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Unread 24-10-2005, 21:48
KenWittlief KenWittlief is offline
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Re: Mechanical Reliability

in general, reliability is a matter of calculating the forces a mechanism will encounter, then choosing the materials and dimensions that can withstand those forces, including a safety factor.

The easy part is calculating the normal forces, like the acceleration from the motors on the gears as the bot speeds up or climbs a hill.

The hard part is calculating how much force will be encountered if you slam into a wall at full speed, or another bot head on. It can be calculated, but the math is more complex.