Free rotating coaxial drive question

[asid61]

Originally Posted by ekapalka

I'm trying to make something similar to a coaxial swerve module, however the module needs to spin freely (as in there's no positional control). If I remember correctly, when the wheel of a coaxial swerve drive is slowed down or stopped, the motor driving the wheel tries to turn the whole module by the interaction of the bevel gears. Can anyone think of a way to allow the module to spin freely without putting the motor in the rotating module and using slip rings? Thanks!

Wouldn't you simply be making a driven caster at that point?
The torque that the driving motor puts on the bevel gears is small if you do a 1st stage bevel gear reduction. Couple that with good bearings and friction and that might be enough.
You could also use 2 sets of counter-rotating bevels in the caster box (lower part of the module), although that would be harder to set up mechanically.

What kind of loads/what size motor are we looking at here? The slip ring solution isn't half bad if this is for something like a motorized suitcase.