Need ideas for a flywheel-like part

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I need a flywheel-like part, and was wondering whether anyone had
suggestions on what kind of thing I should be looking for.  I've
looked briefly through the McMaster-Carr and Stock Drive Products
websites, but being a software guy I'm not really familiar with the
hardware they describe. So I'm not sure quite what to buy.

The project that I'm working on involves making very accurate
measurements of the velocity and acceleration of a DC motor using an
encoder and microcontroller. I plan on using the data to help me
develop a model for the dynamics of a small mobile robot. There are a
lot of steps before I get there, but right now I need to be able to
attach a wheel with a known moment of inertia to the motor and then
measure how fast it spins up. This procedure will let me compute both
the stall torque for the motor plus the torque/speed gradient. I've
already been able to match the manufacture's specification on a bare
motor. If I can mount a wheel with a non-trivial moment of inertial on
the shaft, I should be able to directly measure the effects of energy
lost through friction in the gear chain.  I don't need something
really massive, maybe just the weight of a typical cell phone or
paperback book (though I could go heavier).

My test motors have a 6mm shaft about one and a half centimeters long.
I'd like to be able to attach and remove the test wheel easily.
Ideally, I'd like to get a couple of different wheels with different
moments of inertia. Also, if I can't get the moment of inertia from
manufacture's specs, then the shape needs to be clean enough that I
can take measurements and estimate a value. And, just like everyone
else, I need to keep cost within limits of my meager hobbiest's budget.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Gary


Re: Need ideas for a flywheel-like part


Just make a cross-bar with movable weights, attached to the motor shaft
with a suitable collar and set-screw. Computing the rotational inertia
is then reduced to a fixed quantity for the shaft and cross bar plus
the variable quantity of the weights at a given radius, each of which
can probably be approximated as a mass at its centroid.

see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_moments_of_inertia

--
Joe Legris


Re: Need ideas for a flywheel-like part

Thanks Joe.  I should have mentioned that my main problem is lack of a
shop and lack of experience with hardware.  I just need something I can
buy and install with hand tools. Doing math and physics is easy.
Shopwork is hard :-)

Gary


J.A. Legris wrote:


Re: Need ideas for a flywheel-like part



emachineshop to the rescue:

  http://www.emachineshop.com/
 
Roberto Waltman

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Re: Need ideas for a flywheel-like part

Actually, I like your idea a lot because it allows me to change the
moment of inertia without changing the mass of the flywheel-like
device.  Following your lead, I did a quick search on set-screw and
collar. What I saw looks like thin rings (inner diameter 6mm, outter
1/2 inch) with not much material for drilling.  Is there a good way to
attach them to
a crossbar? (probably not crazy glue, I would think).  Are there more
substantial parts out there that I'm not finding?  I suspect that my
problem here is just not knowing the right things to look for.

Gary



J.A. Legris wrote:


Re: Need ideas for a flywheel-like part


Something like this might work for you:

http://www.robotshop.ca/home/products/robot-parts/mechanics/mounts-hubs/lynxmotion-hub-02-universal-hub.html

It's a universal hub for attaching a wheel to a 6mm shaft.

You can attach a bar to that (or different sized disks).  All you would
need is either a part with holes in it (erector set parts for example), or
a simple hand drill to drill holes in it (if you don't own a battery
powered hand drill/driver it's a good investment - probably my signal most
used power tool in my shop).

You could also consider buying different robot wheels designed to attach to
a 6mm shaft.  You wouldn't be able to calculate the moment of inertia
easily but I suspect if you know enough physics, you could find a way to
determine it experimentally (attach to a free spinning shaft and apply a
known torque to it and measure the angular acceleration).

--
Curt Welch                                            http://CurtWelch.Com/
curt@kcwc.com                                        http://NewsReader.Com/

Re: Need ideas for a flywheel-like part


Curt,

Perfect!   Thanks.

                         Gary


Curt Welch wrote:

http://www.robotshop.ca/home/products/robot-parts/mechanics/mounts-hubs/lynxmotion-hub-02-universal-hub.html


Re: Need ideas for a flywheel-like part

I have an old 16 millimeter firm projector flywheel that may do what you
want. They were key components in the old movie projectors to keep the film
moving forward without the jerking of the shutter at 17 per second. It
weighs something less than a pound, the flywheel is a steel round some 6"
diameter on a shaft with two ball bearings and a driver pulley on the
opposite end. I could dig it out of my junk heap and take a picture and send
it to you. I'd be happy to lend it to you for the experimental session if
you pick up the postage.

Wayne



Re: Need ideas for a flywheel-like part

I have a foundry and machine shop at my android lab. I can cast you a
flywheel(or anything else you can ever imagine) and machine it all
including a locking collar. You
should also be aware, such things are not very expensive to make.
Something like a 4"
flywheel, cast machined and ready to attach would be about 20-25$. Just
dont ever send
me metric specs-I only deal in inches!(or fractionals)

Mark

gwlucas wrote:


Re: Need ideas for a flywheel-like part


Just a note of thanks to all the comp.robotics.misc users who sent me
advice and offers of help in response to my latest posting (both
on-line and via email).  Once again I find myself grateful to my fellow
robotics enthusiasts for thier support.

                                                 Gary


Re: Need ideas for a flywheel-like part



That is an awesome price! Please send me some images or examples of your
work. I'm involved in prototyping and product development and you appear to
be the kind fo shop willing to go the extra mile.

Wayne
http://tinyurl.com/m397x




Re: Need ideas for a flywheel-like part


I can vouch for Mark's work and integrity. Highly recommended.

-- Gordon

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