|
The "object" need not be something vertically upright that the robot makes contact with either... For example, when a robot is driving up the ramp, you can essentially think of an imaginary rope attached to the back of the robot, and gravity "pulling" on this rope in the exact opposite direction that is "up the ramp."
This imaginary rope exerts a force on your robot, which may or may not (may not hopefully) be enough in and of itself to overcome the force required to break the wheels free and spin.
Remember, you're really multiplying the coefficient of friction times the NORMAL force. The normal force happens to be exactly the weight of the robot when situated on a level surface, but this normal force decreases as incline increases.
This means that if the ramp and floor were the same surface, less lateral force (relative to the robots plane) would be required to break the wheels free on the ramp than on the level ground. This makes perfect sense, since if you imagine the extreme case of a 90 degree incline, NO force is required to break the wheels free from the surface, since there is no normal force.
__________________
Team 677 - The Wirestrippers - Columbus School for Girls and The Ohio State University
EMAIL: mccune@ling.ohio-state.edu
...And all you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be...
|