Battery Buggy B

[Insert Name Here]

So at STATE you have to have an amazing score to place. Like my team, we had an estimated score of around 250. And by the end (we had recorded and estimated all the other team's scores too), we thought we were gonna place considering we had one of the fastest times and within a meter of the fixed point. But we were sadly mistaken,

[Gemma W]

Wait, within a meter? As in one hundred centimeters? No offense, but a competitive score is more like within ten cm. Also, there's no way you could have a score of 250 if you were off by even half a meter. The score is distance in mm plus time x 25.

[JohnStack2]

any help on making it turn

Angle the wheels to one direction and angle the car the other direction at the right place to make it turn to the tape

[JohnStack2]

Is there a way to make a four wheel buggy turn other than different wheel sizes and screw at the front? or a way to make it go straight, and then turn (around the bucket) and the go straight again?

the only way to do that would be to have a computer chip to tell it when it goes a certian distance and then turns so i dont think so

[JohnStack2]

What is this micro switch

a switch that can turn of the main switch

[fleet130]

What is this micro switch

Micro Switch
Miniature snap-action switch

[Gemma W]

Is there a way to make a four wheel buggy turn other than different wheel sizes and screw at the front? or a way to make it go straight, and then turn (around the bucket) and the go straight again?

the only way to do that would be to have a computer chip to tell it when it goes a certian distance and then turns so i dont think so

Which I believe is illegal.

[Epicfail]

Yea, i think so too. Pulley or gears? i used pulley

[scifipi]

Yea, i think so too. Pulley or gears? i used pulley

I use gears. To me, they seem like they're simpler, but I don't know the ups and downs of pulleys and gears. Can anyone list them?

[Gemma W]

I used gears, because of the way our motor and axle connection works.

[scifipi]

So does that mean there is no difference in using gears or pulleys just as long as it works with the motor?

[Gemma W]

So does that mean there is no difference in using gears or pulleys just as long as it works with the motor?

I'm not sure what any differences are, but as long as it works with the motor it should probably be good. I think it also depends on how much space you have on your car, since pulleys take up more space. I'm not an expert either though, so you probably should do some other research or get someone else's opinion. I know one advantage of gears is that they cannot slip, but pulleys may be cheaper and/or easier to build.

[illusionist]

What she said was right. Pulleys are possibly cheaper, since you can use some plastic discs and some rubber bands to make them. However, they slip quite easily depending on the weight of your vehicle and the speed. Gears would be the best choice since you can also buy them pretty cheaply, and they are more durable/easier to place in teh vehicle.

[Gemma W]

If you do use gears, make sure that they are well mounted and mesh well. If they don't mesh well it can lead to inaccuracy or just not working at all.

[Epicfail]

...hmm...i don't think gears even works on our buggy because we use a wingnut/micro switch and pulley on same axle so in order to to wind the wingnut back we need to take the rubber band off...