Shooters: What have you learned?

[JesseK]

1.) The amount of contact arc between a single-wheeled shooter and the ball doesn't appear to matter much with respect to shot consistency, though this also makes the assumption that entry speed/position/angle is identical from shot to shot.

2.) Re-calibration of shooter distances is a non-stop thing to do. Expect to test calibration every few matches.

3.) There were two teams in DC that used back-EMF in unpowered motors to detect how fast the shooter was spinning. This seems like a much more elegant solution than an encoder or tachometer/light sensor since the Voltage across the analog sensor port is directly proportional to the SPEED of the shaft the motor is on. Both teams used KOP-legal motors (one was a window motor without its gearbox, the other was a RS-395).

4.) Flywheel vs no Flywheel, that was the question. I'll post back after I talk to a few teams at championships about their shooter controls.

5.) A single 8"x1.5" IFI wheel with roughtop tread was a very good choice for a shooter wheel this year, and it is a choice we will revisit in the future.