"Transmission Design Assistant"

[Matt Adams]

I'm currently working on a stand-alone program that will be incorporating a number of these features, written in Visual Basic. It's a few more weeks from being complete, but it has the following feature list:

• Motors can be selected from a list of FIRST standard motors (or add your own).
• Gear ratios can either be selected or back calculated.
• Gear safety margins are automatically calculated, or suggested gears are back calculated, and suggested vendors and part numbers are provided.
• Key way sizing and spefiications are double checked based on material selection.
• Easily printable speed / torque curves for both individual motor or over robot system.
• The ability to save your setting and send them as a stand alone file.

I've also realized, more than just drive train design, there's a demand for accurately sizing gearboxes for arms, ball handlers, etc. Properly sizing things like lead screws is also important.

Being able to understand the expected torque on 2 or 3 segment arms is also important, and functionality to have users select combinations of prismatic or rotary joints will be available.

There's also a need for students and non engineers to be able to properly size structural members. This software will have a nice selection of mechanics of material calculations available.

Also, being able to quickly get estimates on weights of different members is important. (Quick, how much does a 4' piece of 1" square aluminium tube with 1/8" walls weigh?)

And of course, things like sprocket center distance, tipping angle based on center of gravity and wheel base, etc. are also important calculations to have available for non engineers.

And what software wouldn't be complete with english to metric conversions?

Stay tuned!

Matt