Electric Vehicle C

[Mike4192]

So hey everybody.

I built my electric vehicle for just about 0$. It is composed of a simple wooden frame built by me from some scrap wood, some plastic gears and some threaded axel shafts from a teacher, and further composed of some washers and wing nuts supplied by my dad and a few objects around the house like straws. My electronics are composed of a battery pack, a switch, some wires, and random motor I found. Simple mechanical brake. Everything is powered (in fact too much power, need to tone it down) with one single double A battery. I'd say its accurate within 3 centimeters or so, my schools not going to nationals so states is my only challenge.

When I saw this thread I became disappointed. All I see here are designs composed of microprocessors and what not. I understand it's cheap and really any school can afford it and is extremely accurate, but comon guys, wheres the innovation? You guys are only set on creating something to win. How about creating something that is innovative, simple, and intended to win? A microprocessor is just...why even bother competing when you will just blow everyone away except of course for everyone else who has the same exact setup and then it comes down the accuracy in millimeters and milliseconds. And no, its not innovative, it obnoxiously typical. Comon guys, just because we live in a technological age doesn't mean that some innovation and some simpleness, along with some elbow grease thrown in on the side has to disappear now does it?

But who cares anyway, from what I've seen on these forums, you lot will just disregard me as kid who's just costing himself first place and is just less competition. Well you know what, Vedä käteen.

[andrewwski]

I don't necessarily disagree with you...but you'll want to build what is the most likely to win...and that often means using an idea that you don't particularly favor.

I didn't use a microcontroller though, and it works fairly well. Wouldn't win nationals, but works just fine for regionals and maybe states.

[binary010101]

I WISH we could have a microcontroller or microchip and some serious electric components.
All we have for a brake is a wing nut.

[sachleen]

http://www.arduino.cc/

http://www.ladyada.net/make/boarduino/

That's really cheap and easy to use. I've never tried it, but I've read quite a bit about it and it seems really easy. I use VEX for the microprocessor but that's a bit more expensive (we have the vex kits from past years)

[Sliced Bread 34]

we use a NXT kit or a lego mindsorm kit thingamabob... it is really easy to use...

[captbilly]

So hey everybody.

I built my electric vehicle for just about 0$. It is composed of a simple wooden frame built by me from some scrap wood, some plastic gears and some threaded axel shafts from a teacher, and further composed of some washers and wing nuts supplied by my dad and a few objects around the house like straws. My electronics are composed of a battery pack, a switch, some wires, and random motor I found. Simple mechanical brake. Everything is powered (in fact too much power, need to tone it down) with one single double A battery. I'd say its accurate within 3 centimeters or so, my schools not going to nationals so states is my only challenge.

When I saw this thread I became disappointed. All I see here are designs composed of microprocessors and what not. I understand it's cheap and really any school can afford it and is extremely accurate, but comon guys, wheres the innovation? You guys are only set on creating something to win. How about creating something that is innovative, simple, and intended to win? A microprocessor is just...why even bother competing when you will just blow everyone away except of course for everyone else who has the same exact setup and then it comes down the accuracy in millimeters and milliseconds. And no, its not innovative, it obnoxiously typical. Comon guys, just because we live in a technological age doesn't mean that some innovation and some simpleness, along with some elbow grease thrown in on the side has to disappear now does it?

But who cares anyway, from what I've seen on these forums, you lot will just disregard me as kid who's just costing himself first place and is just less competition. Well you know what, Vedä käteen.

[captbilly]

So hey everybody.

I built my electric vehicle for just about 0$. It is composed of a simple wooden frame built by me from some scrap wood, some plastic gears and some threaded axel shafts from a teacher, and further composed of some washers and wing nuts supplied by my dad and a few objects around the house like straws. My electronics are composed of a battery pack, a switch, some wires, and random motor I found. Simple mechanical brake. Everything is powered (in fact too much power, need to tone it down) with one single double A battery. I'd say its accurate within 3 centimeters or so, my schools not going to nationals so states is my only challenge.

