pic: Saving weight (and rotational mass)
 

Re: pic: Saving weight (and rotational mass)
 

Wow, that looks really nice. CNc mill I presume? I've never really seen anybody lighten it quite like that before. What are the specs on that gear?

Re: pic: Saving weight (and rotational mass)
 

What was the weight originally before milling? 3/4 of a pound off of how much?
I have to say, that is some really nice machining. You guys (or girls?) have skills. :)

Re: pic: Saving weight (and rotational mass)
 

Yeah, we had to do that to most/all of our gears and sprockets. We decided to put almost every idea we had onto the one robot, so, it's the price to pay!

Re: pic: Saving weight (and rotational mass)
 

interesting. How did you choose the pattern? Was some analysis done on the rotational torque, and radial forces that would be encountered, and the amount of material required to perform the desired function.

Re: pic: Saving weight (and rotational mass)
 

Wow, I'm glad my team isnt the only one that does that to all their gears (what can i say, 40 just loves to swiss-cheese everything). For our drivetrain, we brought the gears down even more than that and we haven't experienced any probelms, just in case you needed that extra .1 lb. :)

Re: pic: Saving weight (and rotational mass)
 

Does anyone remember getting a free copy of ANSYS software with Mechanical Desktop way back in the ancient past? It would be rather useful for this sort of thing. Or a copy of solidworks with cosmosworks. Granted that both are much more useful with a working knowledge of the limitations of FEA.

Re: pic: Saving weight (and rotational mass)
 

Inventor 11 Pro has ANSYS if anyone was wondering.

Re: pic: Saving weight (and rotational mass)
 

Yes, we did use CNC milling and a little bit of lathe work. Its a .5" face gear, with about a 4.125" diameter. The webs are .25" thick and .5" wide.

Re: pic: Saving weight (and rotational mass)
 

I dont know the exact weight of the gear, but before I started machining I weighed the entire transmission and it weighed 13.5 lbs.. After I was done machining the tranny weighed 12.75 lbs.

Re: pic: Saving weight (and rotational mass)
 

We stayed .125" way from the bottom of the gear teeth. This ensures us that the gear will not deform or "crush" under its suggested maximum torque.

Re: pic: Saving weight (and rotational mass)
 

Hey, that looks familiar