Mechanical Power

Transmission
• Introduction
• In the previous unit students were introduced to some of the
concepts of classical mechanics, and also of DC motors. These
concepts were then applied to the design of simple DC motor –
torque arm systems.
• DC Motors have a limited amount of power that they can output,
which means that for a specific amount of work (i.e. lifting a weight
over a set distance), the motor can only do it so fast. To ensure the
motor will spin at a reasonable speed and draw a reasonable
amount of current, the motor load must be below a certain
threshold. The motors in their default configuration are too fast for a
typical applied load – they are trying to accomplish the work faster
than their power limit will allow. So if the motor must lift a certain
weight while still staying under the design threshold, mechanical
advantage must be used.
• This unit will show how gear ratios can be used to adjust mechanical
advantage so that the motors can do the work more slowly, within
their power limit.
 Power Transmission
• As described, power is the rate
at which work is performed (i.e.
how fast a student can carry a
backpack holding 15 lbs of
books up a flight of
stairs.) Power can also be
thought of as the rate that
energy is transferred (i.e. how
fast can a student transfer the
chemical energy in their muscles
into mechanical energy to lift
the backpack up the flight of
stairs.)
• Power transmission is simply defined as the transfer of energy
from its place of generation or storage to a location where it
does work. Look at electricity: electrical energy is stored in a
battery; it is then transmitted through wires to a motor where it
is converted into mechanical energy to do work.
• Mechanical power can be similarly transmitted across large
distances in a variety of ways. This unit will focus on the
transfer of mechanical energy in the form of rotational motion
(i.e. one has an input spinning at a speed with some torque,
and one needs to transfer the power from this input to a
different output.)
• Shafts transfer motion from point to point along their axis of
motion. A common example of this is the drive axle of a
car. Power is transferred into shafts via keys, splines, or
polygonal shafts.
• VEX uses a four-sided polygon (square) shaft as part of its
motion system. This means that the shaft will transfer torque
directly to anything which has a matching square hole. This
square shaft also has rounded corners, which allow the shaft to
spin freely in a larger-size round hole.
 • Gears are another method of mechanical power
transmission. There are many different types of gears, and
they are found very commonly in the world.

SPUR GEARS:
The most common type of gear is called a spur
gear. When most people think of gears, they think of spur
gears.

Spur gears transfer motion between two shafts running

parallel to each other. Spur Gears are characterized by
their teeth, which are straight and parallel to the gear’s
axis of rotation. These are the primary form of
mechanical power transfer used in the VEX Robotics
Design System. In addition, spur gears are found in the
real world in everything from automobiles to the
mechanism that opens the tray on a DVD player.
• BEVEL GEARS:
• Bevel gears are conically shaped, and transmit power between
shafts that have intersecting axes of motion.

Bevel gears can transmit power between shafts at a

variety of angles, but are most commonly used to transmit
power 90-degrees as seen in the above example.
• CROWN GEARS:
• Crown gears are a type of bevel gear in which the teeth project
perpendicular to the gear face.
• Crown gears can mesh with other bevel gears and spur gears
(as seen in the example above) so that motion is transferred
between shafts with intersecting axes of rotation.
 • WORM GEARS:
• Worm gears come in pairs: worm gears and worm wheels that
mate together to transfer power between perpendicular shafts
that have axes of rotation offset from each other.

Worm gears resemble screws; as they spin,

they turn their mating worm wheel. This type
of gear pair is very useful for creating a high
mechanical advantage in a small form
factor. In this type of gear pair, the worm
gear can drive the worm wheel forward, but
it is very difficult for the worm wheel to drive
the worm gear. For this reason, these gears
are useful for applications where the designer
doesn’t want a mechanism to be back-driven.
• HELICAL GEARS:
• Helical gears resemble spur gears, only their teeth are curved in
the shape of a helix. These gears can be used to transmit
power between two parallel axes of motion, or between
perpendicular non-intersecting axes of motion.
• EPICYCLIC (PLANETARY) GEARS:
• An epicyclic or planetary gear set consists of one or more planet
gears moving along an outer ring gear as a central sun gear
drives them. As the planet gears are driven, they typically
move a planet carrier plate along with them.

Interestingly, planetary gears can be used in a

variety of ways with different gears serving as the
inputs and outputs. For example, one might use
the sun gear as the input and the planet carrier as
the output while the ring gear is held stationary,
or one might use the ring gear as the input and
the sun gear as the output while the planet carrier
is held stationary. The overall mechanical
advantage of a planetary gear set changes
depending on the configuration used.
• RACK GEARS:
• A rack gear is a gear mounted to a straight rod, such that it
moves in a linear fashion when torque is applied to it by a spur
gear (known as the pinion gear).

Rack and pinion gear sets are commonly used to convert

rotational motion to linear motion. Cars utilize this type of
gear set to convert the rotary motion of a steering wheel
into a linear left/right motion required to steer the car.
This is why it is called rack and pinion steering.
Within competition robotics there are many applications
where rack gears can be used to create linear actuators
for driving mechanisms.
 Gear Teeth & Pitch
• In order for two gears to mesh,
they need to have the same size
and shape teeth on the same
spacing.

As shown in the example above only one of the larger

gears would correctly mesh with the smaller gear. It is
said that these gears have the same pitch.
As seen above, for gear of the same pitch, tooth count
and diameter are directly proportional. More teeth =
bigger diameter.