Well yes, the definition of a motor could include many different devices, but I'm assuming they were intending the definition as a "axis rotated by the input of electrical energy"ichaelm wrote:First of all, I just want to say that I'm impressed by the amount of useful discussion in this thread! I noticed that in my team, at least a third of all our new freshmen intend to do Robot Arm, since the idea of building robots must appeal to a lot of people. Looks like that happened around the country too!
One thing I've been wondering about is the definition of a motor. I intend to submit a clarification as soon as possible, but until then, I'll post here. Obviously, a rotating axle powered by electromagnets is a motor. But, what about just a permanent magnet that can be moved by an electromagnet, in a linear way? Or what about a piece of ferrous metal moved by an electromagnet? Or an electromagnet that can pick up nails? All of those add a degree of freedom to the robot, but I doubt that all of them count as motors.
Go ahead and submit a clarification, because there is probably some really persnickety regional judge who would give people a hard time