Mabuchi Motor: Rs-385

[R.C.]

Hey CD,

A fellow team mate was going through our stockpile of motors and came across an RS-385. I was wondering what teams have used this motor for (if at all): lifts, ball collectors, agitators or what a practical application would be?

Thanks,

-RC

[Chris is me]

If I recall correctly, very few (as in, one team (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35592&highlight=Mabuchi+motor) posted about it on CD) used it in 2005. It seems a few teams (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46810&highlight=Mabuchi+motor) used it for panning their shooter in 2006.

[The Cyborg]

As far as I recall, I don't think I have ever seen one of these in use. They have a very high speed, and very low power output. I am very interested to see an example of one being successfully implemented in a robot. I'm very curious as to what they could be used for. :)

[Aren_Hill]

469 used them this year attached to small conveyors that moved balls from the outer silos towards the middle if i remember correctly.

[Joe Finkel]

Banebots is using RS-385 on their 36mm planetary. If I remember correct the highest reduction is 25:1 with about 650RPM and 230 oz-in torque.
On our 2008 robot we used a couple RS-545 .

[sanddrag]

I've seen a team use it once ever. It was used for something to the effect of actuating a pin or latch. I personally haven't encountered an application yet where I would use it. Very low power. Isn't it something like 8 Watts peak?

[Trent B]

During clean up day I remember finding a handful of them, they sure are tiny (provided I am thinking of the right ones), they could maybe be used like a servo to shift or like others have said pull a pin or some simple light duty task.

[AdamHeard]

1717 used it with a smaller banebots planetary to adjust the angle of their shooter head via a lead screw. It was a real slick and light setup.

[BrendanB]

Team 40 used it to rotate their shooter this past year. But our team hasn't used it at all in the past few years.

[vivek16]

Although they are no FP, they have about ten times the power output of a servo if I recall correctly. I think that if you could get a proper gear reduction, there's a lot of applications they would be great for.

-Vivek