The first AEV lab performed had each member of the team create their own designs simply based on what each member had thought to be the best approach without having any prior testing or knowledge. Eventually, one design out of the five was picked to be the main design up until this point. This AEV was then analyzed in subsequent labs in order to find the most viable propeller orientation and Arduino commands. In this specific series of labs, one new design (Test AEV 1) was picked, built, and tested on the track against the previous main design (Test AEV 2). Using the techniques developed in Labs 5 and 6 (System Analysis 1 and 2 respectively) and Lab 07 (Design Analysis Tool), both vehicle designs were run on the track with the EEPROM on the Arduino recording data such as power input and distance over the course of the run. The data was then organized and compared using the included MATLAB analysis tool in order to determine which vehicle performed most efficiently.
Here are two videos of the team’s test runs of our two AEV designs. AEV 1 was our original, less efficient design.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IucGJh3KKrk
AEV 2 was our redesigned vehicle for the first series of Performance Test labs that we ended up using.