[Patrick Wang]

There are several things that you need to consider to make a "goal pulling" experiment somewhat accurate.

First of all, the position of the casters is important when you start to move the goal. If the casters are in the correct position for movement in that particuliar direction, the force required to move it is considerabally less.

Secondly, you need to consider that for a human to push/pull a goal is different than a robot pulling or pushing a goal. While humans were designed to move forward, a robot could care less which direction it moves. (4-wheel drive tank drive train).

Just as a frame of referance, We did a few tests concerning the pushing/pulling of goals. We used our last year's robot to try and push the goals.

Our last year's robot was basically a 4 wheel trive tank system.

Drill motors were set at low gear for the experiment, and our gear ratio is 3:1.

We were able to move one goal at a pretty good speed.

We were able to move a goal with a 130 lb guy standing on it at a good speed as well.

We were able to move a goal with a 130 lb guy and 180 lb guy standing on it at a moderate speed.

Our wheel started to slip when we had a goal 130 lb guy 160 lb guy and 180 lb guy.

You can get a lot of stuff to move with a reasonable drive train.