Power Braking vs. Coasting

Coasting Trials

Start Position Stop Position -36(3 feet it went before starting to coast) Coasting Distance
326 213 -36 77
326 220 -36 70
326 226 -36 64
326 221 -36 69

Power Braking Trials

Start Position Stop Position -132(11 feet it went before power breaking) Power Breaking Distance
325 169 -132 24
325 168 -132 25
325 170 -132 23
325 167 -132 26

 

There are many pros and cons that go with coasting vs. power braking. The pros of the coasting is that it does not use a lot of power, but the cons are that it does not give as much control over the AEV as one would like and since it takes more time for the AEV to stop it could take a lot more time to complete the task. On the other hand, the pros of power braking is that there is a lot more precise control over the AEV and it can contain faster speeds before needing to brake. While it has some great pros it also has the con that it uses a lot of energy to do this.

 

The method that will be used moving forward is power breaking due to the fact that there are more pros than cons in itself and versus coasting. By using power breaking the AEV will be able to stay at a more fast speed due to the fact that the time and distance required to stop it are much less than the coasting. Also, the data obtained from the trials showed that power breaking performed better than coasting and gave much more precise data.