Category:DriveTrains
Drive trains are ways to transform mechanical motion from the stepper motors or DC motors into a precise movement of the desired part of the RepRap.
Some of the articles in this category focus on one specific part of a drive train -- an improved gear, pulley, or rack-and-pinion.
rotary to linear motion conversion
Most drive trains convert the rotary motion of the motor into linear motion. There are 2 popular techniques used by most RepRaps and RepStraps so far:
- belt drive
- threaded rod (very popular for CNC mills): Screw-drivenLinearAxis
Other promising techniques currently under development that may turn out better than both include:
- rack and pinion: RBS/Rack; RepRap forums: "rack and pinion versus belt?"; "A printable, high speed alternative to belts?"
- "linear actuator" has a motor that spins a nut around a fixed, threaded rod.
overall layout
Other articles in this category describe the overall layout of a complete drive train, of which there are currently 3 major categories being developed by RepRap developers:
- serial Cartesian drive train (the first ones to successfully RepRap)
- serial polar drive train
- parallel drive train
(This is far from exhausting the theoretical space of all possible drive trains -- for example, there has been a brief discussion[1] of a parallel Cartesian drive train.[2], and the Columbus design has a partially parallel Cartesian drive train).
Have all possible ways to connect X, Y, and Z in series already been explored?:
- up-and-down axis supports one horizontal axis: Mendel, Doboz.
- one horizontal axis supports one up-and-down axis: WolfStrap
- up-and-down axis neither supporting nor supported by a horizontal axis: Darwin, Development:McWire
- ... is there some other series arrangement I'm missing?
- Is there any significant advantage or disadvantage of one series arrangement over another?
- Which (if any) parallel or partially-parallel drive train is better than the best series drive train?
Pages in category "DriveTrains"
The following 28 pages are in this category, out of 28 total.