[FTC]: Motor Rules?!?!?!?!

[Michael Coleman]

Originally Posted by sami9145

The FTC manual is confusing me. What is the max number of motors we can have? One place says 8. Another says 3.

IM GETTING SO CONFUSED!!!!!!!!!

help?

Questions concerning the FTC game Hot Shot! should be posted here: forums.usfirst.org/forumdisplay.php?f=1288. Interpretations of game rules posted in any other forum are unofficial and will not be considered if presented at an official FTC competition.

Robot construction rules allow two different motors:
<R5a> allows 8 TETRIX 12V DC drive motors
<R5b> allows 3 LEGO NXT Motors

The TETRIX 12V DC drive motors connect to the HiTechnic Motor Controller and the LEGO NXT Motors connect directly to the motor ports on the NXT Brick.

[Connor]

idk how to show the quote thing but he's mistaken you can use only 8 TETRIX 12v motors not 12

[James Dowd]

Originally Posted by Connor

idk how to show the quote thing but he's mistaken you can use only 8 TETRIX 12v motors not 12

I think the confusion with the Tetrix motor question is that you can use 8 Tetrix 12V motors, and 12 Tetrix servos.

[NalaTI]

Originally Posted by James Dowd

I think the confusion with the Tetrix motor question is that you can use 8 Tetrix 12V motors, and 12 Tetrix servos.

You will, however, use battery so fast you won't believe it (if you do so...)

The other limitation to realize is that you can only have 4 controllers of any arrangement. (e.g. 1 servo controller and 3 motor controller, or 2&2, or 0&4, or...)

So if you need 8 separately operating motors, you won't be able to have any servos (unless you count the 3 LEGO motors as servos).

[James Dowd]

Originally Posted by NalaTI

You will, however, use battery so fast you won't believe it (if you do so...)

The other limitation to realize is that you can only have 4 controllers of any arrangement. (e.g. 1 servo controller and 3 motor controller, or 2&2, or 0&4, or...)

So if you need 8 separately operating motors, you won't be able to have any servos (unless you count the 3 LEGO motors as servos).

Very true, a good point that I should have included, thanks for the comments!

[FTC G-FORCE]

im not 100% positive that this is right but i think we can have 26 motors in all. thats including servos. so i think we can have 8 12vs 3 lego 12servos and i think 3 hi technic = 26 i know where not going to use that menny motors.

[NalaTI]

Assuming that you double the motors and servos on controllers as needed... then you can have 23 motors:

8 Tetrix 12V Drive Motors
12 Tetrix Servos
3 Lego Motors
---
23 (Total)

im not 100% positive that this is right but i think we can have 26 motors in all. thats including servos. so i think we can have 8 12vs 3 lego 12servos and i think 3 hi technic = 26 i know where not going to use that menny motors.

There's no mention of a HiTechnic motor in the rules that I'm aware of.

[ttldomination]

First off, FTC G-FORCE, Happy Birthday.

Secondly, NalaTI is correct but remember you can only have 4 motor controllers, so at any one given point, the absolute MAX would be

4 12V Motors
12 Servos
3 LEGO Motors
-------
19 Servos/Motors

But don't think in terms of max, think in terms of functionality. If you need the 8 12V motors, then use those and don't use any servos.

[NalaTI]

Originally Posted by ttldomination

First off, FTC G-FORCE, Happy Birthday.

Secondly, NalaTI is correct but remember you can only have 4 motor controllers, so at any one given point, the absolute MAX would be

4 12V Motors
12 Servos
3 LEGO Motors
-------
19 Servos/Motors

But don't think in terms of max, think in terms of functionality. If you need the 8 12V motors, then use those and don't use any servos.

Actually, you can double motors on the same controller, same with servos. Initially last year, they only gave us one motor controller and we had 4 motors - you could electrically connect 4 motors (2 per channel) to each of the controllers. You can only put one encoder into each channel, but you CAN have two motors.

So, strictly from a controller standpoint, you could actually have any of the following maximums

4 Motor Controllers (MC): 16 Motors + 3 LEGO = 19
4 Servo Controllers (SC): 48 Servos + 3 LEGO = 51
3 MC + 1 SC: 12 Motors + 12 Servos + 3 LEGO = 27
2 MC + 2 SC: 8 Motors + 24 Servos + 3 LEGO = 35
1 MC + 3 SC: 4 Motors + 36 Servos + 3 LEGO = 43

Since the rules limit you to 8 motors and 12 servos, and since practicality says that you won't double most of the motors, you could technically end up with:
2 Motor Controllers: 4 motors
1 Motor Controller: 4 motors (doubled)
1 Servo Controller: 12 servos (all doubled)
3 LEGO motors
Thus giving you the stated limit with still the possibility of some control.

All that aside... to re-iterate ttldomination's point "Don't think in terms of quantity, think in terms of quality." Use the right units for the right application and you'll have the best robot.