paper: Optimal Gear Ratio Calculator

[Ari423]

Originally Posted by CyborgBear

Would this work for calculating a gear ratio for a winch?

Absolutely! Use the spool's radius as the radius and the robot's weight as the load. Don't forget that the spool's radius will get bigger as the rope wraps and you probably want some factor of safety in the robot weight to account for dynamic loading. You will probably also want to use ~10V applied because the robot's battery can drop that low under load by the end of the match and you want to make sure you will still be able to climb even with a low battery. Once you set all the parameters, you can vary the number and type of motors to see how that affects your climbing speed (i.e. speed @ edge), optimal gear ratio, and stall current. Divide 5.8ft (height of climb sensor) minus the height of your climber on the ground (in feet) by the climbing speed to get the time it takes to climb. If you know what motors you want but the optimal gear ratio gives too high of a stall current, you can use the current limited column to calculate the gear ratio based on your desired stall current. Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions on how to use the spreadsheet or suggestions for improvements.