1

TEAM BBG

KALEY BOYCE, LAUREN CREADORE, BRICE KLEIN,

AND SABA FAZELI
(L-R, AS SHOWN ABOVE)

Puttin dinosaurs back into extinction since January 2015

LEGO CRAWLER

ME112 WINTER 2015

Figure1:Ourfinalcrawlerdesign

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Giventheparametersofthisproject,ourteamquicklychosetobuildaLegocrawlerthat
minimizedpowerlossesinthetransmission,andwasasefficientasLEGOgearscouldmanage.
Asaresult,wechosetoforgouseofawormgear,anddemandedthatourdesignberearwheel
driveasitascendedthehill.Despitethewormgearsnonbackdriveability,thefrictionand
powerlossesduetotheslippagepresentatitsmeshingpointdidnotsatisfyourgroupsdesireto
maximizeefficiency.Instead,wechosetoexclusivelyusecircularLEGOspurgearsandwere
abletoachieveagearratioof125viathreestagesof8T:40Treductions.Thelackofidlergears
allowedustohaveonlythreepointsofgearongearcontact,whichminimizedpowerlossesin
ourtransmissionwithoutcompromisingourgearratio.Thisdesignchoicealsoallowedour
crawlertohavearelativelycompacttransmissionassembly,andenabledustousemuchofthe
surfaceareainourcarforoureggcatchingmechanism,withouthavingtoworrytoomuchabout
shieldingourtransmissionfromthefallingegg.
Aftertestingafewdifferentdrivetraindesigns,welearnedthatduringtheascent,arear
wheeldrivecrawlerminimizedslippageofthedrivewheels.Whenthecenterofmasswas
behindourdrivewheels(frontwheeldrive)thecrawlertookanexceptionallylongtimeto
ascendtherampduetotheslippageofthedrivingwheels.Whenthecenterofmasswasaheadof
thedrivewheels(rearwheeldrive),itsclimbtimewasgreatlyreducedduetobettertraction
betweenthedrivewheelsandramp.Toallowforarearwheeldriveconfiguration,wedeveloped

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apivotingarmmechanismwhichflippedovertheeggasthecrawlerdescended,andthenpulled
theeggontothecrawler
aheadofthedrivewheels
duringascent.Implementingthisdesignkept
thecrawlerinitsrearwheeldriveconfiguration(aswewanted),andhelpedusavoidissueslike
tippingover,wheelslip,andballoondrivetraininterference.
Oureffortstoensurearearwheeldrivencrawlerwithoutawormgearworkedverywell:
ourcrawleronlyused6.5Joules/meterduringourfinaltest.Thisvaluewaswellbelowthegoal
of12Joules/meterandwasachieved
without
lubricatingourgeartrain.Wealsowereableto
achieveahighgeartrainefficiencyof48.8%,whichconfirmedtheefficacyofour3stage,high
ratiogeartraindesign.
Asweheadintothefinalproject,wewillbearwhatwehavelearnedaboutweight
distributioninmind.Wewillconsiderwhatthegoalofthedevicesmotionisandhowwecan
bestminimizepowerusagebymovingthevehiclescenterofmasswithrespecttoitsdrivetrain.

BACKGROUND
ThegoalofthisprojectwastodesignandbuildaLegocrawlerthatcouldfunctionina
situationthatsimulatedamachinedescendingalavatube,pausingandholdingitspositionalong
thedescent(incasethemommydinosaurcameback),retrievingadinosaureggatthebottomof
thetube,andascendingthetubewiththeeggwithincertainperformancemetrics.Acrawler
successfullyachievesitsmissionifitcanperformitstaskswithinfiveminutes,notexceed9V,
andnotrequiremorethan36Joules/meterofenergy(preferablyatorbelow12Joules/meter).
Ourgroupaimedtomakethebestofourlimitedmaterials,anddesignalightweight,robust
crawlerthatperformedwellwithinthegivenmetrics.Tohelpachieveourgoalofrunningator
below12Joules/meter,werequiredthatourcrawlerreducefrictionlossesnotonlyinthe
transmission,butalsoonthecaritself(specificallytoreducecontactbetweenthecarandtube).
Repeatabilitywasalsoasignificantdesignparameterforourteamintestingdifferent
transmissionandeggcatchingdevicedesigns,werequiredthatourresultsberepeatablesothat
wecouldpredicttheoutcomeofourfinaltest.

