Build a bot with the highest Power to weight ratio!
Two classes, PUSHERS and PULLERS
Rules
maximum voltage of 18v
wieght in grams/kilograms
Efficiency = load pulled or pushed (g) / Mass of bot
must use a video to demonstrate capabilities
Competition
Test area will be a 50cm x 1m rectangle, contestant drags or pushes object from the forward most portion of the object to the end of the testing area
Mass moved will sit inside or on top of a box or towel, contestant must demonstrate that the container does not help the robot in any way to move the mass
any box may be used if the contestant chooses to do so as the containers mass will be added to the mass of the object/weight being moved
the container carrying the mass must be pulled via rope and hook, or pushed by the robot itself
the mass and the robot must be tested on a flat surface, preferably a linoleum floor or gym floor(urethane coated wood)
Does it need to be able to Does it need to be able to do anything except push/pull things? or can I just attach some uber strong motors to a battery? or maybe find the object to be pushed/pulled? any certain distance etc?
Wait so is this total voltage? Parallel vs Series?
Because I am making a bot that uses two 12v SLA batteries in series. And when you wire in series, the voltage stays the same, while the current is doubled.
OKay, so how about the testing area is a 50cm x 1m rectangle, the robot (self-contained autonomous or radio controlled device) must pull the greatest weight to fit in a cardboard box no larger than 30cm x 30cm x 30cm. The robot must start form a dead stop i.e. not moving with no head start.
sorry, I guess its just sorry, I guess its just preference, but the total votage across the two terminals providing power to the motors and the controlls should not exceed 18 volts, so using both batteries is not allowed
Nice, I always like seeing new challenges posted, thanks for making this. Should be an interesting one. I don’t think boost circuits are a big problem, because my understanding is that as you raise voltage you lose the ability to provide current, so you generally get about the same amount of actual power out of the battery. Parallel batteries isn’t really a problem either, because two batteries can provide double the current, but it also has double the weight, so it may not be much of a net gain in the power-to-weight ratio.
exactly, just as Torque is exactly, just as Torque is proportional to speed, voltage is proportional to current, which is funny since both are key factors in this challenge
$150? Now is 150 how much we spend or how much new parts are worth? Lets say I wanted to "borrow" that nice 1150CCA 12v battery from my truck does that count against the 150? That could translate into well over 50HP especially for a meager 3ft.
spend, scrap parts and spend, scrap parts and prebought parts dont count towards the total, but remember, its the strength to WEIGHT ratio thats being scored
It’s a shame it doesn’t count on water; I’ve got a video of my model tug Eric towing a fully laden ~2M tanker around a pond. By my guess, the volume of water in the tanker (it was basically flooded with water to give it some mass) was around 15x30x200cm = 90000cm3, which, at ~1gram per cm3 of water, puts it at ~90kg, with the boat weighing maybe 0.5kg.
