The Mechanical Design
The design is still being revised and edited to facilitate the overall goal of the project to produce a low cost high performance actuator. This is realized by incorporating 3D printed parts to make it not only affordable, but accessible.
Mechanical Design
3D Printed Joints
The mechanical design is centered around 3D printing as this is more readily accessible to students and hobbyists. The goal of the mechanical design is to provide effective gearing without introducing backlash. The current design is a 3D printed nylon cycloidal gearbox with a 22:1 gearing ratio.
Gearbox
The gearbox is made from 3D printed materials. Nylon is used for the cycloidal gears to ensure low friction and high strength and temperature resistance. The housing for the gearbox is printed with PETG to provide adequate strength and durability as well as increased temperature resistance.
Gearbox Animation
This video highlights how the cycloidal gearbox works and is able to achieve a high reduction ratio in a relatively small package. This also shows how the gearbox can achieve low to zero backlash as theoretically the inner gears are always in contact with the outer gears to fully constrain it.