Hey there! This is my first time posting here. I’m a freshman this season, and I’m really keen on improving my Engineering Notebook. It seems like high school notebooks are a big step up from middle school, and I’m eager to make mine better too.
I’ve noticed that a lot of teams use math in their notebooks, like trigonometry and physics, but I haven’t really used that kind of math before. That’s not a big problem because I’m willing to learn. What’s been tripping me up is how to use these math concepts in the context of the Over Under game. Do you have any ideas about what kind of math I could use for things like figuring out how things move through the air or dealing with elevation? I just want to find a way to make math work for me in this game and in my Engineering Notebook.
Most of the calculations in VRC are to do with mechanics.
One example is, as you said, figuring out how things move through the air. This is an example of projectile motion. There are plenty of resources online if you search the right stuff. One example is here. Another example is using forces and using this to deal with elevation. Here, a simple free body force diagram would work.
There is not much more relating to maths in design. If you have CAD, you could talk about FEA and the maths around that, but there is usually not much there.
Programming is generally the part with the most maths, like PID, odometry, pure pursuit (there is a lot more if you dig deep enough). In terms of that, there is plenty of info on the forum and online.
Keeping in mind rule G4, as the Judges evaluate your engineering notebook they will not be expecting to see mathematical concepts that are too advanced for your program. For example, if there is a bunch of calculus in a freshman-level team’s notebook it would actually be a red flag. I’m going to assume that you’re familiar with algebra and geometry, so here’s a couple appropriate examples for discussion that will be both useful to you and show the engineering process to the judges:
Calculate the distance traveled per revolution of various sized wheels on your bot, and calculate speeds for various RPM’s and wheel diameters
If you’re using pneumatics, calculate the force generated by an air cylinder at various operating pressures. Bonus if you account for the piston rod diameter on the return stroke of a double-acting air cylinder (It’s significant for larger air and hydraulic cylinders we use industrially, not so much for the small instrumentation cylinders VEX uses).