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Whole Robot Design Check

Every subsystem checked against every other one at once. Individually sound choices can still add up to an illegal, unstable or unfinishable robot.

Inputs

The robot

lb
in
in
in
in
in
in

Drivetrain

Mecanum and flex wheels share a diameter with the plain ones, so pick by name rather than by size. Anything not listed can be typed in.

Raised load & autonomous

lb
in
sec

From the Autonomous Time Estimator.

Other subsystems

1
2

Results

Overall

—

Drivetrain power

—

Cap is 55W.

Total motor power

—

Cap is 88W.

Top speed

—ft/s

Pushing force

—lbf

Limited by

—

Tipping threshold, lift up

—g

Tightest constraint

—

Every check

    How this is calculated

    Every number here comes from a tool that has its own page and its own explanation. What this adds is the checking of one against another, which is where designs usually come apart.

    The conflicts it looks for

    • Power against ambition. The drivetrain cap and the total cap are separate limits, and a drive built to the55W ceiling leaves whatever remains of88W for everything else. Teams usually design the drive first and discover the shortfall later.
    • Grip against stability. Improving traction raises the acceleration the floor can deliver, which is exactly what tips a robot with a raised load. Better wheels can make a robot less stable.
    • Torque against traction. Gearing down for pushing power achieves nothing once the wheels are already the limit, and it costs speed you needed for autonomous.
    • Speed against time. A routine that does not fit the period is usually fixed by removing a step rather than by gearing up, because short moves never reach top speed anyway.

    Where each figure comes from

    Speed and pushing force use the same maths as thespeed andtraction pages. Stability follows thetipping page, including the CG shift from a raised load. Power follows thepower budget rules. Each of those pages has the derivation and the caveats; this one just runs them together.

    Read the tightest constraint first

    The single most useful output is which check has the least margin. That is the thing to change, and changing anything else is usually wasted effort. It is also the number that moves when you make a design decision, which makes it a fast way to compare two candidate robots.

    Sources & assumptions

    Power caps (88W total, 55W drivetrain) and the 18" starting envelope are from theOverride 2026-27 game manual and change between seasons. Motor and wheel figures are VEX published, except the 200 and 600 RPM stall torques which are derived.

    The friction coefficient is estimated. It drives both the pushing force and the stability verdict, so it is the number most worth measuring on your own robot.

    Carries every assumption from the pages it draws on: no drivetrain losses, stall torque for pushing, free speed for top speed, a rigid robot on flat tiles. Each is optimistic, so a design with no margin here has less than it appears.

    Save this run, and compare

    Keeps what is on screen so you can change something and see both sides of the change. Saved in this browser only, never uploaded.

    Save this as evidence

    Collects what you entered, what came out, how it was worked out, and anything the tool flagged, with a timestamp and a version so someone else can reproduce it.

    This is evidence, not a notebook entry. It deliberately does not write your problem statement, your reasoning, or your conclusion, because under RECF rules an Engineering Notebook has to be the students' own work and no tool may generate or organise its content. Take the numbers, decide what matters, and write it yourself.