AEV Evolution 1
In lab week 3, the team initially chose to test an AEV that had the Arduino rested on the top, and two plastic “wings” on the edges with propellers attached. However, this design didn’t go as expected- and when placed on the track, the AEV swung out to it’s heavier side. The team brainstormed some potential changes, such as changing wheel orientation or making the object heavier on one side to balance the center of mass. After suggesting a few ideas, the team decided to orient the AEV in a vertical way, so the center of mass no longer becomes an issue. Although, with this design the team now has less flexibility in overall design of the AEV. The team now has three key ideas with AEV testing going into week 4: weight of AEV, aerodynamic maximization given the vertical orientation, and budget cost- as the AEV budget can be split in myriads of different ways to allocate on different features on the AEV.
AEV Evolution 2
The team has decided that the AEV is more efficient when the motors are placed wider apart and at the bottom of the plane (as shown in run 4 in the motor configuration lab. Hence future designs will be modeled around this design at this moment
AEV Evolution 3
After completing preliminary research, the team decided they wanted to test motor and propeller configuration more intensely to see which would create more consistent results. The team came up with the designs found above, and also noted that two orange propellers with a wide, but bottom-placed motors was the most efficient design.
From there, the team wanted to create a code that yielded consistent results with the chosen AEV design, determined after advanced research. The team choose to use multiple celebrate commands, in addition to goToAbsolutePosition as well as brake and reverse commands. These commands yielded very consistent results, and allowed the team to complete the first and second performance tests with 100% success.
The team initially chose to modify the AEV’s components, and then focused on modifying its code to try and create the most consistent and efficient AEV possible.
Design 1
This design utilized two motors placed side by side. This is the least efficient AEV design to date,
Design 2
This design utilized motors aligned about 3 inches above the AEV base, attached to a vertically oriented AEV base. This model came in third in efficiency.
Design 3
This design utilized two motors placed on the top ends of the plane. This model came in second in efficiency
Design 4: Final
This design utilized motors placed on the bottom ends of the plane. This is by far the most efficient model