How do we increase/ decrease gear ratio?
You have a higher ratio in the number of teeth on the input compared to the output.
For example, if we have a 36 tooth gear powered by our input, spinning our output of a 12 tooth gear, that’s a 3:1. If we then swap that 36 out with a 60 tooth gear, we have a 5:1 ratio.
You can go into higher gear ratios by having a setup with more gears.
You could have a 60 tooth gear powered by our input spinning a 12 tooth gear, and on that same axle as the 12 tooth gear, have another 60 tooth gear that is also spinning a 12 tooth gear on a separate axle. This ratio, put simply, would spin a 5:1 ratio 5 times faster, making a 25:1 ratio.
I’d recommend taking a look at units 8.4 - 8.6 of the VEX Curriculum. It’s got a ton of great information concerning torque, speed and compound reductions.
1 Like