Motors and

Transmission

Motors are robot’s most essential component.

Motors are powered in different ways
electrically, pneumatically, hydraulically and by
use of fuels. Brushed DC motors and Brushless
DC motors are good choice for a robot. Brushed
DC motor provides high torque, its speed
control and turning directions are
relatively simpler as compared to brushless
DC motor, which provide constant speed, so
brushed DC motor can be used for drive-train
and brushless DC motor for weapons. Although
there are Synchronous motors that can
provide high torque but they need an external commutation. So two motors
brushed and brushless DC motor are important for a robot.

 The torque of an electric motor is not necessarily dependent on its

speed. It is rather a function of flux and armature current.

Increase in flux decreases the speed but increases the torque. If torque is
decreased by decreasing the field current, the following sequences are found:

1. Back EMF drops instantly, the speed remaining constant because of the
inertia of heavy armature.
2. Due to decrease of EMF armature current I is increased because of
I =  (V −  E)/R.
3. A small decrease of flux is more than counterbalanced by a large
increase of I which means net increase of torque.
4. If torque increases the speed also increases.
If applied voltage is kept constant, motor speed has inverse relation with
flux.

where:

 N = revolutions per minute (RPM) ,i.e. motor speed

 K = proportional constant
 R = resistance of armature (ohms)
 V = electromotive force (volts)
 I = current (amperes)
 Φ = flux (webers

Brushed DC Motors

They are of three types:-

1. Permanent magnet
2. Shunt
3. Series

A series wound motor has a low-resistance

field winding connected in series with the armature. It responds to increased
load by slowing down and this reduces the armature current and minimises the
risk of overheating. The counter-emf aids the armature resistance to limit the
current through the armature. When power is first applied to a motor, the
armature does not rotate. At that instant, the counter-emf is zero and the only
factor limiting the armature current is the armature resistance. Usually the
armature resistance of a motor is less than 1 Ω; therefore the current through
the armature would be very large when the power is applied. Therefore the
need arises for an additional resistance in series with the armature to limit the
current until the motor rotation can build up the counter-emf.

Series Motors have a high starting turn and are used for driving heavy masses.
They are variable speed motors. They can be dangerous if driven at no load,
because of excess of high speed. So they are rarely used in drive-train but are a
good option for powerful weapons.

The Permanent magnet DC motors are

commonly used in drive-train. They
have a permanent magnet attached to
their body and a rotor that has several
windings. These windings generate
magnetic fields along with permanent
magnet that provide the torque.

the Torque is proportional to the square of the current. This means that
doubling the current that we put through a series wound motor quadruples
the torque.
T = kfia2
kf is a constant for the motor, and ia is the armature current.

For all DC motors, the speed is nearly proportional to the supply voltage. The
power versus torque graph is a quadratic curve, with a maximum which the
manufacturer specifies as the power rating of the motor. For a starter motor
on a small car, this is typically around a kilowatt.

Shunt wound motor

A shunt wound motor has a high-resistance field winding connected in parallel
with the armature. It responds to increased load by trying to maintain its speed
and this leads to an increase in armature current. This makes it unsuitable for
widely-varying loads, which may lead to overheating.

Shunt DC Motors don’t have a high starting torque. They are constant speed
motors.
 Brushless DC Motors
Brushless DC motors are synchronous electric
motor powered by DC current, with an
electronically controlled commutation system.
Brushless DC motors use a rotating
permanent magnet in the rotor, and
stationary electrical magnets on the motor
housing.
No brushes present.
They have higher efficiency and reliability,
reduced noise, longer lifetime due to absence
of brushes. The stationary windings do not suffer
from centrifugal forces. Their disadvantage is that
they have high cost.
The better efficiency of brushless motors over
brushed motors is mainly due to absence of electrical
and frictional losses.
Since most speed controllers do not allow the motor to reverse its spin
direction during combat, use of brushless motors in combats is usually
restricted to weapons that spin in only single direction.