I am trying to figure out what motor i need to use to power a belt drive?

Question

I am trying to build a robot using belt drives. What calculations should I do to determine what motor I need to use?

Answer 1

DC motor is the common use, also its size and torque are needed to choose the motor.

Answer 2

It depends upon the waist size.

Answer 3

You need to know the torque on the drive pulley (it's equal to the tension in the belt times the radius of the drive pulley). You also need to know what speed the drive pulley is turning.



From there, you can calculate the power needed:

P = τ ω



Make sure you're using the right units. You may also want to consider multiplying by a safety factor. Once you've found the power needed, use that and the speed or torque to specify a motor.



For example, say the robot moves using a belt track that's directly driven by the motor. The robot has a weight of 10 N, and the coefficient of friction between the track and ground is 0.3. So the tension in the belt is equal to the friction force of 3 N. If the radius of the pulley is 0.1 m, then the torque on the motor is 0.3 Nm. If we want the pulley to spin at a rotational speed of 6 radians per second, then the power needed is 1.8 Nm/s = 1.8 W. So I would maybe look for a 2 W motor rated for 6 rad/s (approximately 60 rpm).



Other equations you may need:

τ = F r

ω = v / r

P = τ ω = F v