Hi!
I’m looking at making a 4 wheeled robot that will be used in very dusty conditions and I was looking for some advice. From what I can find on the shop there is very limited information on ip ratings of the products. I’m looking at getting 4 planetary geared motors that are geared down to 300rpm. Do you guys know of any methods to either dustproof a motor? Will I need to design it’s own casing etc?
Thank you so much in advance for your help!
@Rob762 Welcome to the RobotShop Community. Take a look at the motor itself - if it’s a normal brushed motor, there is a good chance that the case has slots which are used to dissipate heat, meaning anything can get into it. You’ll also need to check the IP rating of the bearings at the output of the gearbox and the rear of the motor. It’s uncommon for most hobby DC gear motors to have an IP rating though, leaving it largely up to the designer to make it dustproof (or waterproof). Your main consideration is to not trap heat. Assuming the frame of your robot is dustproof and the motors are inside the frame, the easiest way is to make any connection to the outside dustproof, which would be the mounting and the shaft. This can be done using the following:
