Forcing a differential
06-21-2012, 06:46 PM
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Forcing a differential I know this is a LS forum and not an engineering forum but it's the only forum I'm a member of that's got intelligent gearheads on it. I know somebody here has valuable input.
I'm brainstorming about building a buggy (or maybe full car size) vehicle for a project. 3 wheeled vehicle, 2 wheels in the front, and a caster wheel in the back. It wouldn't have any turning mechanism. It would turn like a wheelchair or ZTR lawnmower or a tank (any tracked vehicle really). the right wheel spins faster than the left, it goes left, and vise versa.
At first I was thinking to use 2 different electric motors with independent control, but I don't think that's safe. I've been giving some more thought to it, and mainly about mechanical solutions to the division of power between 2 wheels.
As I understand it, the ordinary (not LSD) differential of a car allows for one wheel of the car to spin faster & the other slower, with a constant power input. But, using a that same differential (or another type) is there a way to force unequal speed between the 2 wheels for a constant power input?
I'm pretty sure that if brakes were applied to one side, it would slow down on that side and speed up on the other side, which would accomplish the goal, but the vehicle would be working against itself for a period of time (inefficient). So what is the 'as close to lossless as possible' way to do it?
I considered placing a mechanical speed variator in parallel with the diferential, which would force unequal speed, but variators can only be adjusted while running. This would need to work from a stop.Thanks for any ideas
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I'm brainstorming about building a buggy (or maybe full car size) vehicle for a project. 3 wheeled vehicle, 2 wheels in the front, and a caster wheel in the back. It wouldn't have any turning mechanism. It would turn like a wheelchair or ZTR lawnmower or a tank (any tracked vehicle really). the right wheel spins faster than the left, it goes left, and vise versa.
At first I was thinking to use 2 different electric motors with independent control, but I don't think that's safe. I've been giving some more thought to it, and mainly about mechanical solutions to the division of power between 2 wheels.
As I understand it, the ordinary (not LSD) differential of a car allows for one wheel of the car to spin faster & the other slower, with a constant power input. But, using a that same differential (or another type) is there a way to force unequal speed between the 2 wheels for a constant power input?
I'm pretty sure that if brakes were applied to one side, it would slow down on that side and speed up on the other side, which would accomplish the goal, but the vehicle would be working against itself for a period of time (inefficient). So what is the 'as close to lossless as possible' way to do it?
I considered placing a mechanical speed variator in parallel with the diferential, which would force unequal speed, but variators can only be adjusted while running. This would need to work from a stop.Thanks for any ideas
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