Before the first performance test, the team decided to experiment with the wheels. The team took out three ball bearings from each wheel and that decreased the friction in the wheels, which allowed the AEV to travel faster and farther than before under the safe power. Support for this claim can be found in the AEV Designs section in the video called “Wheel Comparison.”
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For the first performance test, the AEV had to be programmed to travel up to the first gate, wait seven seconds for the gate open, and then pass through the gate. The first performance test was completed in less than one class period, so the team decided to experiment with the propulsion of the AEV. The team decided to keep using only one motor, but added another propeller to it. This means that the AEV has one motor with two propellers attached to it. The graph below shows that this two propeller per motor setup (orange line) provides more power than a one propeller per motor setup (blue), while using less energy. The code was optimized to cover the same difference. In short, it is not the same code.
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The code that was used to complete the first performance test can be found here.
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