Quote:
Originally Posted by Woody1458
Based on these numbers, unless I did something wrong, a lighter robot would accelerate faster on regolith then a heavier one (admittedly a small difference). So teams that are talking about adding weights to their robot to add friction should reconsider.
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It makes perfect sense to me. Think of 2 cars with equal power rolling at ten miles an hour. One car is 500lbs heavier than the other. The lighter car will accelerate faster with the same power because it takes less energy to accelerate.
When you actually observed this difference in acceleration were both robots moving or were they stationary? Traction doesn't have as great of an effect once your moving beyond a certain speed. If they were stationary the heavier robot should accelerate faster to a point because it's wheels are spinning less but the lighter robot should overtake it once it gets traction. (think drag racing)
This is a point I keep bring up with my team. I think it's better to design to be lighter and then be able to add weight for traction than to design heavier and be stuck with it.