peaked at about 9.33 Watts for each run. A con of coasting was found to be that there was not as much control. The runs had a standard deviation of about 11.3 inches. On the other hand, power braking was shown to have much better control with a standard deviation of only 1.84 inches, but consumed much more energy with the graph peaking at almost 15 Watts for one run. All relevant graphs and data are shown below. Going forward, the team will use power braking only when necessary. This is because power braking consumes a lot of energy. Power input once neared 15 Watts. It will still be implemented though because it ensures that the AEV will come to a controlled predictable stop. The AEV distance travel distance varied by only 1.84 inches with power braking compared to the 11.3 inches for coasting.
These are the coasting run power vs. time graphs. The power is shown to spike almost immediately after the code is ran this is probably due to the motors starting.
These are the power vs. time graphs from the power braking runs. It can be seen how the power dramatically spikes in the middle of the run due to the motors reversing direction.
Below is the data from the coasting runs
Below is the data from the power braking runs.