Practice log

[LAndrus]

The rules state that the practice log must contain 10 runs using the following variables: vehicle distance, run time, Bonus can setting(if used) and wheel setting. What the heck do they mean by wheel setting?

[MadCow2357]

The wheel setting is basically the number of wheel rotations that you wind your buggy to run for. I don't really know how to put it any other way... sorry

It might be easier to understand by watching someone wind their buggy (on youtube or something), or look at someone's practice log. If you want to see my practice log from last year, PM me and I can show you what I mean... though my scores were actually terrible, so don't judge lol

[sciolyperson1]

The rules state that the practice log must contain 10 runs using the following variables: vehicle distance, run time, Bonus can setting(if used) and wheel setting. What the heck do they mean by wheel setting?

How they heck do you know where you wind the wheel, in order to accurately stop the vehicle at the target point?

jkjk thats kinda rude lol

but its pretty much how many times you wound the wheel, or the distance of the wingnut, or how you measure the distance of the vehicle.

[MadCow2357]

or the distance of the wingnut, or how you measure the distance of the vehicle.

To add on to what he said ^ , you can also forgo the tedious act of counting each individual rotation every time you want to run your buggy by instead using a scale. On last year's buggy, I cut up one of those cheap NECAP rulers (it's easy as cutting cardboard), and stuck it on the stopping rod of my buggy. You can save valuable time by doing this, since you only have to match the wingnut's tip with the chosen mark on the scale. However, when you are pressed to be as accurate as possible, it is probably a better idea to count the individual rotations instead.

Again, PM me if you want additional help, advice, or resources. I can send pictures of what I did last year to anyone who might be interested.

Keep in mind, however, windu34 is the real expert on this ("Paging windu34, paging windu34, please report immediately to the Practice log topic in the Battery Buggy forum" )

[windu34]

you can also forgo the tedious act of counting each individual rotation every time you want to run your buggy by instead using a scale

Was this accurate? I cant imagine that it would be accurate enough, but then again I ran away from using wingnuts as soon as I discovered encoders so I dont have a ton of personal experience to know if this works. As for the question about the practice log, Its not meant to be a rigid structure. If you count rotations of the wheel, you can certainly put that as your "distance adjusting parameter". Same goes for if you use the scale as mentioned by MadCow

[MadCow2357]

you can also forgo the tedious act of counting each individual rotation every time you want to run your buggy by instead using a scale

Was this accurate? I cant imagine that it would be accurate enough, but then again I ran away from using wingnuts as soon as I discovered encoders so I dont have a ton of personal experience to know if this works. As for the question about the practice log, Its not meant to be a rigid structure. If you count rotations of the wheel, you can certainly put that as your "distance adjusting parameter". Same goes for if you use the scale as mentioned by MadCow

You're absolutely right, windu. The accuracy, I think, is much less when using the scale method since you have to eyeball a lot of stuff. And by counting wheel rotations, you can pretty much calculate distance down to fractions of a centimeter. That's why this year I'm going to go with counting the rotations themselves.

Also... To build on what windu said about the distance parameter thing, the judges don't care if you counted wheel rotations, or your scale value, or even how much time you took to wind the wheel (though that's not recommended) for your brake setting parameter... Just choose a way to specify your brake setting, and stick with it.