DESIGN DESCRIPTION:
Ourdesigncentereditselfaroundadesiretoobtainahighoutputtorqueatthedrivewheels.
Giventhevariableterrainoftheramp,slightvarietyinrampwidth,anddifferingeggweights,
weknewthatwewantedthecrawlertohaveahighgearratio.Wedeferredtooutputtorque
insteadofspeedsothatwewouldbeabletoovercometheunknownandvaryingelementsofthe
course.
Inordertoobtainahighgearratio,wecouldhaveeitherusedawormgearandfewer
stages,orcirculargearswithanincreasednumberofstages.Weknewthatthewormfunctioned
byslidingacrossthefaceofthematinggear,anactionwhichinherentlyhaslargeamountsof
friction.Ifweusedthewormasourdriveandhaditmatewitha40toothgear,wewouldonly
havea40:1ratioandwouldneedatleastoneotherstagetoattainahighenoughratiotoproduce
anaptoutputtorque.Weestimatedthatifwecouldcreateathreestagetransmissionwith
circulargears,itwouldhaveacomparablegearratiotothewormgearbasedtransmission,but
havetheadvantageofamuchhigherefficiencyduetolessfrictionbetweengears.

Figure2:Closeupofdrivetrain.

Asseenin
Figure2
above,thecrawlerhadathreestagetransmissionof8toothpinions
intermeshingwith40toothgears.Theproductofthegearratioof5ineachstageultimatelygave
usagearratioof125.Thisgearratiogaveusahighoutputtorqueandanonbackdriveable
crawler.Oursmallnumberofstagesgaveusahightransmissionefficiencyof48.8%.Being
nonbackdriveable,andhavingsuchhighgeartrainefficiencyvalidatedourdecisiontoforegothe
wormgear.Tofurtherincreaseourtransmissionefficiency,wechosetoallowforslopbetween
thegears.Decreasingtheforcebetweenintermeshinggearsallowedthemtospinmorefreely,
decreasingtheresistanceinthetransmission.Alocationwherethisbecamekeywasthejoint
betweenthemotorpinionanditsinterlockinggearevenslightadjustmentsofthemotors
relativeposition(~1mm)allowedfortheentiretraintospinmoreorlessfreely.These
considerationsareseenclearlyin
Figure

3
below.

Figure3:Closeupofmeshinginterfacebetweenmotorpinionandfirstgearstage(noticetheslightgap
betweenthegears,thismadeahugedifferenceinreducingtherollingresistanceofthecrawler)

Tocomplimentourhighoutputtorque,wewantedtominimizeslippinginthedrive
wheels,especiallygiventherelativelyslipperyterrain.Afterafewroundsoftesting,we
determinedthatthecrawlerneededtohaveitscenterofmassaheadofthedrivewheelsduring
theascent(rearwheeldrive)tominimizeslippage.Insteadofpushingtheeggofftherampand
ontothebackofthecrawler,wewouldhavetopulltheeggofftherampandontothefrontofour
crawlerduringtheascent.

Figures45:Cleardemonstrationofeggretrievingleversfunction.InFigure4(top),thegearatthe
bottommostpointofthelevercontactsthebridgeholdingtheegg,andasseeninFigure5(bottom),thearmbegins
torotatetocatchtheegg.

Topulltheeggforward,wedevelopedtheleverseenin
Figures45
above.Thelever
functionedbyhavingacentralpivotpointatapproximatelythesamerelativeheightastheeggin
thetube,asseenabove.Belowthepivotpoint,thelowersectionoftherotatingarmextendedto
contactthewoodenbridgetheeggsaton,asseenin
Figure4
.Asthecrawlerrolleddownthe
ramp,thearmwaspushedbackduetocontactwiththebridge,andcausedtheupperportionof
thelevertoswingforwardandontotheegg.Thenwhenthecrawlerascendedtheramp,thearm
pulledtheeggforwardandintothecagebuiltaheadofthemotor.Thisprocessisdepicted
belowin
Figures69
.Thesingletoothontheendoftheleverengagedwiththeeggandprovided
theforcinginterfacenecessarytopulltheeggforward,asclearlydemonstratedin
Figure7.
The

