[Mike Betts]

Originally Posted by krudeboy51

sorry for the weird thread name but, is there any way to program a robot to stop on a dime instead of rolling like an inch away from designated stopping area?

Kory,

Can you stop your car on a dime?

If you are talking dynamic reaction (ex: teleop), no. Acceleration is defined as the change in velocity divided by the change in time. In this case, "immediately" implies that the change in time is zero hence the accereration is infinite. F=ma requires that the force also becomes infinite. Yada, yada, yada...

If you allow for a trajectory plan (ex: autonomous) then you have to plan the deceleration of the robot to stop exactly where you wish.

Read about PID controls and the response of a PID to a step change input. There are several excellent CD white papers on the subject.

Regards,

Mike