Worksheet: Get in Gear
Introduction to Mobile Robotics > Get in Gear
This worksheet is provided for reference only. Be sure that you follow the steps in the
online directions, and answer the questions at the appropriate times. Fill out all your
answers on a separate sheet of paper.
Construct: Motor Power Level
Observations:
1. Did the robot appear to move faster than it had when the motors were set at 75%
power?
2. Why did increasing motor power make the robot go faster?
Construct: Gears
Check your understanding
3. Do you think the robot’s speed will increase if you change the gears? Why or why
not?
Construct: Gears II
Observations:
4. Did your robot move faster than it did with the old gears and 100% power? How did
you determine this?
Construct: Gears III
Observations:
5. How fast did your robot go this time, compared to the other runs?
© Copyright 2006 Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy 1/3
Contemplate: Get in Gear
6. List two ways to make the robot go faster.
7. List two ways to make the robot go slower.
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?
9. Think about exactly why the robot goes faster or slower when you change the gears.
Your robot starts with these gears:
i. Compared to the original, would the robot go faster,
slower, or the same speed with these gears? Explain
your answer.
ii. Would the robot go faster, slower, or the same speed
as the original robot with these gears? Explain your
answer.
iii. Describe, in your own words, why changing gears will sometimes make
the robot go faster, and why it will sometimes go slower or the same
speed instead.
iv. Describe a simple rule that will tell you whether a certain pair of gears will
make a robot go faster, slower, or the same speed as the standard pair of
16-tooth gears.
© Copyright 2006 Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy 2/3
10. When you ran your robot with the modified gearing, did you notice where it stopped?
i. The second robot went farther than the first robot even though they were
both set to go for the same number of motor rotations. How is this
possible?
ii. The third robot didn’t go as far as either of the other two, even though it
too was set to go for the same number of motor rotations. How is this
possible?
Continue: Tradeoffs
Observations:
11. Which gear order…
i. Made the robot move fastest with no books?
ii. Could push the most books?
iii. Would you use for a bulldozer robot?
iv. Would you use for a race car robot?
12. Explain how the tradeoff you found is a good reason for real-world vehicles to be
able to choose different gear settings when pulling a trailer, versus driving down the
highway without one.
© Copyright 2006 Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy 3/3
