Asee peer logo

Mathematics and Physics Concepts Behind Our Robot

Download Paper |

Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

July 12, 2024

Conference Session

MECH - Technical Session 15: Engineering Education Research and Reviews

Tagged Division

Mechanical Engineering Division (MECH)

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/47764

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Isabel Xu Louis D. Brandeis High School

visit author page

I am an 11th grader at Louis D. Brandeis High School in San Antonio, Texas, and a member of the TechnoWizards 16458, an FTC team that has qualified for the regional, state, and world level competitions in 2023. I serve as the electronics manager for the team, meaning I apply math and physics concepts to the robot while also manage wiring and other technical matters. I am also interested in pursuing a degree in electrical and computer engineering in the future.

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the applications of mathematics and physics to design efficient and effective robots, where “efficient” means the robot is able to complete the desired tasks while consuming as little battery as possible, and “effective” means the robot is able to complete as many tasks as desired within a short amount of time. We demonstrate the usefulness of these ideas in the practice of our FTC robotics team. Specifically, we apply them to determine the exact physical properties that are needed for the robot to perform its intended tasks. This requires us to answer the following 3 research questions: What is the horizontal distance from the base of our robot’s delivery system to the tip of its (virtual) four-bar (Q1)? What is the minimum amount of torque required to extend each of its delivery and intake systems (Q2)? What is the minimum torque required to hold up its four-bar claw with a cone (Q3)? To answer Q1, we look at the robot from a horizontal viewpoint and apply advanced trigonometric functions to calculate the exact distance between the robot and the junction. To answer Q2, we use Newton’s 2nd Law of Acceleration to calculate the minimum amount of torque needed to extend each of the delivery and intake slides. To answer Q3, we also apply Newton’s 2nd Law of Acceleration to determine the minimum amount of torque required to hold the four-bar and cone in place. We then end by summarizing the lessons we have learned throughout our robotics season.

Xu, I. (2024, June), Mathematics and Physics Concepts Behind Our Robot Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47764

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2024 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015