numerical solution of differential equations

[sspoldi]

Originally Posted by GeeTwo

The cosθ term is gravity acting on the boulder (and lever arm).

Yea, I'd like to say we just ignore stuff like that, but sometimes it's a real factor. In 2014 we had a hammer with a 3 pound head on a 1 foot arm, gravity definitely made a difference.

Since we typically don't have a lot of time (who does), I like to get the kids to do a simple model up front, and then we do some system id and fit the actual robot behavior to a model. This way we can tune control systems quickly, and it gives them a chance to do some data based optimization in addition to a little physics up front.

Cheers,
Steve.