Push vs. Pull Motors

There are two possible configurations for the setup of the a single propellor in this project: puller and pusher. In a puller configuration the propellers will be facing the thrust line. In a pusher configuration the pusher configuration the propellers will be facing away from the thrust line. To test which one is better we will run the AEV with each propellor configuration five times. We will run the AEV at the same amount of power for the same amount of time, but in one direction for the first set of trials and in the opposite direction for the second set. We will compare the distance that the AEV travelled for each configuration.

Results

(distance in inches)

Takeaways

With the propellers oriented in the pull method, the AEV travelled much farther in the same amount of time.  However, for our final AEV design, we will keep the propellers oriented in the push method for traveling forward.  If the orientation was reversed, the propellers would be in push orientation when carrying the load, and the AEV would have great difficulty moving the load in push orientation.