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cagebuiltinfrontofthemotorandseenin
Figure9
preventedtheeggfromlandingonthe
transmissionorfallingoffthesidesofthecrawlerifitexperiencedaturbulentascent.This
processtookalotoftrialanderrortoperfect(seeAppendixEforcrawlersdesigniteration),but
functionedconsistentlyonceitwastunedcorrectly.

Figure6:Theeggretrievingleverhaspositioneditselfcorrectlyovertheegg,thepowersourceleadsare
switched,andthecrawlerisreadytobeginascent.

Figure7:Asthecrawlerbeginstoascend,thetooth(graypiecepicturedabove)makescontactwiththe
egg,pullingitoffofthewoodenbridgeandontothecrawler

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Figure8:Theeggispulledoffofthebridgesuccessfully,andintothecagewebuilttopreventitfrom
fallingoutofthecrawlerduringascent.

Figure9:Eggsuccessfullycapturedinsidethecrawlersframe.Notethecagemadeofverticalpieces
locatedtothesidesandbehindtheeggsdroppinglocation.Thispreventedtheeggfromdislodgingthemotoror
interferingwiththedrivetrain.

Tosmoothourdescentandascent,weincludedfourguidewheels.Throughtesting,we
observedthatthecrawlerwouldinevitablyveerintothewalls,aprocesswhichunnecessarily
increasedenergyconsumption.Tosteadythecrawler,wechosetohavetwosetsofguidewheels,
oneatthefrontandoneattheback.Asdepictedbelowin
Figure10
,thewheelsoverthedrive
wheelsservedtoguidethecrawlerduringdescent,andthewheelsoverthefrontofthecart
guidedthecrawlerduringascent.Wechoosetousegearsasourguidewheelsinsteadofactual
wheelsandtiresinordertominimizetherollingfrictioninherenttorubber.Forthesamereason,
weusedagearasourfrontwheelinsteadofatraditionalwheelandtire.

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Figure10:Thisverticalimageofthecrawlerinthetubeclearlydepictstheguidewheels(greybevelgears)located
atthefrontandbackofthecar.

Ourfinalconcernwastherobustnessofthecrawler.Duetotheunknown,variablemass
ofegg,weneededtoensureanabilitytowithstandavariableforceduringtheeggsdropping.
GiventhenegligiblemassoftheLEGOsascomparedtotheegg,weoverbuiltinsectionssuchas
thewallsofourtransmissionandonourrearguidewheels,asseenin
Figure11
.Insteadof
makingthetransmissionwallswithopengaps,wechosetousethemediumlengthLEGOsto
fullyencloseourgearswhileprovidingrigidityanddecreasingdeflectioninthewalls.

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Figure11:Buildconfigurationofgearbox,forrobustness.Notethetrimmedaxlesthegearsspinon(toavoid
interferencewiththedrivingwheels).

Anothercriticaldesignfeatureofourcrawlerthataimedtomaintainrobustnesswasthe
chassis,orthetwoparallellengthwisepiecesthatconsistedofthebaseofthecar.Asseenin
Figures1213,
weusedthelongLEGOpieceswithholesasourbaseplates,anddividedthecar
intotwohalves:thebackhalf,whichcarriedthedrivetrainandthefronthalf,whichcarriedthe
eggcatchingmechanism.Tomakethecarthecorrectlengthsoastoallowfortheeggcatching
mechanismtofunctionproperly,wehadtoexperimentwithdifferentplacementsofthefrontand
rearsectionsofthecrawler.Thiswasaccomplishedeasily,usingthedoublelengthLegopins,
thatcouldbepressedthroughthetwojoiningchassismembersWeusedtwopinsoneachsideof
thechassis,separatedbyatleastonehole(forstiffness).Theseareclearlydemonstratedin
Figure13.Otherthanallowingustoconnectthetwohalvesofthecar,andadjustforlengthwith
ease,thisdesignensuredthatoncetheeggfellintothecar,itwouldnotsnapinhalf.Overall,the

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crawlerwasstronginplacesthatitneededtobe,butwewereabletoreduceweightasmuchas
possibleotherwise.

