Lab 07 was originally supposed to be an oral presentation but instead a test on friction pertaining to the AEV was performed. The first thing that was completed was a run on the straight track to see how far the AEV traveled with the code provided to the team. Next the team tested to make sure the wheel counter sensors were working correctly by using the MATLAB program ‘aevDataRecorder.m”. MATLAB was used to calculate how many marks it actually went versus the measured amount of marks it went. Using all of this data, the propeller, friction, and net force were calculated.
The team learned how the AEV was being weighed down thus creating more friction force that ultimately was slowing down the AEV and using more energy. This data made it possible for the team to better the AEV design for the final testing.
In future investigations two AEV prototype designs will be tested to see which one will minimize the total energy used and ultimately be chosen to be the final AEV design.
Graphs from Lab 07
