[Andy A.]

I am not entirely sure as to the legality of using capacitors on motors, since that could be construed as modifying an electrical component. My gut reaction is no, it is not legal.

Nor is it really necessary. Most of our motors probably already have capacitors mounted inside the case. Besides that, the Victors undoubtedly prevent any back emf from leaking into the rest of the bot, and unless the radio is right next to a badly arcing motor the radio noise produced won't be enough to interfere with the link. Motors can, and do interfere with sensors. But, capacitors probably won't cure your problem. It's much more effective to shield the sensor and/or move it away from the motor.

Also, the capacitors on motors will not in fact help with momentary power drops. Typically, the capacitors are in the range of .1 micro farads. Thats very, very tiny, not enough to even make a big motor twitch. It is possible to use capacitors that way, but it wouldn't be useful to us, nor legal.

The capacitors are important on R/C cars because the radios are A: relatively cheap AM/FM deals, and B: Are inches away from a motor that is designed to be powerful, not polite. On top of that, many motor manufactures never bothered to solder their own capacitors on, so it was up to the hobbyist. Thats changing though, and most motors now ship with presolderd caps.

-Andy A.