Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #09429
To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: Nathaniel Martin nat@lumiere.net
Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 22:05:41 -0700
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Incredible gear motors
One of my friends had two of these motors at the robotix club meeting at my
school. They are incredable motors... Here's an example of how efficient
they are:
wire two of the motors together. Spin one, and the other will spin (from
the generated electricity) at the same speed! OK, it was probably slightly
slower, but the difference in speed is not visible to the eye.
Spin them, and the continue spinning for a while. Short the imputs, and it
immediately brakes.
These are incredible motors.
Does someone want to crack open a brick and see who makes the motors? Maybe
we can buy the motors without paying for the brick and the markup that LEGO
certainly puts on!
-Nathaniel Martin
nat@lumiere.net
>Do these specifications sound interesting?
>
>Gear motor:
>
>1cm x 1cm x 1.3cm
>2-9v
>8mA draw!!! (no load)
>32 rpm
>surprisingly tourquy
>15 grams - VERY light
>
>They could even be smaller, because they are surrounded by a plastic case
>that i have not cracked open yet. The source? LEGO. These are the micro
>gearmotors for the mindstorms sets. I believe the cost is $17 CAD each. A
>friend of mine bought $4000 worth of mindstorms gear and was showing me some
>of his creations. When i saw these motors i practically freaked.
>Absolutely perfect for heads, and 2DOF heads - because they are so light.
>With their low current draw, micro walkers are a possibility. I'm going to
>order some and try them out. Never seen gearmotor specs so promising.
>
>You can order them direct from LEGO. www.lego.com
>
>Nowhere near as powerful as a BG mirco, but so much smaller, lighter, and
>less draw.
>
>I think a micro walker would be a very interesting project....
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