Modeling Ball Shooters

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by ThaddeusMaximus

Not sure this is a bad assumption. The work provided by the motors over 90 degrees of rotation seems pretty minute in comparison to the energy built up by several hundred rotations (Granted the torque falls off as angular velocity increases)...

Of course throwing numbers at this would be helpful.

We're also ignoring losses from ball compression.

Based on some experience I've had with single wheel shooters this year, I think this is a really poor assumption. Shooter performance really seems to change a lot with more torque in the system - a world of difference between a mini-CIM versus two mini-CIMs in our shooter's performance for example. This seems to suggest the work being done by the motors while the shooter is under load helps keep the shooter up to speed. Now, how to account for this work in the model for a generic shooter is beyond me. I feel like this is a constant or series of constants that would have to be empirically derived.