In this lab, we were tasked to use the provided code to run our AEV down the track to test the friction and propeller forces acting upon the vehicle. These forces can be found in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1: Friction and Propeller Force Table
Due to the friction force being the force that opposes the propeller force, the ratio between the two is useful to help determine how much we can improve the efficiency of the AEV. Two things we can do to help lower the friction force is to decrease the weight, and clear the pathways for the propellers to have better airflow.
Figure 2: Speed vs Time Plot
The disproportional ratio between the propeller and friction force is very clearly shown here because at the beginning of the run, the speed increases fast, but then decreases slower when the AEV started coasting in the end of the run.
Figure 3: Distance vs Time Plot
Around 4 seconds is when the AEV motors turn off and the vehicle starts to coast. This graph helps prove that the friction force working on the AEV is low because the AEV travels almost the same distance as when the propellers were on.
Potential Errors Made:
Due to the time constraint, our group was not able to test these values more than once, resulting in some potential error. Our team is very willing to test these values a few more times if given the opportunity.