The final performance test for the team’s AEV was to travel by the track to pick up a cargo train and return by navigating a timed gate on both journeys while being as efficient as possible. The team successfully completed all of the missions, made major improvement on the vehicle’s braking efficiency and accuracy, and designed a easy-to-use AEV.
In the Final Performance Test, the implementation of the “while” loop was successful since the AEV’s movement were more accurate than the previous tests without the loop. The while loop also helped the AEV attach to the caboose with less than 1 cm of error. However, the “while” loop caused an error with the AEV analysis tool which caused the tool to assume that the motors were running during the while loop. This error led the team to have the energy of 361.608 joules which was the highest number out of all the groups. The group informed the instructors about the issue and calculated the true energy cost to be 236.572 joules by subtracting the energy consumed during the while loop. Although the while loops improved AEV’s accuracy and safety, it led to the energy calculation error which increased the energy consumption by 125.036 joules. However, since the group solved the problem, it was still beneficial to use the “while” loops in the Arduino code.
Figure 1. Final Team Design