Torque - 2438a

On Veteran’s day we had the VEX Robotics Competition at Iolani, so I took the robot home to program it’s autonomous programming. The video to the left not only demonstrates the program, it also demonstrates torque. Each of the wheels and the conveyer belt has a motor which turns an axle. The wheels want to resist the turning of the motor because of friction. The motor applies a set amount of force on the square axle in either a counter clockwise or clockwise direction. The wheel, which contacts the ground or the bearing blocks holding it in place creating a force in the opposite direction of friction. This causes the wheels to move slower, even though the motor is applying constant force. Because of the motor is applying constant force the motor can break because the torque countering the motor is too much. This is why there are gear reductions on the robot to effectively increase torque while lowering speed and stress on the motors.

Thanks for reading, Mark.

(The video is of Iolani Robot 2438a, shot in my garage)