How much math do people typically do when prototyping shooters? I‘m kind of on the fence for doing math to find a starting point or just jumping right in testing different variables.
I find rudimentary projectile motion calculations can get you close and testing/tuning gets you closer.
Always design your prototype with room to change angles, speeds, wheel diameters, feeding mechanisms and then once you find something that works then you can verify your calculations and pass on the dimensions for CAD.
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It depends on your team’s strengths if your team can quickly(within 4 hours) mock up several shooter configurations then you should build first then pick a configuration and then go to the math for the final design
If your team cannot quickly mock up a shooter then start with the math figure out requirements then build the prototype.
Personally i like the build first approach as one of the biggest struggles people have with doing the math is they can’t fully visualize the problem, but it can be a large time drain without the proper resources.
I find it worth my time when I zone in on a prototype without doing too much math so that I don’t waste my time on bad designs. After you find the one that works best start doing some fine tuning with other calculations.
I start by looking at pictures of our past robots, so I can kind of remember what we used, that worked. Then do very rough comparisons of ball mass, target height and range, wheel size, motor type, and drive ratios.
Alot of your calculations are going to be based on kinematics and projectile motion, which is taught in any Physics 1 class. however don’t forget to experiment and prototype because there are variables that math cant account for.
If you don’t feel like doing a ton of math, but want to see a cool trajectory calculator for some quick feasibility studies, try this:
Describing trajectory of a sphere in air. At bottom of the page is a calculator that graphs the trajectories with and without air resistance for various sizes of sphere, initial speed, angle, etc. http://dynref.engr.illinois.edu/afp.html
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The trajectory is only part of what you would need to determine. Wheel size, type, speed, and location (amount of compression) are critical to getting repeatable launches.
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