Week 5

Figure 1: Internal Gear Train of NXT Motor

The motor being used in the physical simulation is a Lego NXT motor. It is important in making our calculations that we know the torque and other properties of this motor. The internal motor/gear train is shown in the image below, and the graphs represent the torque of the motor plotted against other important properties.

Figure 2: Relationship between Power and Torque

Figure 3: Relationship between Efficiency and Torque

Figure 4: Relationship between RPM and Torque

[http://www.philohome.com/nxtmotor/nxtmotor.htm]

In class this week, Deepak gave a presentation/explanation of how to make and run a material analysis on Pro/E. The material that we will need this testing method for is our gear teeth. This method of analysis will be used to test how much strain will be placed on each of our meshing gears while the system is in motion. Also, using Pro/E, we have designed each of the two gear sizes that we will be using in our transmission (using the step-by-step instructions provided). Other things that need to be modeled in Pro/E include the drive and output shafts, the cross centered gears that will connect the motor to the main shaft, as well as the gear that will connect the output shaft to the mechanism that will be measuring our RPMs during the testing. We hope to complete the rest of these parts and start assembling our parts during the week 6 lab section.