Figure 1: AEV Design D on track going through brake testing
The purpose of this experiment was to compare the energy efficiency of two braking methods; coasting the vehicle and power braking.
Conducted similarly to the Servo experiment, The vehicle runs for a set amount of time at a set power, then the braking method is applied afterwards. For coasting, after the AEV is done running the AEV coasts until friction allows it to come to a complete stop.
Power braking, on the other hand, runs the AEV initially the same way as coasting. However, rather than allowing the AEV to coast to a complete stop, the motors run in the reverse direction for the same amount of time, which acts as the method of applied braking and therefore allows it to come to a complete stop.
After numerous trials of both experiments, it was concluded that both were concise with distance traveled before stopping. However, not only did power braking used double the amount of energy that coasting did, it also showed a safety concern of coming to a stop too suddenly.
Power Braking Data:
Figure 2: Power Braking Graph
Energy Consumption:
Trial 1: 28.959 J
Trial 2: 28.860 J
Trial 3: 28.861 J
Average: 28.893 J
Average Braking Distance: 0.52 Meters
Coasting Data:
Figure 3: Coasting Graph
Energy Consumption:
Trial 1: 14.523 J
Trial 2: 14.367 J
Trial 3: 14.361 J
Average: 14.417 J
Average Braking Distance: 1.8969 Meters