EXPERT SYSTEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Email: expertsyssol@gmail.com
expertsyssol@yahoo.com
Cell: 9952749533
www.researchprojects.info
PAIYANOOR, OMR, CHENNAI
Call For Research Projects Final
year students of B.E in EEE, ECE,
EI, M.E (Power Systems), M.E
(Applied Electronics), M.E (Power
Electronics)
Ph.D Electrical and Electronics.
Students can assemble their hardware in our
Research labs. Experts will be guiding the
projects.

May 21, 2006

 Sizing Electric Motors for
Mobile Robotics

May 21, 2006

 The Basics

May 21, 2006

 Unit Conversions
rad rev N m
2 1 1Watt  1
sec sec sec
Coulomb
1Watt  1Volt  Ampere  1Volt
sec

May 21, 2006

 Basics

The FORCE applied

by a wheel is always
tangent to the wheel.

Force is measured in units of weight (lb, oz, N)

May 21, 2006
 Basics

The required
TORQUE to move a
mobile robot is the
force times the
radius of the wheel.

Torque is measured in units of weight x length

May 21, 2006 (lb·ft, oz ·in, N·m)
 Procedure for Sizing DC
Motors

May 21, 2006

 Information Needed
• Estimated Weight
• Number of wheels and motors
• Maximum incline
• Desired maximum velocity at worst
case
• Push/Pull forces

May 21, 2006

 Procedure
• Step One: Determine total applied force
at worst case

May 21, 2006

 Friction
• Static Friction
– Used to determine traction failure
• Rolling Friction
– Used to determine motor requirements
• Kinetic Friction

May 21, 2006

 Rolling Friction
FR   R  N
 R Is the coefficient of Rolling friction
– Using the coefficient of Static friction (S)
will typically be to high
• To determine R:
– Roll a wheel at a initial velocity, v, and
measure the time, t, in which it takes to
stop v
R 
May 21, 2006 tg
 Rolling Friction
• Some typical values for R
– Steel on steel: 0.001
– Rubber on pavement: 0.015

May 21, 2006

 Other Forces
• Gravity
FI  W  sin 

• External


May 21, 2006

 Total Force
• Calculate worst case
– Up hill with rolling friction
F  W  (  R  cos  sin  )
– Up hill with rolling friction, pushing
F  W  (  R  cos  sin  )  FEX
– Level ground with rolling friction
F   R W
– Level ground with rolling friction, pushing
F   R  W  FEX
May 21, 2006
 Other Cases
• Tracks
– Set r=0
– Use a spring scale to determine the force required to
pull the chassis in neutral and add that to the worst
case force
• Gear Trains
– Bulky gear trains may significantly affect the
outcome
– If this is a concern, it may be best to test in the same
way as tracks
May 21, 2006
 Procedure
• Step One: Determine total applied force
at worst case
• Step Two: Calculate power requirement

May 21, 2006

 Power Requirement
• Determine velocity, v, requirement
under maximum load (worst case force)
• Using the worst case force and velocity,
calculate the power requirement
P  F v
• This is the total power, divide by the
number of motors if more than one
motor is used
RULE OF THUMB: 3 TIMES MARGIN
May 21, 2006
 Procedure
• Step One: Determine total applied force
at worst case
• Step Two: Calculate power requirement
• Step Three: Calculate torque and speed
requirement

May 21, 2006

 Speed/Torque Requirements
• Using the velocity requirement, v, and
the radius of the wheel, r
v
 Speed requirement
is in rad/sec
r
• Using the speed from above and the
power per motor
P
T

May 21, 2006
 Procedure
• Step One: Determine total applied force
at worst case
• Step Two: Calculate power requirement
• Step Three: Calculate torque and speed
requirement
• Step Four: Find a motor that meets
these requirements
May 21, 2006
 Spec Sheet

May 21, 2006

 Spec Sheet

May 21, 2006

 Procedure
• Step One: Determine total applied force at
worst case
• Step Two: Calculate power requirement
• Step Three: Calculate torque and speed
requirement
• Step Four: Find a motor that meets these
requirements
• Step Five: Plot motor characteristics
May 21, 2006
 Torque vs. Speed Curve
TPK
T  TPK  
S NL
• Where T = Torque
• TPK = Stall Torque
• SNL = No Load Speed
  = Speed

May 21, 2006

 Torque vs. Speed Curve
Torque vs. Speed

7.00E-02

6.00E-02
From this plot,
5.00E-02 maximum speed can
be determined for a
Torque, Nm

4.00E-02
given load.
3.00E-02

2.00E-02

1.00E-02

0.00E+00
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Speed, rpm
May 21, 2006
 Power
TPK S NL
T  TPK     (TPK T)
S NL TPK
P  T 
TPK
P ( )      TPK  
2

S NL
S NL 2
P (T )    T  S NL  T
TPK
May 21, 2006
 Power
Power vs. Speed

1.20E+01

1.00E+01

8.00E+00
Power, watts

6.00E+00

TPK
4.00E+00
P ( )      TPK  
2

2.00E+00 S NL
0.00E+00
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000
Speed, rpm
May 21, 2006
 Power
Power vs. Torque

1.20E+01

1.00E+01

8.00E+00
Power, watts

6.00E+00

S NL 2
4.00E+00
P (T )    T  S NL  T
2.00E+00 TPK
0.00E+00
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06
Torque, Nm
May 21, 2006
 Power vs. Speed
Power
1.20E+01

1.00E+01

8.00E+00
Power vs. Torque
Power, watts

6.00E+00 1.20E+01

4.00E+00 1.00E+01

2.00E+00 8.00E+00

Power, watts
0.00E+00 6.00E+00
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000
Speed, rpm

1
4.00E+00

   max
2.00E+00

2
0.00E+00
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06
Torque, Nm

1
Peak power is obtained at half of T  Tmax
maximum torque and speed 2
May 21, 2006
 Procedure
• Step One: Determine total applied force at
worst case
• Step Two: Calculate power requirement
• Step Three: Calculate torque and speed
requirement
• Step Four: Find a motor that meets these
requirements
• Step Five: Plot motor characteristics
May 21, 2006
 A Few Extra Points

May 21, 2006

 Simple DC Motor Model

V  I Re e  ke   V  I  R  ke  

T  kt  I
2
 I 
 max  1  NL 

 IP 
May 21, 2006
 Motor Inductance
• The windings of a DC motor creates an
Inductance, L
• Change in current through an di
inductance creates a voltage V L
dt
• Switching current to a motor causes
di/dt to spike (Flyback)
Flyback voltages can be very high and damage
electronics, that is why a flyback diode in the
May 21, 2006
switching circuit is required.
 Winches
• Similar to drive motors

May 21, 2006

 Common Mistakes
• Using static or kinetic friction instead of rolling
friction
– If a wheel is rolling without slipping, the only
energy loss is due to deformations in the
wheel/surface (rolling friction)
• Using PWM to control a motor reduces the
available torque
– The average power, speed and torque are
reduced, however, effective torque is not
significantly effected

May 21, 2006

 Questions?

May 21, 2006