[apalrd]

My opinions on motors:

-Many motors prefer operating in various power regions. The CIM motors really don't care (in a 2 minute match), but a few other motors are picky:

--550 sized motors are very power-dense, the most power dense motors in the kit - They're not very much bigger than the 18w throttle control motors, but most of the ones do anything from 180w to 290w peak power. The CIM's are huge (have a lot of thermal mass) and do around ~340w at peak power. Because they produce so much heat for their small size, they have internal fans to cool them. If the fan does not spin while the motor is energized, the motor can't get rid of the heat fast enough, and then parts begin to melt. You then need to use them in an application where they will always spin, by gearing them correctly and never stalling them.

--Many automotive motors have thermal breakers inside. In some power windows, there is actually no sensor, and the button literally controls the motor directly, with the vehicle relying on the thermal breaker to protect the motor. These motors are impossible to burn up in FRC use, because of this. These motors will cutout when their limits are approached, and will just stop. This is usually good, as you know you are pushing the motor too hard, and need to re-gear.

--During the official season, we had 7 550-sized motors on our robot (there are up to 8 legal 550-sized motors). We never burned out a 550 motor during the season.