[Pretzel]

Having used (and abused) the RS550 this year in our claw, we finally switched to a BAG motor at championships simply due to the fact that we had burned 5 of them at that point. When we used the closing of the claw to help reorient fallen bins into the preferred orientation (bottom of the bin pointing at the robot) it would demand too much from the RS550 and the motor would burn. A larger gear reduction wasn't an option since the claw still had to open promptly during the automated stacking and our drop off sequence, and making sure to line the robot up perfectly to the bin just wasted time. Switching to the BAG we found more power to close the claw and a larger margin for error on how long the claw operator could stall the motor to grip a bin that had slid out to the tips of the claw (which would prevent the claw from being able to cam over and lock shut).

I liked the RS550 for things like the shooter flywheel on our 2012 robot or the conveyor belt running through this year's robot, but for applications that can put a decent sustained load on the motor it was less than desirable.