The first performance test was directed towards the design of the AEV. There were two objectives: to complete the assigned task on the track and to compare two designs created by the team with the completed task. The assigned task was to begin the AEV from a rest and then travel up a slope and come to a stop before a gate and trigger the sensors to open the gate. The two designs compared were the Mark II and the Mark III. The Mark III was a new AEV design that was developed using the findings from the Advanced Research and Development phase. These designs were compared after completing a run using the Design Analysis Tool.
The testing run for performance test 1 was successful. Both the Mark II and the Mark III were able to travel up the slope and stop before the gate to trigger it. After each design ran the track, the results of the runs were analyzed using the Design Analysis Tool. The energy consumption for the Mark II was about 68.9 Joules. The Mark III had a total energy consumption of approximately 62.4 Joules. From these results, the Mark III proved to be the most energy efficient design of the two. The Mark II took about 22.3 seconds, while the Mark III took about 21.8 seconds to complete performance test 1. Mark III took about 0.5 seconds less to complete the run.