How about new motors?

[TF8]

here comes my rant,

first of all there is no need for mag motors in first for many reasons;
1. there is no current controller for the motors and the few that people are currently using cost $750+ per controller. and 2 victors wont work although it has been stated that they will.
2. the cost of the motors is way to much for frist to pay ($350 for motor + $650 for controll*2 per team*750 teams) big number in excess of 1.5 million dollars!!!
3. the whole 24v deal, and exides are not fitting in robots ie new battery needed (later)
4. current draw, although this isnt touched upon much in first, big motors draw tons of current, mag motors 500+ amps at stall, yes you read that correct. this would kill the exide in less than 50 seconds thus the need for a new battery (later)
5. weight is also a problem at close to twelve pounds a piece the two would be 1/5 of the total weight allowed.
6. power, there is no need for a motor that produces 3890 inch ounces of torque @ 4000rpm, this geared down to the 400 rpm drill is aproximately 20 times more powerfull

end of mag motor rant we wont see it

we also wont see the new ifi system because of the lack of pwm inputs and out puts, currently we are allowed 8 limit switches and the new system would not allow for this.

i doubt we will see the battle hardened victors because to my knowledge they are not making them in the 12v model.

i wish we could use car fan motors but we probably wont because of internal modifications that need to be made plus the need to over volt them for there full potential.

we need new battery's, the current exides are heavy ineffeciet and do not produce a high enough current draw. the technology is out there to have a Nicad or NiMhd pack that would weigh half as much be larger in capacity and supply more current. charging would also be faster. although because of costs these options may not be available. the best bet would be to use hawker batterys which are more efficient (sp?) and allow higher current draw.
this year our battery dropped to 11-12 when we were only charging the tanks with the compressor.

drills, our team has had problems with drills in the past. allthough hard to harness there is a tremendous amount of power available. with the proper gear ratio a combiner box and even possibly a duel speed transmission we should be able to propel 150lbs bots easily. this years task really taxed the drills with the slope of the bridge and weight of the goals.

the best bet may be going with a dewalt drill motor althought they are a little harder to mount. the only problem is the cost.

along the line of motors i think first should have a few more options but limit what we are allowed to use. example we could use 4 drills but could not use van doors or have 15 motors avialable and we are only able to use 10.

i over all believe we have enough power people are seeing motors elce where and like i are getting gealous. like posted previosly i enjoy the challenge of having to make do with what we have.

i hope they change the game up someway in the future, what annoys me are the teams that keep the same design from year to year with no changes. this gives them the ability to cut out almost a week of design time.

well this is the end of my rant, cant wait to see the new challenge

tyler forbes
team 151