Multi-Speed motor Questions

[Kevin Sevcik]

Peak power looks to be about 2.2-2.3 Watts. This would be the limiting factor in just how fast you can lift something if you perfectly design your motor. 2.3 Watts = 1.7 foot pound-force/second. So with a 100% efficient lifting device, you could lift a 1.7 pound weight at 1 foot per second or a 3.4 pound weight at .5 feet per second, assuming you got the gearing just right.

Generally speaking, most motors can lift a surprisingly large amount of weight, assuming you gear them down enough.

In a general sense, http://www.innovationfirst.com/FIRST...edu-motors.htm gives you a rough torque-speed curve. You can use this to figure out just how fast the motor will turn at a given torque load. Designing around peak power is just highly useful in situations where you have a well-defined load or range of loads.

Side note: Last year I designed around peak power to figure out how much to gear down the window motor to lift our robot at max speed. Or more precisely, at close to max speed with enough safety factor to lift an entire second robot at decent speed.