The performance tests consisted of three parts. Each part added more to the last until it was the full test. The first test consisted of the AEV safely arriving to the halfway point of the track, from the starting dock. It had to stop in between two sensors before the stopping gate and pause for seven seconds then continue through. That was all the first test tasked us to do, but it gave the team a better idea of how to code the AEV. For the first performance test the team used power braking and coasting. We know that the servo motor is the best braking method, but it was broken so we got a new one and added it to the AEV after the test. The first test gave us an idea of coding distances and times for the new code that had to be written. This test also showed that consistency is really important. Not running enough tests and checking if the reflectance sensors are giving back the right reading will lead to a poor test. These lessons were carried onto our next tests.
There was also a second part of the performance test. The team had to come up with two designs using the same code to determine which design ran better overall.
Design One
This design was our first one. It has both wings on one side because weight distribution was an issue with this design. The propellers were facing opposite directions so power braking would be easier as well as the trip forward and back would use less energy. The arm is on top near the middle with the Arduino behind it and the battery on the underside. This design did not have the servo motor attached.
Design Two
This design was the second design. We chose to move forward with this one because it performed better and was much more visually appealing. It had a wing on each side on the back end with both propellers facing the same way. The arm was moved towards the center more to fix the balance issue and the Arduino and battery stayed at the same positions. The servo motor on this design was added after the test.