I need to know the highest speed attained with a FIRST robot, perferably during competition or practice, not highest predictied speed, but highest speed perferably in meters per second…
this will really help me out in my transmission design, which, i will probably post later when my friend CADs it.
thx
The top speed of 818’s robot was about 10 mph, which is about 4.5 m/s.
While it is definitely possible to make faster robots, I think that 10-12 feet per second is a pretty good top speed for a FIRST robot.
Remember that acceleration matters too when you are not in a 1/4 mile race but negotiating a field with other robots, balls, etc. around.
Also, being fast can be important, but if you are only fast, you are likely to have some trouble pushing, climbing ramps, etc.
Shifters can help with some of this but only to a point.
Good luck.
Joe J.
in 2002 Kingman’s bot went around 18 fps, and I believe that the second robot the Cheesy Poofs made this year went around 20 fps. Keep in mind that at these speeds your robot is likely not going to have enough torque to overcome friction and turn, unless you drop the center wheels 1/4" or so. Unless you are a very good driver, its also going to be very hard to control.
Cory
early on we created a ‘speed trap’ using the optical sensors and an oscilloscope (measured how long the bot frame interrupted the beam as it went past)
with the drill motors locked in the high speed position, our bot was going fast. I just checked my notebook and I cant find the exact speed, but Im sure it was over 20mph - maybe as high as 25mph
mind you, the load was so high the bot would not go from a standstill by its self. We had to give it a push to get it going.
This was really all an accident - it was the first time we had driven the bot, and just happened to have the drillmotors locked in high gear instead of low.
Obviously we didnt use it that way in competition - but to get back to your question
the only thing that would limit the top speed of the bot is wind resistance, friction on the wheels and drive train, and the fact that the field is only 60 feet long. If you have a multispeed transmission, and a long enough ‘runway’ - then you could get one of these things going pretty quick
just like a radio control car: :c)
now im not saying you could get a FIRST bot going fast enough to jump over your house - well, maybe you could. watch the linked video and you decide !
571’s 2003 copetition bot had a top speed of about 12-13 ft/sec.
that would be a little over 5 meters/sec. Using 2 drills and 2 chips, we had adequate acceleration, but turning could get difficult when the battery got low.
*Originally posted by xplod1236 *
**The top speed of 818’s robot was about 10 mph, which is about 4.5 m/s. **
That was our first robot, from 2002. I don’t know if it was quite that fast, cause we had major friction problems. If we had overcome those completely, it would’ve been much faster.
I do know that at NYC, I “grabbed” a goal. The bot was across the field, and I had to get back, about ten seconds left. I also happened to be lined up with a goal, for the other team, that was empty. So, I go into full reverse, and slam into the goal and drive the goal into the player station.
After that match, we’re inspecting our robot. I made a huge dent in the extruded aluminum, like, completely bent it out of shape. Several other teams saw it, and rumor spread that we grabbed goals by deforming our robot. Can’t say it happened again.
That was also the regional that we snapped a piece of lexan off our robot, again, hitting a goal. To all the teams that say lexan can’t shatter/crack/break, believe me, it can 
(I remember Team 19 didn’t believe us).
I can tell you that team 25’s Evil Machine from this year hit 13.6 ft/sec. Only 102’s (Gearhead’s) machine was comparable at NJ.
Frankly, robots moving that fast are hard to handle (as many who have seen EM in action can attest). I have a puncture in my right leg just below my knee from Aignam’s practice driving to prove it too!
25 was definately the fastest bot I saw this year
thx all, I think I have enough data to design my drive train now, if you guys still want to post say, to brag or continue posting information then by all means go ahead
NIck - you need to fix your sig. Your historical facts are a little skewed.
I believe Galileo was not inprisoned, I think he was placed under house arrest (confinded to his home).
and Im pretty sure Copernicus wasnt executed - he was reluctant to publish his ideas - and they were not taken very seriously until after his death.
another scientist, Giordano Bruno, was burned at the stake, for asserting space was infinite, and that other suns and solar systems, and earth like planets existed.
See: http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Science/Copernicus.htm
gee thx, I was pretty sure that Nicholas got put to death, but I dont want to start an argument about it, it was late at night when I made that one so please forgive any “historical errors” Thank god somebody found and corrected me before this little skew got out of hand.
That was all sarcasm, not my best, but it will have to do.
Next time, if you see a mistake as inconsequencial as that, just PM me so you dont get off topic in the forums, and besides, it makes me look bad to be the subject of public humiliation.
alright? Please show a little more tact when you “correct” someone offtopic.
thx.
PS. I still think he was executed
It wasnt inconsequencial to Copernicus :^)
didnt mean to put you on the spot publically - the internet is a vast storehouse of misinformation
now if someone read in your sig that Nicky got executed, and put it in a term paper or something, THAT would be humilating.
I make mistakes from time to time. I think Im up to 5 now :c)
BTW - one of the great things about forums like this is the stuff you learn and pickup - mostly OT stuff - kinda like a conversation where one topic or idea leads to another.
If we get 20 people off searching the web now to see what happened to those people, thats pretty cool.
PS: sorry for making you upset - wasnt intentional
yea, I have to apologize on that last post as well, it was also late at night after a cruddy weekend when I did that one
(hmm… Im begining to see a trend)
so dont sweat it.
Now Ive got to find something interesting for a new sig…
Yea…getting back on topic, this information is helping me correct for an extremly high ratio on the transmission that was giving me numbers like 93mph, Im going to gear it down again to bring its max speed closer to 25mph
thx all
*Originally posted by Victim of Fate *
**Yea…getting back on topic, this information is helping me correct for an extremly high ratio on the transmission that was giving me numbers like 93mph, Im going to gear it down again to bring its max speed closer to 25mphthx all **
Are you sure that transmission will put out enough torque to make your robot…oh, I don’t know…move? 
*Originally posted by Victim of Fate *
**Yea…getting back on topic, this information is helping me correct for an extremly high ratio on the transmission that was giving me numbers like 93mph, Im going to gear it down again to bring its max speed closer to 25mphthx all **
don’t you think that might be a little steep? 25’s machine was almost 14 ft/s, and it was one of the fastest bots out there. 25 mph is about 36 ft/s by my calculations, so unless you’re anticipating some really beefy motors, you’re going to have trouble accelerating up to top speed.
you wont have trouble accellerating, youll have trouble moving even if you could move, theres no way in heck youre going to be able to control a robot at those speeds.
Cory
All of you bring up good points, and i do sound like a total idiot now that I look back, but I my of left out several important details…
Its a new kind of continuously variable transmission…
Well, thats top speed, and I dont want to sound all secretive, but its lowest speed is about as extremely low as its top speed is extremly fast.
FYI
I have a gas powered RC car that goes 40 MPH and I doubt that it will reach a speed of over 25 MPH before it would hit the wall, starting at the other side of the field. It weighs 10 pounds and has a 1.6 horsepower engine
Bad Brad