Laboratory Experiment A-10

Effect of Gear Ratio and Inertia

Purpose / Objective:
Gear ratio and inertia have fundamental effects on the system dynamics since they effectively scale the
system gain. In the procedure that follows these relationships are demonstrated experimentally. Gear Ratio
and Inertia Effects also are coupled with many of the other effects that will be studied in the subsequent lab.
The primary goals is to grasp is what happens to system poles as Gear Ratio and Inertia are adjusted.
Connecting the effects of gear ratio and inertia to various properties and behaviors seen in the system and in
the system response with the location of system poles is the main goal of this lab. Students should attempt
to identify the correlation between the system properties and system poles, and tie them together with the
concepts previously learned, (i.e. those studied in the previous lab)

Procedure:
Step 1: Setup the Industrial Emulator Mechanism in Test Case #6, as per Figure II.3.
Test Case #6
• The 18 teeth gear on the bottom, Drive Disk location of the SR Assembly.
• The 72 teeth gear on the top, Load Disk location of the SR Assembly.
• 4 - 200 g. masses located 5 cm concentrically on the Drive Inertia Disk.
• 4 - 500 g. masses located 10 cm concentrically on the Load Inertia Disk.
• 140 teeth pulley cable for the Drive Inertia Disk / SR Assembly coupling.
• 300 teeth pulley cable for the Load Inertia Disk / SR Assembly coupling.

This setup produces a 1.5:1 gear ratio. Note, also, that the first concentric ring is located 2 cm. from
the center of the disk.

Step 2: Now enter Data → Setup Data Acquisition and verify that Encoder 1, Encoder 2, and Com-
manded Position are set to be collected. Also, setup the data sampling rate to collect data every 1
servo cycle.
Step 3: Using the underdamped controller parameters designed in Experiment 3, enter Setup → Control
Algorithm → verify that PI with Velocity Feedback is selected and that Ts = 0.000884 seconds
→ Setup Algorithm and enter the values for kp and kd in the dialog box. Note that ωn = 4 Hz,
J = 0.002664 kg m2 , khw = 5.81 N m controller count/rad DAC count and that 1 Hz = 2π rad/sec.
These controller parameters are derived using Equation II.4 and Equation II.5.

Step 4: Setup a closed loop step trajectory. Enter Command → Trajectory Configuration → select Step
→ Setup and enter the following parameters in the Step Function Dialog screen:
• Amplitude = 2000 counts,
• Dwell Time = 4000 ms.,
• No. of Repetitions = 1 rep.

Step 5: Run the trajectory via Command → Execute → Run. Once the data has been uploaded, exit the
pop-up via OK and plot the response via Plotting → Setup Plot → select Encoder 1 Position
and Commanded Position to be plotted on the left axis→ Plot Data. Save this plot for later
comparison. Go to Data → Export Raw Data, save the data to a text file at any desired location.

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 Calculate the Damped Natural Frequency, ωd , Damping Coefficient, ζ, and Natural Frequency, ωn ,
using the following equations:
( )
1 X0
ζ≈ ln , (A10.1)
2πn Xn
n
ωd = , (A10.2)
tn − t0
ωd
ωn = √ , (A10.3)
1 − ζ2

where n is the number of cycles measured, in the figure below, n = 3, tn is the time of the nth peak
measured, t0 is the time of the initial peak measured, Xn is the amplitude of the nth peak measured,
and X0 is the amplitude of the initial peak measured.

Figure A10.1: Typical Step Response for ωd and ζ Measurement.

Figure A10.1 represents the parameters needed for the calculations above. X0 , Xn , t0 , and tn are
the amplitudes and times of the respective peaks. For the plot generated above and the plot of the
underdamped system of Experiment 3, calculate ωn and ζ for both responses. If the response of
Experiment 3 needs to be regenerated, consult the Lab Technician on configuring the mechanism to
collect the response.
Step 6: Now change the gear ratio to 24:1 and repeat Step 5 with the calculations for Test Cases #8 and #9
of Figure II.3.
Test Case #8
• The 72 teeth gear on the bottom, Drive Disk location of the SR Assembly.
• The 18 teeth gear on the top, Load Disk location of the SR Assembly.
• 4 - 200 g. masses located 5 cm concentrically on the Drive Inertia Disk.
• 4 - 500 g. masses located 10 cm concentrically on the Load Inertia Disk.
• 200 teeth pulley cable for the Drive Inertia Disk / SR Assembly coupling.

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 • 250 teeth pulley cable for the Load Inertia Disk / SR Assembly coupling.

Test Case #9
• The 18 teeth gear on the bottom, Drive Disk location of the SR Assembly.
• The 72 teeth gear on the top, Load Disk location of the SR Assembly.
• No masses on the Drive Inertia Disk.
• 4 - 500 g. masses located 10 cm concentrically on the Load Inertia Disk.
• 140 teeth pulley cable for the Drive Inertia Disk / SR Assembly coupling.
• 300 teeth pulley cable for the Load Inertia Disk / SR Assembly coupling.

Step 7: How do the response of Step 6 compare with the underdamped response of Experiment 3? Explain
this result in terms of the effect of gear ratio and inertia, and hence, system gain.

Data Analysis:
1. Plot command position and encoder 1 position in MatLab using the data collected in the text files for,

a. Experiment with Test case #6,

b. Experiment with Test case #8,
c. Experiment with Test case #9.
2. Answer and report the questions asked during experimentation, i.e. Steps 5 - 7

3. Calculate the Natural Frequency, ωn , and the Damping Coefficient, ζ, for the all responses generated
during experimentation. Present the values in a tabular form in your report.

4. Observing the responses of the various systems, how did the effects of gear ratio and inertia differ
individually?