Hi,
I would like to know if someone can provide me with some photos of the internal parts of a Falcon 500 motor, please. Also, I would like to have some close up photos of its integrated controller circuit board.
Thank you
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Didn’t even need to take out screws for these:
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This thread and this thread have some fairly decent shots of the internals of a falcon 500 motor.
I’m guessing you’ll be harder pressed to find shots of the controller in the wild. There’s no real reason a team should need to access that part of the unit (at least I haven’t heard of any major failures of the controller yet 
).
Any particular reason why you’re looking for these photos? Perhaps the community could better help you if they know.
Thank you for your quick feedback.
Yes I would like to show to student how it is built internally. I want to go one step further than simply using them.
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The CAD file from VEX has PCB placement in it. It’s missing other vitals (Rotor, stator, encoder, etc.)
It may void its warranty, but you can remove the cover that covers the controller area without destroying the motor. The motor will run without the controller cover but may overheat.
Disclaimer: don’t do the above unless you’re willing to lose the motor just in case something goes wrong in the disassembly process.
Someone please correct me if I’m wrong (I very well might be as this is purely from faint memory), but aren’t the falcons also individually calibrated at the factory? If so, completely disassembling a motor/controller would likely alter/hinder performance (or worse, kill the motor entirely).
If the encoder magnet gets removed from the rotor then you’re hosed.
Disclaimer: VEX and CTRE will never recommend this level of disassembly (rightfully so).
There maybe some pictures of the back removed here.
https://www.chiefdelphi.com/uploads/short-url/eVYO5tVOYZecwq6Tl2kURlFZFgq.pdf
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Looks like on page 7 of that document there is a picture with the back removed. Nice shot!
(I think it’s amazing just how tiny that board is considering the amount of current/power it can take!)
EDIT: Here’s an additional screengrab of the circuit board found in the Falcon 500 CAD model (incase OP or others don’t have access to view said model). It’s not perfect, but way more detailed than I expected.
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It might even be illegal *R502 Don’t modify motors
We’ve rebuilt 2 broken Falcons into 1 functional motor and it works fine - good for usage on prototypes. We well labelled it Not For Competition Robot.
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Thank you all for your feedback. I perfectly understand some of your concerns. And you are absolutely right to points them out. With all the links and documents you provided, I have the necessary information I needed.
Thank you again and enjoy your day and weekend.
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If you are trying to teach your students about brushless motors, there are some really nice exploded view diagrams out there that you could include.
This article from NIDEC shows an exploded view of, what they refer to as an “outer rotor type” (also referred to as an outrunner design). That exploded view matches the configuration of the Falcon 500 motor except for number of stator windings (3 vs 12).
You may be able to find some other generic exploded views of brushless motors that are even closer to the Falcon 500 configuration that you can “borrow” for a powerpoint.
Edit: This page from VEX also has some nice explanation (complete with some animations) of brushless motors.
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Finally, a good use for our old NIDEC motors: Training!
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