FRC LESSON: The “Horsepower” of Your Drivetrain
Ever wonder how much “horse” is actually inside your FRC robot? That classic meme of a horse pulling a 550lb weight is the literal definition of 1 Horsepower (745.7 Watts).
In FRC, the rules limit us to 4 drive motors, but that doesn’t mean every robot has the same power. The type of motor you choose changes everything.
Common FRC Motors (Approximate Peak Power)
REV NEO (brushless): ~500 W (~0.67 hp)
NEO Vortex (brushless): ~680 W (~0.9 hp)
Falcon 500 (brushless): ~780 W (~1.05 hp)
Kraken X60 (brushless): ~900+ W (~1.2 hp)
CIM (brushed): ~330 W (~0.44 hp)
The Comparison: Old School vs. New Gen
Looking at the two most common “benchmarks” for FRC drivetrains:
1) The “Classic” Tank Drive (4x CIM Motors)
Technology: Brushed DC
Peak Power: ~337 Watts per motor
Total Output: ~1,348 Watts
Total Horsepower: ~1.8 hp
2) The “Modern” Swerve Drive (4x Kraken X60 Motors)
Technology: Brushless DC
Peak Power: ~900+ Watts per motor
Total Output: ~3,600+ Watts
Total Horsepower: ~4.8 hp
Why This Matters on the Field
Even though both robots have the same 4-motor limit, the Kraken-powered robot has nearly 3x the raw power of a classic CIM-bot.
Acceleration: More horsepower means reaching top speed in a shorter “sprint.” This is how teams shave seconds off their cycle times. Power to Weight Ratio: An FRC robot weighs ~120 lbs. A 4.8 hp drivetrain gives an FRC robot a power-to-weight ratio similar to a high performance sports car. That’s why they are so “twitchy” and aggressive! The Bottleneck: Even with 4.8 hp available, we are limited by our 12V Battery and the 120A Main Breaker. You can’t draw max power from all four Krakens at once without tripping your electronics managing that “brownout” is the secret to high-level driving.
The Takeaway
When you look at your robot, don’t just see a 120 lb frame. If you’re running modern brushless motors (Kraken, NEO Vortex, Falcon), you’re effectively putting 5 horses behind a 120 lb weights making your robot one of the most powerful “small” machines on the planet.
Credit: https://www.facebook.com/share/1EMANW7g74/?mibextid=wwXIfr