pic: 35 MPH Prototype

[Joe Matt]

James! You know 6.5 isn't street legal! Bad robot! Bad! Let's hope our resource officer dosn't find out abou this....

[sanddrag]

How did you measure/calculate/verify the actual speed. Also, it must have been kind of scary with that caster wheel huh? Also, what is the big tank for?

[BoyWithCape195]

Shifting without a compressor ?! (reason for tank maybe)

[some young guy]

Originally Posted by BoyWithCape195

Shifting without a compressor ?! (reason for tank maybe)

o man i thought the black tank was for the Nirtous Oxide...darnet that would have been cool

[Arefin Bari]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

How did you measure/calculate/verify the actual speed. Also, it must have been kind of scary with that caster wheel huh? Also, what is the big tank for?

I would be guessing that the big tank is the compressor for pneumatics. I can be wrong...

What was the output ratio from transmission output to wheel?

[Crebb]

I calculated the theoretical top speed using the rpm and gear ratios in the transmissions. The big black tank is for the pneumatics to change gears. The tank is so big that we only filled it once for all the time we were playing with it. We didn't officially clock it at 35 MPH, but we were guestimating. And as for the caster in front, at the beginning it was centered. That thing bounced around so much I couldn't control it. But it was FUN!
The gear ratio in the transmission is 4.17:1 which is about 1247 rpm. Then it goes 1:1 from the transmission to the 12" wheel.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by Crebb

I calculated the theoretical top speed using the rpm and gear ratios in the transmissions. The big black tank is for the pneumatics to change gears. The tank is so big that we only filled it once for all the time we were playing with it. We didn't officially clock it at 35 MPH, but we were guestimating. And as for the caster in front, at the beginning it was centered. That thing bounced around so much I couldn't control it. But it was FUN!
The gear ratio in the transmission is 4.17:1 which is about 1247 rpm. Then it goes 1:1 from the transmission to the 12" wheel.

If the cims are turning 4379 then output at that ratio is 929.7 rpm, with a 12in tire, 48.68fps which is 33.1 mph (fps * .68) gets you mph. If you are getting more than 4379 out of the cims even faster. Way cool

[Crebb]

The motor specs sheet I have been using has the CIM's going at 5200 rpm. That's what i've been basing my calculations on.

[Daniel Brim]

Whatever you do, don't show that design to Swampthing . Next thing you know, they'll come up with a robot that goes 40+ miles/hour reliably. As if their robot wasn't fast enough...

[Madison]

Originally Posted by Crebb

The motor specs sheet I have been using has the CIM's going at 5200 rpm. That's what i've been basing my calculations on.

That is approximately the CIM motors free speed. The motors are operating under load, so the actual output RPM is going to be something far lower than that. Additionally, if you're using the FIRST provided circuit breakers, the motors will draw more than 40A under load at a speed considerably lower than 5200 RPM, were they ever to go that fast.

If your robot were traveling 35 MPH, it'd be able to cross a football field in six seconds. Can it?

[Crebb]

Originally Posted by M. Krass

That is approximately the CIM motors free speed. The motors are operating under load, so the actual output RPM is going to be something far lower than that. Additionally, if you're using the FIRST provided circuit breakers, the motors will draw more than 40A under load at a speed considerably lower than 5200 RPM, were they ever to go that fast.

If your robot were traveling 35 MPH, it'd be able to cross a football field in six seconds. Can it?

We did have trouble tripping the breakers. The first time we tried it out we only had one CIM per gearbox, but we added two more. The road we tested on had a slight hill, so if we started off in first gear and shifted into second it did fine. As for the football field in 6 seconds, it would be close. I need to find a radar gun somewhere.
I admit that it isn't practical and we wont use this setup on our robot next year (most likely), but it sure is fun.

[tkwetzel]

Is it FIRST legal? I am assuming not because of the air tank you used.

Originally Posted by some young guy

o man i thought the black tank was for the Nirtous Oxide...darnet that would have been cool

Electric motors....nitrous oxide? They would get more power out of putting NOS stickers on their bot than actually putting a nitrous tank on it. Because all the NOS tank would do would be weigh down the bot .

[KTorak]

This looks like something I would want to do in the summer in my free time. Yay for using math calculations to figure out speed We used the long equations mentioned so we could gear our robot for ~12-15 Ft/S this season But heck, 35 MPH is insane.

[Conor Ryan]

try a bigger battery, like 24 volts. That may change some stuff. Also you may want to impliment a cooling system if you haven't already.

[ConKbot of Doom]

In 2004 for some reason someone thought 4:1 would be a good ratio to gear down the CIMs to the 12" skyway wheels. The bot moved all right, but it sounded angry. ugh... that thing was hard enough to control with a 13:1 gear down, I would have hated to try to drive it at 4:1... 2 side wheels, and a castor at each corner...

Very nice to see something as just proof of concept.