Performance Test 1

The objectives of the first performance test are as follow:

  • Move the AEV from the starting zone to the gate.
  • Stop within the designated zone before the gate and wait for 7 seconds.
  • Proceed through the gate after the seven seconds.

The team accomplished the above tasks using a straightforward move, stop, go sequence of commands, as seen in the Performance Test Code section on this division’s website. The design used was the division’s final AEV design with the smaller-pitch propellers attached.

The following plots show the power usage vs. time (s) and power usage vs. distance figures, respectively, of 3 successful performance test 1 runs.


Figure 1: Power vs. Time plot

Figure 2: Power vs. Distance plot

The code actually had the AEV go past the gate and stop at the loading zone before exiting the loading zone, which are objectives of performance test 2.

Results:

The AEV accomplished the stated objectives after some fine-tuning with the relative stopping distance of the code. As seen in the power vs. time plot, the motors were very inconsistent, even to the point that the same code executed three consecutive times can lead to motor powers that differ in activation by more than a second. However, the servo braking apparatus, coupled with the goToRelativePosition() command, was able to reduce this variability in motor timing to meet the consistency and reliability standards of the team and the objectives.

Problems/Limitations:

The AEV motors were wildly inconsistent, with code that worked one day fall short on another. Even certain power levels that were sufficient for movement one day became insufficient in another. To address these problems, the team increased the overall motor speeds and fine-tuned the necessary distance marks every day.