Figure12:Bottomviewofthecar,clearlyshowingthechassissections(longparallelpieces).Notethattheouter
piecesareconnectedtotherearsectionofthecar,whiletheinnerpiecesareconnectedtothefront.Thisallowedfor
easylengthadjustment,andmadethecarmoreserviceable.SeeFigure13forconnectiondetail.

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Figure13:Detailviewofconnectionbetweenfront/rearsectionsofthecrawler.Notethetanpinsthatrunthrough
thedepthofthetwoadjacentlengthwisepieces.

LOGISTICS
Duringthefinalperformance,wecapitalizedonthefactthatwehaddonemanyroundsof
testinginordertoretrievetheeggquickly.Inourpractice,welearnedthebestwaytooperatethe
powersupplytomakeourprocessassmoothaspossible.Wealsolearnedhowbesttoplacethe
eggforourretrievalsystem(placedcenteredworkedbest!),whichvoltagetorundowntheramp
at,andwhichvoltagetoascendwith(2Vand6V,respectively).Ourretrievalarm,andespecially
itstooth,allowedforthecrawlertograbandpulltheeggintoitssafetybasketwithout
interventionfromanyteammembers.Thebasketcradledtheeggduringthefortunatelysmooth
climb,andourcrawlerfunctionedbeautifully!Ourdecisiontooverbuildcriticalareasfor
robustnessalsoprovedworthwhile,asourcrawlerwasabletowithstandtheforcesoftheegg
droppingintoitwhilestillmanagingtoobtainalowenergyconsumption.
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
Duringourfinalperformance,ourcrawlerused6.63Joulesofenergyasitascendedthe
rampin6.14secondsat6Voltsand.18Amps.Ofthe6.63Joulesused,only.49Jouleswentto
liftingtheegg,and1.08wenttoliftingthecrawleritself.Asaresult,ourcrawlerhadanoverall
efficiencyof23.7%.Thisoverallefficiencywascomprisedofa56.7%motorefficiency,45.6%
geartrainefficiency,andanefficiencybetweenthewheelsandrampof91.2%(witharolling
resistanceof.985Newtons).Together,thesefactorscomprisedthemainsourcesofenergylosses
duringthecrawlersascent:inthemotor,inthetransmission,andbetweenthecrawlerswheels
andtheramp.SeeappendixAforEnergyandEnergyLossdiagram,andmoredetailed
calculations.

MEASURING MOTOR AND TRANSMISSION EFFICIENCY:

Tomeasuretheefficiencyofourcrawlersmotorandgeartrain,weusedthedrumtest.
Thistestcomprisesoftwosteps:holdingthecrawlerstationaryonatable,andcantileveringits
drivewheelsofftheedge.Wewoundastringaroundoneofthedrivewheelsandtiedaknown
masstotheotherend.Weranthecrawlerat6V(tomatchourascentvoltage),usingthemotor
andgeartraintopullthemassup.Wemeasuredhowlongthistesttook,howfarthemass
traveled,andatwhatcurrentthemotorran.Becauseweknewtheinputpowertothemotor(the
productoftheinputvoltageandcurrent)andtheoutputpowerofthegeartrain(theproductof
theweightofmassandthespeedatwhichitwasdrawnup),wewereabletocalculatethe
combinedefficiencyofourmotorandtransmission.Becausewehadpreviouslycharacterizedthe
motor(asseenbelow)wewereabletodeterminehowmuchpowerwasitwasproducing.Given
thatweknewboththemotorinputandoutputpowers,wecalculatedthemotorefficiencyand
werethenabletobackoutthetransmissionefficiencyfromthecombinedefficiencyofthetwo.

