How a differential works...
 

.... an older video that I just saw- but probably the best explanation of a differential drive I've ever seen.

http://www.videosift.com/video/Great...erential-Works

Re: How a differential works...
 

Thanks for posting. John Taylor and I watched the video. He just finished baking his birthday cake and needed a little "manly" entertainment ;)

Now on to his sewing lesson...(kidding)

Re: How a differential works...
 

Great explanation, I wish I had this when I was learning about them. Note, that this is explaining differential gearboxes; differential drives (where a separate motor or drive train is used to power each wheel, like most FIRST robots) is a different concept.

--Ryan

Re: How a differential works...
 

WoW... great find!

I assume this would be to facilitate a conversation on weight benefits of tensile loading. :rolleyes:

Re: How a differential works...
 

Ha! He is working on some surgical tubing prototype for VEX. Now he knows the term "tensile loading." :)

Re: How a differential works...
 

It is true.

Re: How a differential works...
 

The animated illustration here is good:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/differential2.htm

Re: How a differential works...
 

We are using a ball differential on a future drive design. It is easy to build and works pretty good. It is based on R/C differentials.

We are using it on a six wheel mech drive. Link - http://www.team1322.org/ideas.htm#Ball Differential

Re: How a differential works...
 

I like the way ball differentials work since on low-load applications it is easy to make the screws tighter to add a slip differential effect. This was critical for me in learning to R/C drift.

I also like the photos that Ed Sparks posted of Team 34's 2008 robot. Very slick design and easily could have easily been implemented with an in-line slip differential if the differential box were custom-built.