When I saw this thread I became disappointed. All I see here are designs composed of microprocessors and what not. I understand it's cheap and really any school can afford it and is extremely accurate, but comon guys, wheres the innovation? You guys are only set on creating something to win. How about creating something that is innovative, simple, and intended to win? A microprocessor is just...why even bother competing when you will just blow everyone away except of course for everyone else who has the same exact setup and then it comes down the accuracy in millimeters and milliseconds. And no, its not innovative, it obnoxiously typical. Comon guys, just because we live in a technological age doesn't mean that some innovation and some simpleness, along with some elbow grease thrown in on the side has to disappear now does it?

But who cares anyway, from what I've seen on these forums, you lot will just disregard me as kid who's just costing himself first place and is just less competition. Well you know what, Vedä käteen.

I am always impressed with a design that gets the job done as simply and cheaply as possible. On the other hand I think that learning to use a microprocessor is an extremely useful and important skill. If you can come up with a purely mechanical design that has millimeter accuracy and is also able to run at whatever speed is required by the event coordinator (1.5 - 4 seconds per meter) then that is really some accomplishment. A mechanical design that is as accurate as an electronic one will probably require a design quite a bit more complex and costly than the electronic version. I could see adjustable speed governors and a braking system that is both gentle and consistent, combined with a huge amount of calibrating, that would result in a vehicle that is nearly as accurate as the electronic version. But to suggest that putting together a simple mechanically controlled electric powered vehicle is the more innovative solution seems somewhat dismissive of the work that needs to go into a highly competitive electronic or a mechanical vehicle.

I saw the wheeled vehicle that came in second at Nationals 2 years ago and the mechanical controls on that were neither simple or easy to build. It stopped within 1 mm on both runs (I believe the event coordinator recorded a zero distance error) and timing was within less than 1%. If you are able to build a mechanically controlled electric powered vehicle you will recieve a 33% bonus over an electronically controlled one, but you will almost certainly still need to be accurate to within a few mm to be competitive at Nationals. I don't see any problem building a mechanically controlled vehicle that can stop within a few mm of the required distance but it will take some real innovation to get the speed control needed to be able to compete at Nationals (where the event coordinator picks the speed) with a purely mechanical design.

I am not sure why you feel that using a microprocessor somehow limits the creativity of the design. The builder will still have to come up with a way of counting turns, controlling speed, controlling direction, and ensuring that all of this is done in a way that is consistent and reliable. I can think of many electronic alternatives in both distance and speed controll. All of them will involve precision building, lots of test runs, and at least some understanding of programming microprocessors. None of the solutions that work well and reliably will be simple or easy,, whether it be mechanical or electronic.

[seth959ci]

im with mike4192, i prefer a mechanical design. usually my school doesnt even go to state so i spend hours upon hours in my garage crafting a vehicle that hopefully everyone that attends the competition will remember, something wicked fast but still accurate. last year we were runner-up by a hair to a big rich school who this year got moved to a different division:) i actually just got done building the prototype for this year tonight(just needs a couple tweaks to be in spec) i just think the car feels more like my own knowing that i crafted all of its equipment by hand.

[captbilly]

If you are content to build a vehicle that won't be able to meet the speed control requirements for Nationals then the problem becomes much much simpler. If you are building for Nationals the number of charts needed to be able to accurately pick the correct settings for time and distance is huge. With an every precise design it might be possible to actually have a relatively simple equation that would give the correct settings for speed and distance. With a design that doesn't have accurately controlled acelleration and braking, it could require hundreds of charts or lots of luck to get speed control to the level needed to be competitive. Of course it is possible that you could just get lucky and the event coordinator could pick a speed and distance that you have the settings for.

It really boils down to the incentive for the particular competitor. If you just want to have some fun building something then there are many simple designs that will be fun to watch. If you want to win (at Nationals) then the problem becomes much more complex. I believe the winners last year had score of 199+. It will probably require a target distance under 1cm, a time score within a few tenths of seconds, and a finish line distance error of less than 1 cm, to win the event (and of course the 10 point center line score). The problem is that the 33% bonus for a mechanical design doesn't make much difference when you're talking about less than 1 point off of a prefect score. Essentially it will require a mechanical design with a total score of 198.67 to beat an electronic design that gets 199.

[seth959ci]

yeah i definitely build my car for shock and awe, my school team as a whole probably wont even go state So i just put on a good show! the last regional competitions have been at the same place and my partner and i have become known for exciting vehicles. last year our 5.5 meter run took only 3.2 seconds and thats including the 1.5 ft burnout it does on take-off.