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Coreless vs brushed micro motors for 1kg sumo, real tradeoffs

Posted: Wed May 13, 2026 11:00 am
by jm_robotics
Rebuilding the sumo bot after the loss (other thread). One question I keep going back and forth on: brushed micro motors (cheap, replaceable) vs coreless (more torque per amp, lighter, expensive).

Numbers I'm seeing:
  • Brushed N20 12V at 300rpm: torque around 0.5 kg-cm, life ~50 hours competitive
  • Coreless 1230 12V at similar rpm: torque 0.8 kg-cm, life ~30 hours
For a competition where you need 90s max pushes, the coreless wins on paper. Pero spares cost 5x more.

Anyone done a season on coreless and seen them through to nationals? Worth the upfront pain?