Is it worth it to implement traction control?

[dmlawrence]

If a team implements traction control, they will see an increase of at most 9.6% in the time it takes to get somewhere. Will this type of change really make a difference in the game?

[nitsua60]

... an increase of at most 9.6% in the time it takes to get somewhere....

Can you describe how you got this result? I assume it's by calculating a max acceleration from mu_s vs. mu_k for controlled vs. non-, and running at that acceleration over the longest path possible? If nothing else, it'd be illustrative for a lot of the high-schoolers to see the math done out.

[ComradeNikolai]

Is it an increase or decrease in time? If it's a decrease, yes, it is by all means worth it. If it's an increase, then it is up to your drivers; the advantage of traction control would be that your drivers would not have to worry about slipping. Most teams who have drivers experienced in road ice-driving rely on being able to feel when the tires begin to slip; this will not be possible, but the robot can detect it for you.

Whether it is worth it or not will rely on your team. I suggest talking to your programmers and drive team together.

[Paul Copioli]

Our testing on the actual surface with the actual trailer shows us that when you are not slipping you will get up to speed at least 30% faster than without and for turning it saves at least 50% of the time. Trying to rotate the goal or rotate aroiund the goal from a dead stop is brutal if you are slipping the wheels.

[dmlawrence]

Actually, the first number I quoted was just a mental approximation. Here's a more exact number:

Mu changes from .05 to .06 - an increase of 20%.
Force of traction = mu * normal force, so traction also increases by 20%.
Max acceleration = Force of traction / mass, so acceleration also increases by 20%.
Time = sqrt(2 * distance / acceleration), so for a given distance, a 20% increase in acceleration corresponds to 1/sqrt(120%)=91.3%, or an 8.7% decrease in time.

This doesn't seem to match up with the results mentioned above.

[DonRotolo]

Also note this thread (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71172).