Disclaimer: these calculators are as close to accurate as possible but they are not 100% perfect, use with caution.

Tip Speed Calculator copied from Bristol Bot Builders

Combat Robot Calculators

Wheel speed

Calculate drive speed from wheel size, motor RPM, and gear ratio.

Inputs

in
mm
RPM
: 1

Target checker

ft/s
ft/s

Speed results

Wheel RPM
3000
Speed
ft/s
Speed
m/s
Speed
mph
Speed
km/h

Target status


RPM for min
RPM
RPM for max
RPM

Tip speed & kinetic energy

Spinning weapon tip speed and rotational kinetic energy.

Battery & motor

S
kV

Weapon geometry

mm
g·mm²

Results

Pack voltage
V
Weapon RPM
Tip speed
m/s
Tip speed
mph
Tip speed
ft/s
Kinetic energy
J

Battery runtime

Runtime estimation, discharge safety, and pack planning.

Battery

mAh
V
%
C

Motor load

A

Match planning

min

Runtime

Usable capacity
mAh
Total draw
A
Power draw
W
Runtime
min
Runtime
sec
Usable energy
Wh

Discharge & packs

Max burst current
A
Packs needed

Motor power & torque

Characterise a brushless motor from kV and stall current.

Motor inputs

V
kV
A
A

Custom operating point

Nm

No-load speed

No-load RPM
No-load ω
rad/s

Torque & power

Kt
Nm/A
Stall torque
Nm
Max mech power
W
RPM @ max power
Max efficiency
%
RPM @ max eff.

Operating point

Current
A
Output RPM
Output power
W
Efficiency
%

Weight budget

Track component weights against your class limit.

kg
0 kg used 13.6 kg remaining
Subsystem / componentNameQtyUnit wt (g)Total (g)Total (kg)

Gear ratio optimizer

Back-calculate gear ratio from target speed, or verify a chosen ratio.

Motor & wheel

RPM
in
mm

Back-calculate from target speed

ft/s
m/s
Ratio (from ft/s)
: 1
Ratio (from m/s)
: 1

Back-calculate from wheel RPM

RPM
Required ratio
: 1

Verify a chosen ratio

: 1
Wheel RPM
ft/s
m/s
mph

Ratio sweep (1.0 – 5.0)

RatioWheel RPMft/sm/smph

Weapon spin-up time

Estimate time to reach full weapon speed from rest.

Motor inputs

V
kV
A
A
: 1

Moment of inertia

mm
mm
g
Calculated MoI
kg·m²

Spin-up results

Weapon RPM
ω (rad/s)
Kt
Nm/A
Torque at shaft
Nm
α (rad/s²)

Spin-up benchmarks

TargetTime (s)

ESC current headroom

Check motor current demand against ESC ratings — three channels plus system total.

Total system draw vs battery

A
A
A
mAh
C
Total draw
A
Battery burst
A

Spur gear centre distance

Calculate centre-to-centre distance from tooth counts, or find required tooth counts for a given centre distance. Works for both MOD (metric) and DP (imperial) gears.

📐 MOD (Metric)

① Centre distance from tooth counts

T
T
Centre distance
mm
Centre distance
in
Gear ratio
: 1
PCD gear 1
mm
PCD gear 2
mm
OD gear 1
mm
OD gear 2
mm

② Tooth counts from centre distance

mm
: 1
Gear 1 teeth
T
Gear 2 teeth
T
Actual C-C
mm
Actual ratio
: 1

📏 DP (Imperial)

① Centre distance from tooth counts

T
T
Centre distance
in
Centre distance
mm
Gear ratio
: 1
PCD gear 1
in
PCD gear 2
in
OD gear 1
in
OD gear 2
in

② Tooth counts from centre distance

in
: 1
Gear 1 teeth
T
Gear 2 teeth
T
Actual C-C
in
Actual ratio
: 1

🔄 MOD ↔ DP converter

MOD
DP

Brushless arm calculator

Design a brushless-driven arm, flipper, or lifter — motor through multi-stage gearbox to tip force and speed.

Motor inputs

rpm/V
A
S
V

Gearbox — up to 9 stages (leave unused stages as 1)

Arm geometry & travel

mm
in
°

Motor output

Voltage
V
Kt
Nm/A
Motor torque
Nm
Motor speed
RPM
Power
W
Total reduction
: 1

Output shaft (after gearbox)

Output torque
Nm
Output speed
RPM
Output speed
RPS
Output speed
°/s

Arm tip

Tip speed
m/s
Tip speed
mph
Force at tip
N
Force at tip
kg
Force at tip
lb
Time to travel
seconds

V-belt calculator

Calculate belt length from centre distance, or find centre distance from a standard belt length.

Belt section & pulleys

mm
in
mm
in

① Belt length from centre distance

mm
in
Belt length
mm
Belt length
in
Nearest std length
in (OD)

② Centre distance from belt length

mm
in
Centre distance
mm
Centre distance
in

Pulley geometry

Speed ratio
: 1
Belt section
4L
width mm
Driver wrap
°
Driven wrap
°

Standard belt lengths — 4L

Belt no.OD length (in)Length (mm)C-C (mm)

Chain length calculator

Calculate chain links needed for a given centre distance, or find centre distance from a known chain length.

Chain & sprockets

T
T

① Links → Centre distance

mm
in
Links needed
Rounded (even)
links
Exact length
mm
Exact length
in

② Known links → Centre distance

links
Centre distance
mm
Centre distance
in

Sprocket geometry

Driver PCD
mm
Driven PCD
mm
Driver PCD
in
Driven PCD
in
Speed ratio
: 1
Pitch difference
T

Wrap angles

Driver wrap
°
Driven wrap
°

Link count sweep (± 4 links from calculated)

LinksLength (mm)C-C (mm)C-C (in)