Design and experiences of a planetary gear box for adaptive drives

Abstract

This paper presents a design of an adaptive gear variator together with lab experiences for its operation characterization. The proposed design is based on a solution with a differential planetary gear system in which the second degree of freedom is activated when the input torque exceeds the possibility for the first degree of freedom. Both kinematical and mechanical designs are presented with the peculiarities of the design. Experimental validation is worked out with a proper test-bed and test results are discussed for a characterization of the presented variator with its peculiar functioning.