Final Post of my Speed Reducer Project

Post date: Feb 6, 2018 8:32:07 PM

I have been working on this project for a very long. I have gone through prototype after prototype, trial after trial and I have begun to make some progress. This project is specifically done with laser cut gears. This is why this project has been very hard for others. At the beginning, I was able to research how to make gears on adobe illustrator and after a few tries, I was successful. First, I started with my gears having long teeth. But they were way too long. I also had to learn about gear ratios. If spinning a small gear attached to a big gear, the bigger gear will be slow but have a lot of torque. On the other hand, if a big gear is spinning attached to a small gear, the small gear will not have a lot of torque but will be incredibly fast. After learning how to make gears and learning about gear ratios, I had to decide my gear ratio. The point of the speed reducer is to take an initial speed of a shaft and then considerably slow it down. I decided on a 10:1 gear ratio. To do this, my second gear had to be 10 times bigger than my first gear. I made my first gear 1 inch in diameter and my second gear 10 inches in diameter. I attached a motor to the small gear and it began to spin very fast. Sometimes, the teeth of the two gears would mesh, and other times, they wouldn't. After sticking a pole through the second gear, the results became much better. But I still could not control the gear speed very well. For a better proof of concept model, Mr. Moss suggested to use a hand crank to prove that this would work. I created a structure to do this. I also doubled up the gears so that there would be a higher chance of the gears meshing correctly. This hand crank model worked very well. Just a few days ago, I attempted to make this model bigger with three gears on one rod. This did not work because I did not double the gears up. The gears weren't meshing well. This is where i am currently in time.

Google Drive Link 1

Executive Summary and Future

Looking ahead, I can do a lot to continue this project. First, I need to complete the proof of concept. I must remember to double up the gears for an increased chance of the gears meshing together. I also need to create a stand so that the dowel/shaft that the gears are on is stable. I may need to change the 10:1 Gear Ratio to a 100:1 Gear Ratio. However, I must concede that I will not be able to complete my project of making the gear grow the speed that grass grows. I may start with a windmill, something nice that is an achievable goal by the end of the trimester. I do not believe that I am done with my project but I believe I am well on my way. For the windmill, I may try to motorize the gear system. I may try an arduino controlled motor or a lego mindstorm motor for the purposes of efficiency.