1. Did the robot appear to move faster than it had when the motor were set at 75% power?
- Um, yes. With my new gears I have twice as much power. Even if my program has my robot running at 75 percent power I am still going at a faster speed.
2. Why did increasing motor power make the robot go faster?
- Increasing motor power made my wheels spin faster.
3. Do you think the robot's speed will increase if you change the gears? Why or why not?
- If I change the gears so the gear attached to the motor is big and the gear attached to the wheel is small, yes, because I will move more of a distance with the same amount of rotation from the driving gear.
4. Did you robot move faster than it did with the old gears and 100% power? How did you determine this?
- No. The new gears for sures made my robot move faster, even at 51% power. I determined this with my brain. The new gears make my robot go twice as fast, so I take my motor speed and times it by 2 and that new number is how fast it is going. So 2 • 51 = 102. Oh snap.
5. How fast did your robot go this time, compared to the other runs?
-It went pretty darn tootin fast.
6. List two ways to make the robot go faster.
- 1) add bigger wheels.
- 2) change the gears.
7. List two ways to make the robot go slower.
- Make the driving gear the small gear and make the driven gear the big gear.
8. When you want the robot to go faster by changing its gears, do you put the larger gear on the wheel or on the motor?
- On the wheel.
9. Think about exactly why the robot goes faster or slower when you change the gears. Your robot starts with these gears:
a. Compared to the original, would the robot go faster, slower or the same speed with these gears?
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b.
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c.
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d.
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