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Spur Gear Transmission

Design & Fabrication Course Contest
Project Details

Given a budget of $150 and access to the ME lab, we worked in teams of 3 to design and fabricate a transmission that could increase the torque output of a DC motor to turn a bike wheel as fast as possible.

Our design featured metal hub gears to fit a gear ratio of 6.76, ball bearings, and a top acrylic plate in addition to the base to increase stability. My role in the fabrication process was making the acrylic walls.

Out of 10 teams, our transmission achieved the highest peak power and steady state power, and second highest peak RPM (right after the team who used a similar design, but plastic gears).

Product Design

We worked as a team to design a system that minimized potential sources of efficiency loss.

Solidworks

Modeled the transmission assembly and created manufacturing drawings for individual parts.

Manufacturing

Milled three acrylic walls at once. Decided to redo twice, and learned from mistakes.

Assembly & Testing

After putting the system together, realized top plate screw tightness affected shaft rotation.

Contact Me

Email:nsunil[at]mit[dot]edu