Re: Throttle Motor
 

I remember seeing them on 2512's robot in 2013. I think they used them on the fly wheels that kicked the Frisbee from their ground intake to their hopper.

Re: Throttle Motor
 

This is pretty cool.

We had only thought of using them as speed encoders - similar to 1640. nice that free speed is about equal to a CIM.

If these work and it provides a use that teams can leverage, I am sure that all the throttle motors that anyone would want are available from the team community - for the cost of shipping. - nice re-use / recycle per the original intent I am sure.

Though it remains a low power motor and typically the transmissions are the cost driver not the motor....
(and 10X throttle motor power equals 1X AM-9015 motor power...)

Change is happening! - only throttle motors allowed! 30 throttle motor drivetrains!

Re: Throttle Motor
 

The throttle motor gearbox has been designed to be simple to integrate into robot designs, the gearbox shaft smoothly slides through the 1/2 inch hex hole in the gear assembly. This enables teams to use any length gearbox shaft they like, without having to purchase expensive couplers. The gearbox will be sent out with bushings, and it will be simple for teams to replace these with 1/2 hex flanged bearings if they desire.

Images of the prototype throttle motor gearbox design:

http://imgur.com/a/uJlaR

Re: Throttle Motor
 

How are you dealing with the motor leads being inside the gearbox? I couldn't see any wires inside the gearbox to power the motor. Maybe I'm missing something.

Re: Throttle Motor
 

Due to the gearbox design, there are many possibilities on how to power the motor. We have found spade connectors to be the most effective method of supplying power. These fit through the holes on the front of the gearbox, but the pins can also be bent at 90 degrees to supply power from the sides. Soldering wire directly onto the power pins works great too.

Re: Throttle Motor
 

Ah. Now that you say that I see the little holes in the front of the gearbox. I wouldn't have thought they are big enough for spade connectors, but I guess looks can be deceiving.

Re: Throttle Motor
 

Yes, we did use one on our Recycle Rush robot at the IRI. We added the ability to pick up the 3rd can in order to manage a 28 point autonomous. The throttle motor drives a 3D printed sprocket on a hex shaft with a 10-turn pot mounted on the other end. We had fairly strong string wrap around the hex shaft and it had no problem lifting the can off the ground in less than 2 seconds. We did a 28 point autonomous a couple of times (see match Q4 of the 2015 IRI) The lifting mechanism was strong enough to lift the can right up sideways and bust the string (Q73) when our autonomous didn't complete properly. This messed us up big time and we scored 0 points for our alliance that round. Anyways, the throttle motor can certainly work and using a 3D printed gear to get a 15:1 gear ratio worked very well. I'm pretty sure the gear was strong enough to stall the motor without breaking teeth. You can see the 3D image here. http://www.cybercavs.com/throttle-motor.html

Maurice Veldhuis
Engineering Mentor, team 4678, Woodland CyberCavs

Re: Throttle Motor
 

Have you considered making a provision for mounting two valve motors in the gear box? 2015 rules allow driving two valve motors of one controller. No reason to think 2016 rules would be different