Thanks for the responses everyone!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Steele
In point of fact, the pole pushes the robot up.
Newton's third law...
A force generated by the minibot in the vertical direction ("Down") results in a paired reaction force from the the pole on the robot in the opposite ( "UP") direction.
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I believed that the way the minibot climbs the pole is similar to how a car goes forward because in both situations the wheels of both a car and a minibot exert a force to the road or the pole. The opposite force makes both move, but the two forces don't cancel each other.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ether
Assuming you already understand how a powered wheeled vehicle can accelerate on a horizontal surface, the difference in the case of the minibot is that a normal force must be created (to press the wheels against the pole) for a minibot to climb the pole. Is that what you are asking ?
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Yes, that was what I was wondering about. I understand that a normal force keeps the minibot on the pole but I wasn't able to determine how that worked.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DonRotolo
...and of course the 'upwards' force is greater than the 'downwards' force due to gravity.
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I'm not sure if gravity causes the 'upward' force to be greater. The upward force would have to be greater for the minibot to go up, but the downward force is the weight of the robot which is made up of mass times gravity so the upward force needs to overcome gravity.