Because i’m not going to be able to access my robot for the next couple of days, I figured I would ask you guys about this.
My team is currently running a 3000 rpm flywheel and even though it can hit all the flags, I saw some different designs on youtube that seemed more effective and wanted to know if they were better. In the picture below, my team is currently using the design on the left with a rubber friction mat going up the entire hood, the teams on youtube where using the one on the right where only the intake was using a rubber mat. What design do you think is more effective?
Left has proven to be more effective for us. If your hood is the correct distance from the wheel, then adding a layer of mesh also adds in the rotational force applied to the ball because there is increased friction. With the friction force countering the rotational force, more back spin is applied to the ball which allows it to have more accuracy. It also increases the force distribution from the wheel to the ball and reduces any chance of slippage.
I use right, I put the gripmat on my wheel instead of the mat because it makes managing wear and tear easier. Both ways have the same end effect (afaik), it comes down to preference
The thing is, its neither better or worse. You’ll see more horizontal distance if you decide to put the antislip on the hood, but more forward velocity if you don’t. What happens is that whenever the ball hits the hood, the friction from the antislip on the hood causes the ball to roll, rather than be propelled like a projectile. So the rolling motion causes more forward motion because of aerodynamic properties of a spinning ball. So, in two perfectly tuned robots, one that has antislip and one that doesn’t, the one with antislip with get more vertical height and therefore more horizontal distance as well. However the one that has no antislip on the hood will have more forward motion, which is what is used to flip the flags. This was all backed up by data from nothing but net, so take it with a slight grain of salt.
We have a different flywheel model; apposing fly wheels; so the ball loader is different but for purposes of this question I would say that the right is probably more effective. since you are used to left and it is working though, I’d say stick with what you have.