MEASURING ROLLING RESISTANCE

Tomeasuretherollingresistanceofourcrawler,weperformedthepulleytest.Duringthe
pulleytest,wetiedaropetothefrontofthecartasitsatinatube,andstrungitoveran
effectivelyfrictionlesspulley.Wethentiedtheotherendtoamass,whichhungfreelyoffthe
endofthetube.Wevariedtheamountofhangingmassuntilwasinstaticequilibriumwiththe
crawler.Wethenmeasuredthemassvalueandtherampangle.Weknewthattheweightofthe

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masshadtoequaltheweightofthecrawlerscaledbytherampangle,plussomerollingfriction.
Knowingthecrawlerweight,massweight,andrampangle,wewerethenabletodetermineour
rollingresistance.(Seefreebodydiagramsbelow)

CHARACTERIZING THE MOTOR

Tocharacterizethemotorweperformedthenoloadtestandthestalltest.Duringtheno
loadtest,weranthemotor,lettingitspinfreely(hencethenoloadcondition)atarangeof
voltagesandateachvoltagerecordedthemotorsinputcurrentanditscorrespondingangular
velocity(accomplishedwithatachometer).Duringthestalltest,weranthemotoroverarangeof
voltagesforwhichwebrieflystalledthemotorbyholdingitsshaftstationary.Thiscauseda
currentspike,whichwequicklymeasuredbeforereleasingthemotorandallowingittospin
freelyagain.Wecombinedtheresultsandmeasurementsfromtheseteststogeneratetheplots
shownbelow,andwerethusabledeterminethemotorsresistance,frictionaltorquevalue,and
motorconstant.

MOTOR PLOTS

Aftercharacterizingthemotor,wewereabletoformtheaboveplots.Asseenontheplot
ofefficiencyvs.currentforthe6Voltascentinput,wewereoperatingatthenearlythepeak
efficiencyofthemotor,meaningthatduringourclimb,weeliminatedalmostallpossibleenergy
lossesinthemotor.Ontheplotofpowervs.current,itisclearthatweoperatedintheupperhalf
ofourpeakpoweroutputrange.Thisallowedustoefficientlyandsmoothlyclimbtheramp
withoutwastinganyexcessenergy.

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Aboveistheplotoftorquevs.motorspeed.Althoughtheascentangularvelocityofthe
motorproducedarelativelylowoutputtorque,ourgearratioof125increasedourtorqueoutput
tothewheelstoavalueofover.0625NewtonMeters,whichwasmorethanenoughtoclimbthe
rampandovercomeanyobstaclesinthecrawlerspath.SeeAppendixBforMatlabscripttoall
threeplots.

FREE BODY DIAGRAMS

Inthefreebodydiagramspicturedbelow,weseethatduringbothascentanddescent,the
centerofmassofthecrawlerwascomfortablybetweenthetwowheelsandbiasedtowardsthe
drivewheels.Becausethecenterofmasswasbetweenthetwosetsofwheels,thisallowedusto
ascendwiththedrivewheelsintheback(rearwheeldrive).Duetotherampangle,thecenterof
massmovedtobecomeclosertodirectlyabovethedrivewheels,increasingtractionand
minimizinglossesduetoslipping.Wewereabletoensurethiscenterofmasspositioning
becauseofoureggretrievaldesigntheleveringmechanismallowedforustocatchtheeggin
thecenterofthecrawler,movingourcenterofmassaheadofthedrivewheels.Thisprevented
bothslippingandthepossibilityofflippingthecaroverinawheelieduringascent.Detailed
calculationsmadeusingtheFBDsareincludedinAppendicesCandD.

