Best Brushed Drive Motors?

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Caleb Smith
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Best Brushed Drive Motors?

Post by Caleb Smith »

Going to build my first antweight!
Got a spare sabertooth 2x5 from a different project- what are the best motors? Want to run 2s lipo and 6 or 7 cm wheels for a wedge/lifter.
Any first build tips?
Thanks in advance!
Hi all! Newbie here! :D :o
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coolspeedbot
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Re: Best Brushed Drive Motors?

Post by coolspeedbot »

First of all welcome, great to see more robot builders.

Now the go to motors and wheels for antweights is pololu micro gear-motors either 30:1 (faster) or 50:1 (slower) combined with Pololu 32mm wheels will give the competitive edge, although Alex (username Shakey) has his own selection of wheels he sells: http://robotwars101.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2246

6-7 cm is a bit big for a Antweight due to the size limit.

The only tip I can give is that (based on my early mistake) when robots are checked at events to see they are in the size limit (10.16cm x 10.16cm x 10.16cm) they don't have to be wheels down in the cube.
James Booth
Team Coolspeedbot

Antweights:
Killer-Wolf (2.0), Bunny-Ears (1.5), Blue-Terror (CAD).
Featherweights:
CSB 1 (retired) CSB 2 (under construction).
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BeligerAnt
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Re: Best Brushed Drive Motors?

Post by BeligerAnt »

6-7cm diameter wheels are perfectly feasible in an antweight, although you wouldn't want 30:1 gearboxes - most arenas are less than 1 metre long.
The Pololu motors (or Ebay "equivalents") are ubiquitous in ants. With larger wheels you will need to mount them above the chassis rather than simply cable-tying them to a base plate.
Gary, Team BeligerAnt
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Shakey
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Re: Best Brushed Drive Motors?

Post by Shakey »

BeligerAnt wrote: With larger wheels you will need to mount them above the chassis rather than simply cable-tying them to a base plate.
I whole heartedly disagree! :P

Image

This takes me back a bit.
Nuts And Bots - For all your components and ready built antweights!

Alex Shakespeare - Team Shakey / Nuts And Bots / Team Nuts:
AWS 44, 45, 49, 51 & 55 Winner - Far too many robots!
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BeligerAnt
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Re: Best Brushed Drive Motors?

Post by BeligerAnt »

I've done the same, doesn't mean I'd recommend it though! :P
Gary, Team BeligerAnt
Caleb Smith
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Re: Best Brushed Drive Motors?

Post by Caleb Smith »

Why wouldn't you recommend it? Was thinking of doing s pusher version of that accelerant (roughly)
Hi all! Newbie here! :D :o
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Shakey
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Re: Best Brushed Drive Motors?

Post by Shakey »

Caleb Smith wrote:Why wouldn't you recommend it? Was thinking of doing s pusher version of that accelerant (roughly)
I don't know why he wouldn't recommend it. It works perfectly well and is in fact a stronger way of doing it. Truth be told I'm a little dissapointed, help and advice is great but shouldn't be nailed down to discouraging people from using perfectly fine building methods, especially ones that would bring interesting robots about.

One thing is make sure you weight up the front of the robot if you can, this will help it not flip over if it's too fast. 100:1 Pololu HP or 50:1 Hobbyking/Ebay motors should be a reasonably controllable speed.
Nuts And Bots - For all your components and ready built antweights!

Alex Shakespeare - Team Shakey / Nuts And Bots / Team Nuts:
AWS 44, 45, 49, 51 & 55 Winner - Far too many robots!
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BeligerAnt
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Re: Best Brushed Drive Motors?

Post by BeligerAnt »

The only reason for not recommending mounting motors with big wheels directly to the chassis is the massive gap under the back! There are ways around it of course and that's part of the fun :)

Bottom line: build what you like, however you like. Have fun!
Gary, Team BeligerAnt
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