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Image of the completed VEX V5 Clawbot
V5 Clawbot

Torque or Speed in Robotics Competitions

Whether you build in a torque or speed advantage on your robot will depend on the weight of the objects it interacts with (how heavy the robot's part is, how much force it will need to do its task), and how quickly or carefully you want a task done (moving around the field vs. carefully grabbing and moving a game piece).

It is helpful to consider using torque or speed advantages to accomplish tasks similar to these:

  • Moving the entire robot around the field - speed advantage
  • Lifting and moving large robot arms or claws - torque advantage
  • Controlling a claw to hold game objects firmly - torque advantage
  • Moving a small part that collects small game objects - speed advantage

It is important to read and consider the rules of a competition so that you can build a competition robot for speed and strength in a strategic manner.