This is my first flywheel, before you all flame it, here are a few things I am already going to change in my next design: move the gearbox down and add a second standoff at the top, get a much shorter axle for the first input gear, and add the curved sheet metal backboard thing around the wheel.
1 Like
To conserve energy, try to use as few gears as possible to get to your desired speed. I would recommend changing the ratio to a 1:7 or 1:5 with a 600 rpm motor. HS gears are not really necessary, but they can work if you are worried about teeth sheering. Lastly, adding a few dabs of whit lithium grease on each gear will work wonders
1 Like
My initial view was that it needed a bunch more cross-bracing but you are already addressing that in your next build so that facet should be fine. Just make sure that it is all rigid and relatively inflexible to ensure that everything stays aligned correctly, because with flywheels, even the slightest misalignment will lead to huge problems. I definitely agree with @Llawc on the smaller external gearing and using a faster cartridge in the motor. Definitely try to use Low Strength gears instead of High Strength and try to make your gearbox as thin as possible. Ideally, the gearbox should be less than an inch thick. I would say to use screw joints wherever possible but if you just do a singular external gearing then it’ll be an axle on the motor and an axle on the wheel with nothing in between, so no need for a screw joint there. Also, for the axle that the flywheel is on, I would try to make it supported by only two bearing flats and not 3 the way you have set it up. Making the gearbox thinner will allow you to no longer need the bearing flat in the middle and you won’t have gears skipping teeth. This way, you eliminate the risk of 1 of the 3 bearing flats being misaligned with the other 2. Also, this goes without saying, but just make sure that all the axles you use are perfectly straight and not bent or twisted. Grease is a must for flywheels, so put some white lithium grease inside of the bearing flats where the axles spin and some on the gears so that they mesh with less friction. I would also say that an omni wheel isn’t ideal for a flywheel. You should probably use 2 or 3 stacked standard wheels instead and then you can wrap those wheels in rubber bands or antislip mat or foam. All of these should definitely help but keep in mind that flywheels require much tuning and effort, so don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t work immediately.
-> Edit: Accidentally posted without finishing
3 Likes
My original sketch had a 600 RPM with a 1:5, but the only motor I had was a 100 RPM one which is why I had to increase the external ratio. Thanks for the suggestion!
Thanks for the feedback! I’ll definitely redesign with normal gears and a thinner gearbox.
1 Like
Some grease in the bearing blocks would also be a good idea
2 Likes
This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.