What is Drag Racing ? |
Dragster |
Drag Racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles usually specially prepared for the purpose compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, a race between two or more cars over a short distance, usually a quarter of a mile, as a test of acceleration.
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Specialized racing cars that are build to compete in Drag Racing. These cars are usley RWD and with a high torque and hosrepown. Weight Reduction and Acceleration are the key to success. They're pointy with a spoiler and front wing to create downforce with huge wheels in the rear and small ones in the front.
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VEX Drag Racing
Just like drag racing, VEX Drag Racing has the same concept as the actual drag racing but the only difference being that it would be played in a hallway with the start being the door and finish being the other door. We start when we hear a clap by the head judge, the first team to touch the carpet on the other side wins the race. There first would be 3 normal games, according to that score you would move to playoffs where you verse one alliance and the best result out of 3 goes to semis and then semis to final and hopefully for our team championship.
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Our Idea
OOur Idea was to first make a frame in which we would lay down the bearing flaps, then build a geartain. Our boy was going to be RWD with the rear bigger wheels powered by a gear train which is powered by 2 motors. The Rear wheels are bigger than the front one which would help in aero . In the space between the front wheels and the gear would be our brain setup. Our theory that the bot should look as good as it works and that has worked for since that push us to make a more neat and concise bot that works on the top of the table. Other plans were to install a spoiler in the rear end and a front wing in the front to create some weight on the end and to create downforce. The Geartrain was the main part of this project so here we go. We did not use the more wider gears like other teams but instead we decided to use thinner ones. First there would be a smaller gear , a 30 teeth and connected to that would our second gear a bigger one with 60 teeth on the same shaft would be our third gear which would a 30 teeth and the last one one which the mootrs would be connect the 60 teeth gear. So ur gear-ratio would be a 1:2:1:2. This robot will be speeeeeeeeed.
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Build/Process/Strategy
Building this bot wasnt thta hard it took us an whole class and some after shool hours to complete. It was fairly easy and fun to build too. We had completely folllwed the instructsion and idea we used for the bot and we had executed it perfectly. Our code had not even a single problem adn worked harmonilsy with the bot and its wheels. We had liitle to no problems while builidng our robot and when the we had completed and stated testing it. Our startegy was to us our gear trian to launch to this and which would acclerate like a beast. Our idea matched with the dragster we made and we were happy that it worked super good.
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Struggles
While building the only struggles we had were that the spacing sometime wouldn't work but we fixed it. The problem had was battery placement first it on the side of robot but the problem with that was that there was too much weight on on side and not on the other so we had to balance it out so in order to do that I we had to build a bridge type structure that was built on 4 pillars with the battery clips on top on which the battery sits. But we did not have any other issues with my build but that came while testing and competition ouu robot just would go in a straight line consistently and that was our fatal flaw in the end.
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Evolution of AC Dragster
Competition
Our regular season record was historic. We went 3-0, undefeated, undisturbed with the first seed in the playoffs. The first match in the regular season, our bot was fast, its speed was unmatched but still it had the straight inconsistency. Second we won comfortably and the third match the other had made it to the half of the track and both wouldn't start then when it started it went down like a lightning bolt and we won that game hence we went undefeated. Then came the playoffs we later were testing after school and our robot just wouldn't go straight anymore, we tried a couple things and it still didn't work. Then when the playoffs came we lost the first game by a quiet margin because the other team wasn't that fast but it had steering ability which made it supreme. In the second game our launch was hella good and we were about to smoke them but our robot turned and their bot marched to victory and later won the whole competition. This was the most fun i have ever had at a competition and this robot was the hardest to dismantle emotionally cause i just loved the way we built and going undefeated. But nevertheless we left and a title challengers. As Mr.Ma said we Lamar Jackson'ed it.
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