ride on powertool drag racer

[big_nipper]

Re: ride on powertool drag racer

Like the Idea of Bracket Racing since we have full torque limiting on each Angle grinder, repeatable times would be very easy. Guess we would soon get banned though.

Seriously though the big teams are not very fast yet (or at least last year) so the competition is wide open. It always makes it easier with more money, but it can be done with alot less, just needs different thinking and smarter engineering.

We just did it for a bit of fun, but we still want to win If we beat just one petrol powered one we will be happy.

[Mouldy]

Re: ride on powertool drag racer

No reason you'd get banned... The people who do better in real drag racing run automatics that aren't that fast... Just put there foot down and keep it down until the end so they keep consistent to there dial-in time... As Tom said, it only becomes difficult when you need to work out if your running to fast and need to work out when to let of the loud pedal

[xtreme]

Re: ride on powertool drag racer

Repeatable times would be easy but you could still loose it on reaction time, and even with the slightest bit of wind can change your ET enough to make you loose a race so you would have to know if to apply more throttle or back off to get your time back in line. Some races are won and lost by as little as 0.001 of a second. all you have to do is go 0.001 of a second quicker than your dial in and youv lost.
Say for example you get within 0.5 of a second of your dial in time but your reaction time is 1.2 seconds and your opponents runs within 1 second of his dial in but gets a reaction of 0.5 seconds, They have won the race by 0.2 seconds.

You have to start thinking about things that you wouldnt think about usually.
Wind direction, this could speed you up or slow you down easily.
Tyre pressure, slightly less pressure in your tyres causes rolling resistance and more inflated tyres effectively changes your gearing.
Wear on the engine/motor, Quite obvious really
Even the slightest bit of weight. Somthing as simple as having lunch, and amount of fuel in the tank can make a differance.
It sounds stupid, but if you get a few of these things happen at once it can make a big difference, Lower tyre pressure, more weight and a head wind, That might be half a second lost on your run. half a second is a huge amount.

As soon as you get a few guys running consistant times it really gets interesting.

[craig_colliass]

Re: ride on powertool drag racer

We just did it for a bit of fun, but we still want to win If we beat just one petrol powered one we will be happy.

I think you should win Mark Electric Dragsters are the way to go! In any case I want one of the Roboteers teams to win this year

Good Luck guys

[xtreme]

Re: ride on powertool drag racer

Only problem is electric doesnt make the right noises

[webby]

Re: ride on powertool drag racer

Webby was you at Shakey at the hot rod drags at the weekend? if you was I was probably talking to you lol. Ball Breakers a nice looking Slingshot. Impressive on the track too, Runs 9s doesnt it? Iv kinda got a thing for FED's. You cant got wrong with a slingshot or an old skool Fuel Altered like pure hell and winged express. We have owned a fair few race cars that you will have seen racing before.

thanks, we were at shakey, good event (apart from weather!)

[xtreme]

Re: ride on powertool drag racer

Weather was ok on sunday, some good racing.

[james...venom]

Re: ride on powertool drag racer

That sounds interesting I shall put it forward for our next meeting.

We are also going to put forward running a privateer class and a pro class however money isnt what makes you win. Fleet must have built one of the cheapest dragsters there and yet they were consistantly 2nd this year until the finals. Robo Challenge spent around £250 on our dragster, for the rest we spoke to companies about sponsoring parts as any other roboteer could & should. Its only Silverline that have put any real money into the racing and thats only because the engineering to build their dragsters have cost, parts wise they dont use any fancy stuff at all. You guys are all engineers. Everyone either builds a light dragster or gets companies to sponsor engines. then you can be competitive

[james...venom]

Re: ride on powertool drag racer

In fact if you would really like to build a ride on for next year let me know and I shall speak to Silverline to see if there is any possibility of sponsorship of engines or grinders. email me at info (at) robochallenge.co.uk and I shall see if anything is possible for you.

[john_frizell]

Re: ride on powertool drag racer

Great event! Crap weather in the morning, good weather in the afternoon, outstanding weather at all times inside, under Concord, where I was competing. Over half the awards went to machines built by roboteers.