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ANALYSIS OF ANTICIPATED PERFORMANCE W/ EGG MASS CHANGES

Thelimitingfactorofhowmuchmassthecartcancarryishowmuchtorquethedrive
wheelscanoutput.Wecanfindthemaximumoutputtorquethemotorcanproducebyexamining
ourtorquevs.angularvelocityplot.Onthisplot,themaximumtorqueproducedbythemotoris
astalltorqueandoccurswhenthemotorisntspinning.Thisofcourseisntreasonable,because
thecrawlercantmoveifthemotorisntrotating.Althoughwewantalowangularvelocityto
produceahightorque,weneedthecrawlertoascendtherampinareasonabletime.Ifthe
crawlercanonlybeinthetubeforfiveminutesbeforedinosaursattack,andwecanassumethat
thecrawlersdescentwilltakeamaximumof30seconds,thismeanswecanallotfourminutes
and30seconds(270seconds)toitsascent.Moredetailedcalculationscanbeseeninappendix
D,however,thistimeframecorrespondstoanangularvelocityatthemotorsoutputof72.29
rad/s.Fromourtorquevs.speedplot,weseethatthismatcheswithatorqueof2.4*10^3Nmat
themotoroutputandultimately.125Nmatthewheels.Fromthis,wecanusestaticequilibrium
principlestodeterminethattheheaviestpossibleeggwecancarryis1.16kg.Withaneggof
1.16kg,ourenergyconsumptionwouldonlybe28.57J/m,whichisstillbelowthe36J/m
threshold.Thelightesteggwecouldcarrywouldbenoegg,andthiswouldresultinanenergy
consumptionof4.56J/m.
Indeterminingourrangeofallowableeggmassesandtheirrespectiveenergy
consumptions,weassumedthatallofourefficienciesremainconstant.Thisassumptionisnot
unreasonableforthelossesbetweenthewheelsandthetrackbecausetheyamountofslippingis
inverselyproportionaltoweightandrollingresistanceisdirectlyproportionaltoweight.
Accordingly,asthemasschanges,changesinthesepropertieswouldroughlybalance.However,
withincreasedloading,bothmotorandgeartrainefficiencieswouldlikelyincrease.Thisisseen
throughourmotorefficiencyvs.currentplot.Withaheavyorlighteggwewoulduseveryhigh
andverylowcurrentsrespectivelywhichwouldgreatlydecreaseourmotorefficiencyandresult
inlargerenergyconsumptionsthancalculated.Althoughwehaveseenthatacartwithnomass
cancarryitselfuptheramp,thevalueoftheheaviestpossibleeggwecouldcarryislikely
overstatedduetounderestimatedefficienciesofthemotorandtransmission.

CONCLUSIONS:
Aftermanydesigniterationsandtesting,thefinaldesign(asdescribed)worked
flawlessly.Ourteamspentalotoftimemakingsurethateachfunctionofthecrawlerworked
correctly,anditpaidoff.Thedaybeforetesting,weranovertwentysuccessfultests
consecutively,stoppingthecaronthewaydownandsuccessfullyretrievingtheeggeachtime.
Weevenchosetonotlubricateourgears,aswewerewellbelowthe12Joule/meterspecification
forfullcredit
without
lubrication.Thethoughtthatwentintothedesignofthegeartrain,theegg
catcher,andtheguidewheelscombinedwiththeextensiveamountoftestingwedidmeantthat
ontestday,thecrawlerworkedwithoutahiccup.Greatsuccess!

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APPENDIX A:

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APPENDIX B:
Matlabscriptformotorplots:
%ME112CRAWLER
clear
all
close
all
clc

%Noloadmeasurements(voltage,amperage,rpm)
v_nl=[0.91.933.94.96.17.189.1]
a_nl=[.034.037.042.046.053.058.061.066.07]
rpm_nl=[16103960656785801093413421151031611117516]
w_nl=rpm_nl*(2*pi/60)

%StallTorqueMeasurements(Voltage,Amperage)

v_stall=[11.522.53]
a_stall=[.092.16.21.264.309]

R=9.25
k=0.0042
total=0
for
i=1:length(a_nl)
Tf(i)=k*a_nl(i)
total=total+Tf(i)
end
Tf_avg=total/length(Tf)
%%GearBoxEfficiency
radius_pulley=(1.25/2)*2.54/100
%m
GearRatio=125
V=6
%V
I=.13
%Amp
mass=128.5/1000
%Kg
g=9.81
D=.42
%m
t=2.6
%s

%GeneralCalculations
F=mass*g
GearTorque=F*radius_pulley
Velo=D/t
GearOmega=Velo/radius_pulley
GearPower=GearTorque*GearOmega
MotorInputPower=V*I
MotorOmega=GearOmega*GearRatio

