pic: Saving weight (and rotational mass)

[Tim Baird]

Yeah, we had to do that to most/all of our gears and sprockets. We decided to put almost every idea we had onto the one robot, so, it's the price to pay!

[KenWittlief]

interesting. How did you choose the pattern? Was some analysis done on the rotational torque, and radial forces that would be encountered, and the amount of material required to perform the desired function.

[Francis-134]

Wow, I'm glad my team isnt the only one that does that to all their gears (what can i say, 40 just loves to swiss-cheese everything). For our drivetrain, we brought the gears down even more than that and we haven't experienced any probelms, just in case you needed that extra .1 lb.

[Kevin Sevcik]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

interesting. How did you choose the pattern? Was some analysis done on the rotational torque, and radial forces that would be encountered, and the amount of material required to perform the desired function.

Does anyone remember getting a free copy of ANSYS software with Mechanical Desktop way back in the ancient past? It would be rather useful for this sort of thing. Or a copy of solidworks with cosmosworks. Granted that both are much more useful with a working knowledge of the limitations of FEA.

[sanddrag]

Inventor 11 Pro has ANSYS if anyone was wondering.

[M4 Sherman]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

interesting. How did you choose the pattern? Was some analysis done on the rotational torque, and radial forces that would be encountered, and the amount of material required to perform the desired function.

We stayed .125" way from the bottom of the gear teeth. This ensures us that the gear will not deform or "crush" under its suggested maximum torque.