Rethinking Motor Shafts - Vex Robotics Falcon 500 User Manual

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Falcon 500 Motor User Guide

Rethinking Motor Shafts

When making a game changing motor, why stop at
performance? Since the beginning of FRC, teams have
had to use keyed or press-fit motor shafts. While
these are adequate, VEX and Cross the Road
Electronics wanted to give teams a better option. The
Falcon Shaft was developed to eliminate many
common problems teams have with keyed and press-
fit shafts.
The Falcon Shaft is a new spline shaft designed specifically for FRC. Why are spline shafts better? First off,
spline shafts have a higher torque capacity than a similar sized keyed shaft. This is because torque transfer is
being spread across all the spline teeth, instead of a single key. This also helps with reversing loads where
Another small, but convenient detail of the Falcon Shaft
is that it has a shoulder built into it which prevents
items on the shaft from sliding past the face of the
mounting boss. This prevents items on the shaft from
rubbing against the inner and outer face of the output
bearing. This also eliminates the need for teams to use
spacers between the motor's output bearing and the
gears and pulleys used on the shaft.
Profile of Falcon 500
the force of instantly reversing the direction of the motor
is absorbed by all the teeth instead of a single key.
Not only is the Falcon Shaft designed to be stronger
while eliminating keys, it is designed to make it even
easier on FRC teams. One example of this is that the
ends of the Falcon Shaft have a #8-32 tapped hole. This
hole is used to retain items on the shaft, which means
teams no longer need to use retaining clips or shaft
collars to keep items on their motor shafts.
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Copyright 2019, VEX Robotics Inc.
2020-01-07
Motor Shaft
Profile of CIM / Mini CIM
Shaft
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