Team F did an Energy Analysis experiment with the purpose of testing the accuracy of the distance measured by the reflectance sensors and to calculate the force generated by the propellers and friction between the vehicles wheels and track.
First, the team tested how reliable the reflectance sensors were. A simple code was ran where the vehicle would travel forward and then coast to a stop. The distance traversed was measured by hand and compared with the distance measured by the sensors. The sensors were only off by 1.1 marks. This means the sensors are very reliable in measuring distance traveled.
The next step of the experiment was to use the data gathered to calculate the propeller and friction force on the vehicle. Using starting and stopping positions as well as time and average velocity, the following forces were calculated.
The above graph shows the relationship of the speed of the vehicle over time. The maximum speed was reached after 4 seconds because that was when the motors turned off. The vehicle gradually lost speed from times 4 to 13 because of friction between the wheels and the track.
This graph shows the relationship between distance traveled and time. The time when the slope of the line was the greatest was at 4 seconds because that was when the highest speed was achieved.