Sunday, January 12, 2025
RepRapMicron Wire Driven Axis
Attending family matters away from the workshop. Had an idea for a vastly simplified axis driver. It wouldn't be quite as accurate but stands a chance of being significantly faster and having a greater range of movement. Plus it's linear!
The idea is to directly drive the XY Table with a wire that wraps around a 5mm NEMA17 shaft. One full turn of wire would give nearly 16mm of linear movement. No return wire would be needed, just a simple extension spring on the far side of the table.
Accuracy would suffer a bit, but speed would increase to the point where vibration would be a limiting factor. 1/4 stepping is reasonably reliable and would give 10μm/step. Of course, it could drive the XY Table at a distance from its pivot to give better mechanical advantage and accuracy but that's more complex.
As noted on the diagram, lots of tolerance and failure mode concerns, but if anyone wants to try it before I get back fill your boots.
