Hi am working on a project this summer for a lift. When I was on YouTube I came across this lift design but need help reverse engineering it. Your help would be greatly appreciated!
The link to the video is: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fIK78_rpEeQ
I believe it is some type of pulley system but not sure how to get it to work. If someone could make a CAD design it would be fantastic.
Otherwise your descriptions/drawings are perfect!
Thank you for your help!
Yes, it does seem to be using some kind of rack and pinion mechanism with a pulley system to lift the weight, but it is difficult to reverse engineer it without seeing more of it. You should try commenting on the video and hope you get a response from the uploader.
Thank you all for your comments. I will try to leave a comment on the video and hope he responds.
Thanks again
From what it looks like the ratio is 49:1 on a rack and pinion. The entire thing that is lifted is being supported by what looks like a single liniar slide in the back of the weight.
I can list more details if you want.
If you could list more details that would be great!
Reverse engineering this might be more difficult than just taking the mechanical concepts the uploader used and shaping them into a mechanism designed by you. Personally i think that mechanism could be achieved with a 1:7 gear ratio connected to linear slides and power by 4 motors. you would need a minimum of 2 sets of linear slides and just build a mechanism along the side. i recommend 4 sets of slides if you have them available as well as the metal 12 tooth gears. just so nothing breaks. good luck!
Disclaimer: I am but a child and I am not 100% sure of what I am about to say is correct.
Motors: I am not sure about the amount of motors this mechanism uses. I would think that this is do-able with just two motors.
Structure: I would assume that everything is made of aluminum materials other than the angle that is supporting the weight at the bottom. The only ones that need to be aluminum would be the backing of the lifted area.
The “towers” are obviously 1x5x1x35 c-channels. They are held together by what I would assume to be a single 1x2x1x35 c-channel. Each of the towers are held together by what I would think are three stand offs with the lengths of 2-3 inches (two in the middle on opposite sides of the c-channel and the upper-outer portion of the c-channel as shown by the screws in the anterior view of the structure.
The “lifted” portion of the structure is made up of three 1x5x1x35 c-channels I think it would be aluminum because it will be easier to lift. They are arranged in a manner that the opening of the “c” is in front, that or the left and the right c-channels are facing the opposite ways. The middle of the middle c-channel has a single linear slide in order to stabilize the lifting. The sides have the racks screwed on the c-channels themselves. The bottom has 2x2x15 angle running along the bottom so that the object can “sit” on it. I am running on 3G data right now and the video has very poor quality so I don’t exactly know how the lifted object is secured against the c-channels.
The “String” TOSS_BOSSES is talking about may be Latex tubing to assist the lifting of the robot.
The only improvement I can think of right now is to have one more linear slide to make it go up smoothly, but it is not necessarily important if you are trying to keep your robot light.
Again, if you guys see anything different from what I observed, feel free to correct me.
I think that using aluminum would likely be a mistake when lifting 20 lbs of weight. i recommend steel because the weight would likely construe the aluminum. i even recommend doubling up the steel along with cross bracing to protect the mechanism from repeated use.
But TheSheev, it is not really imperative to use steel c-channel when you have three together. The tension would be spread out along the three c-channels.
That does make sense Don but any advantage gained from weight loss by using aluminum is irrelevant in the grand scale of the projects objective. a few ounces would be irrelevant compared to 20 pounds but the advantage gained from the tensile and compressional strengths outweigh the email weight gain
The advantage is very minute, TheSheev. Increased weight will only do you more hard than good in the long run. If it’s not necessary to make your robot heavy, you shouldn’t.
well it all depends if this mechanism is for his robot and if it is then there are a lot more technical issues that must be taken into consideration. Spacing, placement, support, all of these and more must be assumed
Thanks for all of the replies. All of your information has helped a lot. This mechanism will be placed on a moving base. So in terms of spacing, there really isn’t an issue.
Thanks again for all the information. This forum is a lot of help to a beginner!
No problem! Welcome to the forum! Newbies like us need to stick together.
If you want any input from other teams this is an awesome place to start. Be welcome to ask any questions. If you want you can directly message me and I will do my best to help. 