[MechEng83]

Originally Posted by PerpetualMotion

45 deg gives maximum horizontal range when your starting y position and finishing y position is the same



In the case of Aerial Assist, the ball is being launched from a distance below zero, since the high goal is higher than the maximum height of a robot. Therefore, in the context of this game, the maximum distance for a given velocity will be greater than 45 degrees (assuming no air resistance)

I should have clarified. The solution I gave was for the ball landing below the launch point. The point I wished to make was that the maximum distance needs the destination to be at 45 degrees, and your vertical position relative to that will affect the angle which gives maximum launch velocity. 45 degrees is solution to the special case where h(0) = h(final).