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Originally Posted by Andy A.
Remember- These machines only have to run for about 2 minutes at a time. It doesn't do you much good to make it more efficient or reliable then it has to be. We all have the same power available, the teams that win are often the ones that squeeze every last watt they can from the motors. If that means heating the motors up more then they were designed for, I can live with it. I'd rather sacrifice a motor every now and then then sacrifice a function.
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Heat=wasted energy
Whether this heat comes from excessive current or friction, you are wasting energy. Max efficiency looks to be in the 4000 to 5000 RPM for the Chalupa motor at about 75%. That means 25% of the current is going into heat. Running it outside those speeds where efficieny drops off to say 50% and half of your current is going into heat, multiply that by four motors if you are using that type of design and you are throwing a lot of power away heating up the playing field. (i.e. you have designed for max output power, fully 350 watts per motor are turning into heat.) With six robots running on the field, matches are likely to occur far more frequently than anytime in the past. This is the year for efficient designs.