at this point the only way i can see our arm powered is if I use the keyang motor with a small sprocket and a large sprocket attached to the pivot of our arm. I wanted to do a winch with a lever but that seems to be out because of the 80 inch envelope. If there are any other suggestions they would be greatly appreciated. The big question is where should I get the sprockets?
Andymark has some and so does IFI. our team hasn’t done anything with chain in years, so i am making it up as i go along…
We used a large IFI sprocket to move our arm last year, it worked just fine…we made a pivot design that let us put the standard 1/2" bore flanged ball bearing (as used on IFI wheels) in the center of the sprocket.
My guess is that you need it to be light weight, so the aluminum sprockets offered by IFI and AndyMark would probably be the way to go.
Along with these, Martin Sprocket and Gear has a good selection of gears and sprockets.
remember, you shouldn’t go over 100 (?) teeth on a sprocket as it will lead to the chain not meshing properly since chain does stretch slightly.
good luck, Vivek