Gearboxes for Recycled Printer Motors (video)

 For those interested in making Gearboxes for Recycled Printer motors.  I have posted a video on my YouTube Channel that shows the asseymbly of the gearbox. Unfortunatly, it is not an instructional video, but it does show how to build it.

Tilt! - A Self Balancing Robot (#8) - New Gearbox for Motor and Wheels

 

A new gearbox for the self balancing robot.

The reuse of the pulley system is not working on the robot. Therefore, I started the whole gearbox design for recycled printer motors.  Now that there is a somewhat functional gearbox, it is time to return to Tilt! and see how the gearbox can be applied.

Here are the parts!  Now, just Engineer a new Motor mount and Wheel assembly!  

Engineer That!

New Motor Gearboxes layout with the old mounting brackets

Rough draft started - the concept of the new mounting system will be similar to the previous design iteration. Now, instead of using pulleys on a wheel with an axel, the axel will be directly part of the output shaft of the gearbox.  There will be a single 22mm bearing to take the load/weight of the robot instead of transmitting that to the gearbox/motor.

New Motor mount and gearbox

The New motor mount is wider than the original chassis and will fit 'around' the existing battery box. This frame will take use of the 1cm holes to allow for easy modular construction.  The gearbox, has new brackets so that it can be screwed to the new mount.  The old wheels are reusable, I will have a friction dependent plug that sets in the hub of the wheel and securely fits the output shaft of the gearbox.

Tilt with new 3D printed Gearbox - more Torque, less speed

NEXT:  Look for the new video showing the assembly of the gearbox. This is not a full instructional video, but does show how a simple gearbox can be 3D printed to allow for the use of recycled printer motors in robot construction.

Gearboxes for Recycled Printer Motors (#2)

The final prototype build of the 3D printed gearbox for using recycled printer motors.  To see the initial development, see Part 1.

First version of Gear Design (above) vs. Current version (below)

Here are the versions changes from my initial gear design to the current one used.  The latest version has fewer teeth and is slightly wider on the smaller in-set gear.  This has required the housing box to be increased in size.  I used this extra design cycle to increase the distance between the axles in addition.

First version (right) vs. Current version (left) - output gear/shaft missing from picture

The Assembled Gearbox

unfortunately, you can not see the internal gears, because of the inclosing housing.  This design is working.  It seems to be good tork on the output shaft. The rotational speed is significantly less (~6:1) than the motor speed.  Even better, it will run without getting jammed. 

The next steps will be to design in a method for securing the gearbox to the robot. This may be dependent on the robot it is being applied to. The gearbox increases the space required for the motors.  My robots tend to be small, so this will have significant impact.

In addition, I would like to remove the load from the output shaft using 8mm skateboard bearings.  Finally, the drive shaft will need to be adjusted to provide a better attachment method for the output. 

Recycled Printer Motor 3D Printed Gearbox - First Complete Prototype Build

Robot Application

Since 3D printed gearboxes are not the focus of my robot building, this initial disign is good enough for now to move forward.

The Milli Robot will be fitted with the new gearbox. The connection between the motor and the helix shaft has been problematic. The rotational rate was too fast. Frequent jamming (due to a broken stabilizer) resulted in the drive shaft burning out the drive gear. A gearbox and new stabilizer should get the robot development back on track.

Broken-bot Millipead Robot with the WildWormDrive
The motor to Drive section will be re-designed with the 3D Printed Gearbox

Tilt!  A self-balancing robot will also be fitted with the new gearboxes. The original concept to use recycled motors, used the belts from the printers. The belt system is functional, but the fast movements required to provide balance created slippage in the belt. Typically slippage can be reduced or removed with a tensioner. However, I think in this caseitwoudl be best just to replace the belts with a gearbox system.  The drive mechanism is not the focus of this robot, therefore simpler is better.

Tilt! Robot - will be redesigned using the 3D Printed gearbox
The pulley-belt system had too much slippage

2021 Game of Shrooms

 

The Totally Not Evil Robot Army will be participating in the 2021 Game of Shroom - Art Seek -n- Keep.  If you are in Düsseldorf, Germany on June 12th 2021, you can find original Totally Not Evil Robot Army Shroom-Art!

for more details and the Clues - see the page:  2021 Game of Shrooms

you can learn more from the official site:  Game of Shrooms

Goto my Shroom Page for the details and CLUES

The Shrooms are Growing!

Shrooms are next to famous Düsseldorf painter Heinrich Ludwig Philippi

Shrooms in the Wild!

2021 Game of Shrooms - Totally Not Evil Robot Army

Goto my Shroom Page for the details and CLUES

#gameofshrooms #shroomdrop #düsseldorf

Tilt! - A Balancing Robot (#7) - Initial Tests

 

[This is an older post that did not get published. It describes the last steps taken on Tilt!  This was also part of the motivation for building a gearbox for recycled printer motors.]

Tilt! Balancing Robot - testing configuration

After some time with "communication failure", I sorted out some loose connections and got the initial prototype working!  All hail the Cargo Cult Programmer! (need to to write more of a story on this one I think.)

Torque and the Printer motors.  The large gear ratio with the belt pulleys is working. The wheels are turning and it is just enough to suggest that there is an attempt at ballance.  At least this seems to be true in one direction. 

12V Testing.  Some testing with the 'power' of the motors or how easy it is to stall the motors is *not* very encouraging. with only small effort, I can stall the printer motor.  This is with 12 volts of power - certainly at the lower end of the rating for these motors.  Attempting more power up to 18V will be worth the test, although my built in battery bank only supports 12v.  (thinking)  18V with a RC battery might be feasible.

18V Testing.  By connecting the robot up to 'shore power' (tether), I bypassed the onboard battery and supplied 18V to the motors.  The robot was a bit more responsive, and the issue became more clear.  Instead of stalling, the motor caused the belt to slip.  In either case, a re-design of the motor-drive-wheel system is in order.

Another aspect is to reduce the gear ratio and see if less torque is an option.  This could be done by printing new pulleys.  but what I sacrifice in torque and gear contact - may manifest undesirable slippage on the pulley. Given the results of the 18V testing, the best option will be to use a gearbox to increase the torque of the wheel, and reduce the speed/impulse of the motors.

Next Steps - The gearbox for printer motors is already in progress.  The initial results of that design are very positive. I will be replacing the motors in Tilt! with new gearbox driven versions.

in other news:

This guy has a good page on balancing robots:  Axel's FYI Balancing Robot

And this video is typical.