The Physics of a Kick

[JackG]

It seems to me that even those who have the physics experience to work this type of problem may not be able to do so until they know more of the variables. For instance, what is the weight and size of the soccer ball? How much is it inflated, and therefore what would be its coefficient of constitution? What is the friction between the soccer balls and the carpet? Of course someone with some serious skills in this area could set up the equation in terms of those variables, but we would still need to know this information eventually.

I'd take a crack at this, but this problem is too much for someone who hasn't taken their first college physics class yet.

[Pneumaticsman]

you could get extremely technical with this. First, you need to find out what type of gear motor ratio you will have. the motor specs will give you the max rpm, and from there, you would have to calculate the acceleration of the "foot" that kicks the ball. (I apologize i don't know the formula). Once you have the acceleration, you could probably somehow measure the angle of acceleration (how high the ball flies as you kick it). From there, all you have to do (neglecting the air pressure of the ball, and the air resistance) is find out how heavy the soccer ball is and you could measure everything else from there. Sorry I don't know the equations for the acceleration of the motor and angle of acceleration, but I'm only in high school myself haha

[Pneumaticsman]

Originally Posted by JackG

It seems to me that even those who have the physics experience to work this type of problem may not be able to do so until they know more of the variables. For instance, what is the weight and size of the soccer ball? How much is it inflated, and therefore what would be its coefficient of constitution? What is the friction between the soccer balls and the carpet? Of course someone with some serious skills in this area could set up the equation in terms of those variables, but we would still need to know this information eventually.

I'd take a crack at this, but this problem is too much for someone who hasn't taken their first college physics class yet.

No kidding haha I'm trying to calculate the drag force of a model rocket, and it's kickin my butt lol

[jholland]

I'm sure someone has found the coefficient of restitution for a soccer ball. That might help you out for a back of the napkin approach to the physics if you want to account for an inelastic collision between the ball and the kicker.

[DonRotolo]

In a conservation of momentum equation, be sure to consider the momentum from the kicker that isn't imparted to the ball, instead being released into a collision with the robot frame.

[Bsteckler]

From my rough calculations, the kicker would need to operate at 110 ft/s and would require 188.4 lbs of force, this could be done with a 1.7 foot long cylinder at 60 psi and would shoot the ball 60 feet (about the diagonal length of the court) for a corner kick. Can someone please check these numbers?