Results Lab 07
The purpose of lab 7 was for the team to test the AEV to ensure that the reflectance sensors were reporting proper data, so they could continue testing their AEV in its new configuration with no errors. By completing lab 7, the team also had the opportunity to compare friction, propeller, and net forces along with distance and weight of the AEV against the rest of the class through data collected using the EEPROM. Gaining additional energy analysis data is very important to the creative process. Based on results, the team has been considering changing their design to a two motor pull system. Seeing the distance traveled by the AEV with the current push-pull combo setup compared to the other groups designs at the same power is also extremely useful for making that decision definitively. Energy analysis allows deeper insight into efficiency and is an integral part of the testing of any new product.
During the lab the team had to run the AEV on the track multiple times and in those trials the team observed that the AEV wasn’t very consistent in its distances. This will have to be accounted for in the final code as the team can’t expect it to travel the same distance every time. When analyzing the data from the AEV, it was observed that the final mark count was always 523 marks even though it reported different final distances. In an attempt to correct the wheel count sensors the team replaced the reflective tape on the wheels which had no effect. Prior to the lab the connector on the arduino broke off and to collect data and upload code the team held on the connector. The piece was replaced towards the end of the lab but the team had run out of time to retest. During Wednesday’s lab the team got a chance to retest and found that this is what had caused the problem in reporting the data.