Two keys to powering a good intake:
- Throw power at it
- Make it go fast
We ran a BAG motor at 9:1 on our 1.5" rollers. You can do the surface speed math. It was pretty good. A smidge faster and it would have been able to shoot into the low goal from the bottom of the batter, which is sometimes useful. If possible I would have just left it at 9:1 and put a 775pro on it.
We briefly tried a mini-CIM direct into it, but that was clearly ridiculous, not enough torque.
The 2x robot's max speed rule is also only valid if you are intaking the ball from one side. If you have top and bottom rollers (or left and right), you're pulling in the ball instead of rolling it, so 1x max speed is fine. And as robots gear themselves ridiculously fast, 2x max speed just might not be all that practical.