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Just shows you how much more fun it must have been lol

Yeah, I really wish I did EV instead of robot arm. It seems somewhat easier, and the better builder could have done robot arm instead of me.

EDIT: last year, just to clarify

Have you guys messed around with different mousetraps? Would using ones with a plastic base be an issue?

Rezalis wrote:

mnoga wrote:

Rezalis wrote:
One of my strategies last year was to actually knock the cans away. My vehicle had an arduio due, a 9-axis gyro, and a quadrature encoder. I managaed to set both cans 2 centimeters apart and whack them out of the way with my triangular plow. I averaged around -19 as my score, consistently getting within 3cm of the target regardless of the mass of the cans. The vehicle followed a path with target points. If our team had made it to nationals, I would have experimented with a variable curve for the vehicle to travel on. It was so much more fun than moustrap vehicle. Mouse just isn't my thing.

That's an interesting strategy, and probably one that the designers of the event didn't anticipate. I guess you must have designed to a certain weight threshold on the cans otherwise you would have failed to push them aside. How much did your vehicle weigh?

My vehicle was massive. (At least 2 kilograms) It had a powerful brushless drive system so it could still accelerate and brake very well. I relied on the motor's electrical braking and crept up to the target point. I was easily able to knock large soup/bean cans out of the way. (I dented many while testing)

We used a hybrid breaking system, both electronic braking with encoder and Arduino, and threaded rod. Our vertical accuracy was outstanding with this method. Of course, we did not design "heavy" like you to plow through the cans.

Alex-RCHS wrote:Have you guys messed around with different mousetraps? Would using ones with a plastic base be an issue?

No, never tried the plastic ones, but had no reason to as we did not think that was a advantage in gaining extra speed or accuracy. We focused on minimizing skid and precise aiming.

Has anyone had issues with inconsistencies in the floor causing the car to go off to one side or another?

Sorry for all the questions lol

Alex-RCHS wrote:Has anyone had issues with inconsistencies in the floor causing the car to go off to one side or another?

Sorry for all the questions lol

Yes, at recent NorCal State Championship we encountered some slightly raised floor tiles. Our first run was 12cm to the right of the target point. Our 2nd run was 5 cm right. Our vertical distance was spot on. We had run our vehicle on a similar floor the day before, but picked out a location where there were no raised tiles. The supervisor for this event couldn't seem to figure out how important a slightly raised tile could be. Furthermore, rules state you the event should be run on a smooth floor. Of course, "smooth" is not quantitative, but what it means to me is that the coefficient of friction should be the similar on all reasonable potential paths during the competition.

To mitigate bad floors you could have more that one vehicle similar to the real world where you have off-road vehicles versus highway cruisers. Your bad floor vehicle could have more rounded softer tire surfaces to handle raised surfaces, cracks, pits, etc. Your Ferrari vehicle, with flatter, harder treads, and probably lighter, would run great on nice gym floors.

Has anyone run into the issue where your vehicle goes straight back and forth when rolled but curves when doing an actual run using the mousetraps? Any suggestions on how to fix this problem or ideas on the cause of this problem?

Jonathan.Y wrote:Has anyone run into the issue where your vehicle goes straight back and forth when rolled but curves when doing an actual run using the mousetraps? Any suggestions on how to fix this problem or ideas on the cause of this problem?

Your frame could be flexing slightly. Try changing the place on the axle where the string pulls. Mess around with it a little and you might fix it.

Alex-RCHS wrote:

Jonathan.Y wrote:Has anyone run into the issue where your vehicle goes straight back and forth when rolled but curves when doing an actual run using the mousetraps? Any suggestions on how to fix this problem or ideas on the cause of this problem?

Your frame could be flexing slightly. Try changing the place on the axle where the string pulls. Mess around with it a little and you might fix it.

Is that how you fixed your curving issue? I never thought that the placement of the string would have an effect on the curving