Gearing That Cannot Overcome Static Friction

[Dick Linn]

M. Krass, Take this all with a grain of salt, as I'm not an engineer, just a wannabee. I guess the operative word here is "useful" in terms of what you are trying to accomplish in the game. The only way you are going to get the robot going faster (top speed) is by putting more energy into it (such as some flywheel effect) or accelerating it to a higher speed within a certain limited time period (getting up to top speed within the confines of the game). Ultimately, you have only so much power so the beast can go only so fast. That's just physics. You can alter the rate of acceleration to get to top speed more quickly or gear it such that it operates at maximum power or efficiency at the point you want it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you cannot make it truly go faster with a fixed energy source (not counting reducing friction or weight). If you want speed, look at your power curve and weight and figure out what kind of top gear you can pull. The lower gears just help you get there in a reasonable amount of time, not to mention being able to push the competition around