ECE4960_FastRobots
layout: page title: “Lab 4” permalink: /ECE4960_FastRobots/lab4/
Lab 4: Robot Characterization
Qualitative characteristics
THere were some qualities that were not measured but observed. Some of these inform the quantities to measure
- The car flips when braking on the 800mAH battery, but does not when on the 650mAh one
- During high acceleration/deceleration, some wheels may leave the gorund which leads to control complexity
- The vehicle is symmetric (externally) left to right and top to bottom.
- The car turns drastically even when controllde to be straight
Stationary characteristics
Before driving, I took the following measurements of the vehicle
- Overall dimensions: 7.15” 5.75” x 3.2” (L x W x H))
- Wheel diameter: 3.2”
- Weight: 500g
- Center of mass: 0.825” forward from the geometric center
I wanted to determine where the center of mass of the car is. This will help me decide acceleration/ deceleration rates that prevent the car from flipping.
Dynamic characteristics
I did a few tests to test the dynamics of the car. I performed the tests and analysis with Minjung to compare the performance between cars. The data comes from calculating the time the car takes to traverse known distances in video.
| Parameter | Units | Jojo’s Values | Minjung’s Values |
|---|---|---|---|
| Braking distance | m | 1.01 | 1.42 |
| Max rotational speed | rev/s | 4.71 | 4 |
| Max translational speed | m/s | 4.02 | 3.59 |
| Max deceleration | m/s^2 | 8.09 | —- |
| Max acceleration | 5m/s^2 | 1.01 | —- |
Videos of testing
