Motors are the legs and feet of your robot and are critical to determining the strength and speedof your robot. However, motors live in what we refer to as the PowerTrain. There are a few elements to consider in the PowerTrain found in this Starter Robot. These elements include a Motor Controller, Motor, and Gearbox.
For this design, we chose to select a gearmotor, which is a motor that already includes the gearbox. This decision simplifies the assembly process and reduces the amount of overall space needed. Optimizing individual motors and gearboxes will be a way to quickly improve your designs and to specialize robots for different positions on the field. Linemen often want to use high amounts of torque and don’t need high amounts of speed while running backs will often want the opposite. The Gearbox you select will have an immediate impact on output torque and on free running speed as defined by the spec sheet on the items you find. We recommend mounting the motors and gearboxes with whatever method or bracketry their supplier provides as it is in this robot with gearmotors and mounts from Pololu.
The motor controller will need to be specced after selecting your motor. Once you have a motor, you will be able to identify electrical specifications such as the maximum current draw and operating voltage. Motor manufacturers will recommend the operating voltage that the motor
controller and the motor driver will both use. In our case, this will also be the nominal battery voltage so minimal power regulation. Manufacturers will typically provide the following specifications for motors:
When selecting the motor controller, it is important that the motor controller has the ability to provide the maximum current so that the driver is not damaged if the motor is stalled. The motor controller that we chose was directly associated with our gearmotor from Pololu. Note that by doing more research you may be able to find a better, more efficient option for your system.