non-FRC motors and speed controllers

[wilful]

Hi,

I'm building a robot with a club in college and we are looking for 12v motors and speed controllers for the robot's drive system. Currently we are planning to use CIMs and Talons, but I thought that I might get some good insight on where to buy good motors and speed controllers here.

The robot we are building is roughly the size of an FRC robot, although geared more for power longevity and torque.

Thanks

[pastelpony]

Robotshop should carry parts for something a tad stronger than your typical FRC bot.

[Tem1514 Mentor]

May be you might consider using brushless motors and ESC's

Given the high speeds of brushless motors you may gear them way down for lots of power.

[nuclearnerd]

I would also consider brushless motors and ESCs. They are really powerful for the price (although there may not be as many gearbox options).

I used these 40A brushed DC motor controller for an industrial project, and they worked like champs: http://www.roboteq.com/index.php/roboteq-products-and-services/brushed-dc-motor-controllers

[AdamHeard]

I'm very partial to the Ampflow line of motors, especially now that they have an economy line.

Very, very high power for a brushed motor.

Decently high thermal mass, so they're pretty robust.

[qnetjoe]

For motors, I usually use motors from pitman express (http://prototypes.haydonkerk.com/).

For a good smart motor controller I usually use a elmo motion controllers (http://www.elmomc.com/products/servo-drives.htm)

If your robot is stationary, give some serious thought to using VFDs, there are a lot of really good smart VFDs for the money.

Hope this helps

[asid61]

As said above, brushless motors are good. They're efficient and long-lasting, but tend to have high RPMs at low torque. You will need to gear them down a lot via planetary gearboxes or similar options, if you are using them for arms without leadscrews.
For 12v, any 3s motor and ESC should work.