Tl=k*ITf_avg
MotorOutputPower=Tl*MotorOmega

%Efficiencies
TransEfficiency=100*GearPower/MotorOutputPower
MotorAndGearEfficiency=100*GearPower/MotorInputPower
MotorEfficiency=100*MotorAndGearEfficiency/TransEfficiency

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%%Descent
V_D=2
i_nl_D=Tf_avg/k
i_stall_D=V_D/R
wnl_D=(V_D(i_nl_D*R))/k

w_D=0:.1:wnl_D
i_D=(V_Dw_D.*k)./R
Tl_D=(k.*i_DTf_avg)
P_D=Tl_D.*w_D

e_D=P_D./(i_D.*V_D)
Tl_D_max=max(Tl_D)

%%Ascent
V_A=6
i_nl_A=Tf_avg/k
i_stall_A=V_A/R
wnl_A=(V_A(i_nl_A*R))/k

w_A=0:.1:wnl_A
i_A=(V_Aw_A.*k)./R
Tl_A=(k.*i_ATf_avg)
P_A=Tl_A.*w_A

e_A=P_A./(i_A.*V_A)
Tl_A_max=max(Tl_A)

%%Plots

%TorquevsSpeed
figure(1)
plot(w_D,Tl_D,w_A,Tl_A)
xlabel(
'Speed(rad/s)'
)
ylabel(
'Torque(Nm)'
)
title(
'TorquevsSpeed'
)
legend(
'Descent(2V)'
,
'Ascent(6V)'
)
grid
on
plotfixer

%PowervsCurrent
figure(2)
plot(i_D,P_D,i_A,P_A)
xlabel(
'Current(amps)'
)
ylabel(
'Power(Watts)'
)
title(
'PowervsCurrent'
)
legend(
'Descent(2V)'
,
'Ascent(6V)'
)
grid
on
plotfixer

%MotorEfficiencyvsCurrent
figure(3)
plot(i_D,e_D,i_A,e_A)

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xlabel(
'Current(amps)'
)
ylabel(
'Efficiency'
)
title(
'EfficiencyvsCurrent'
)
legend(
'Descent(2V)'
,
'Ascent(6V)'
)
grid
on
plotfix

APPENDIX C:

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APPENDIX D:

APPENDIX E:
Design Iteration and Progress:
Fromthefirstcrawler,wewereabletodesignagearboxthatfrominitialtestingand
intuition,suppliedourcrawlerwiththeappropriatetorque,andhadlowinternalfriction.We
prototypedalandingpadfortheeggaswellasstopperstokeeptheeggsecure.Atthisstageof
thedesignprocess,wenoticedasignificantprobleminthatthecrawlerdidnotrunparalleltothe
sidesofthetrack.Wesuspectedthiswasduetoanimbalanceofweightcausedbythemotor
location.

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Wemademanymodificationstoourinitialcrawlerinoursecondcrawler,seenbelow.To
addresstheproblemofourcrawlerveeringtowardthewallsofthetrack,wemadeasetofguide
wheelswhosedistancefromtheoutsideofeachwheelwasaslargeasthetrackwidth.Ourgoal
fortheguidewheelswastokeepthecrawlermovinginlinewiththetrackwithoutadding
significantfriction.Additionally,webegantoexploreoptionsforhowtogettheeggontothe
crawler.Thisdesign,however,wasnotsuccessfulinretrievingtheegg.

Thisiterationofthecrawlerwasunsuccessfulinretrievingtheeggbuttheguidewheels
worked,andthecarsuccessfullydroveupanddowntheramp.Weattemptedtoaddanareato
catchtheeggontotherearend(betweenthosetwoblackaxlesstickingoutoftheback),but
quicklylearnedthatthecarwouldflipoverwiththemassdistributedassuch.Fromthat
knowledge,wedecidedtomakethecarsignificantlylonger,tomakeroomtodroptheegg
in
front
ofthedrivetrain.

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Whatresultedfromourfindingswasthecarpicturedabove.Theeggcatchingareaisinthefront,
andwehadgoodtractionintherearwheels.Thiscarworkedwell,butstillwasunableto
consistentlydroptheeggfromthebridge.Incamethelevermechanism:

Aftersomemoretweaking,ourfinalcrawleremerged:

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FIN.