A friend (who is a falconer! How cool is that?
) recently asked me to design for him a remote controlled robot that could pull a half pound "rabbit" (actually a ball of fuzz that looks and moves like one) at 30-40 miles per hour (44-59 fps) so he could use it to train his hawks how to hunt. I'm not sure if he was kidding or not, but it got me thinking... is this possible with "standard" FRC parts, minus the overweight lead acid battery? What is the practical limit to how fast a drivetrain can go? This robot would be all drivetrain. No other manipulators. How fast would this theoretical drivetrain be able to turn, or would it simply flip over at the first attempt to turn? I'm thinking it would be best to have a car-like steering system where the front two wheels pivot instead of having tank drive.
What are your thoughts? What is the theoretical limit on battery powered drivetrain speed?