
The Möbius Gear - pmjordan
http://robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ahoover/Moebius.html
======
svag
I was trying to view the description of the entire process (using this link
[http://robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ahoover/CS285/FinalProjec...](http://robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ahoover/CS285/FinalProject/AHoover285FinalProject.pdf))
but I get a 404 error.

I don't know if this is only for me, but I found a report regarding this
project here

[http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~sequin/CS285/PROJ_06/A_Hoover/AH...](http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~sequin/CS285/PROJ_06/A_Hoover/AHoover_Report.pdf)

~~~
ddol
I like this quote from the conclusion:

 _"The most important lesson to be taken from my experience with this project
is that no single tool is suﬃcient to solve a reasonably complicated
engineering problem"_

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wbhart
But I want to see it turn!

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RodgerTheGreat
Have a gear cube as a consolation prize:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfspDCpVDTw>

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aphistic
I'd like to know where I can buy one, I don't have access to any 3D printers
and I think this looks like something I'd like to have in my office.

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JoeAltmaier
Looks like the 'planetary' gears should be conical instead of cylindrical?

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skeltoac
I saw the leading photo (no supporting text) on a disreputable image board
last week. OP was asking what it was, everyone else was getting their minds
blown. I went right to Google, typed "mobius gear" and found out.

The image did spur a few mental gusts but seeing it here a few days after
seeing it there... mind blown.

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hammock
What are the applications of this? Or is that a blasphemous question to ask?

~~~
phreeza
I know that Möbius _strips_ have applications in real engines. Fanbelts for
example are möbius strips because they get worn equally over the whole surface
that way.

Perhaps there could be a similar use case for a gear like this,but I have
never heard of any.

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buro9
Usually gears have a prime number of teeth on the cogs involved if possible,
and different prime numbers at that.

This ensures that wear is even which helps with the longevity of the parts and
also ensures smooth-running as there will be no uneven wear on one part of a
cog. Another side effect is to spread oil evenly across all teeth in a
reasonably short running time.

I cannot see how a mobius gear would offer any significant benefits over this.
Most cogs are already machined to fit each other neatly, and the problem with
fan belts (uneven wear) doesn't really apply to gears.

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temptemptemp13
Why would a prime number of teeth be beneficial? Every full rotation, all _n_
teeth should have the same amount of wear.

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hammock
It's a cool insight that I just learned, but if the two gears share a
multiple, then the same teeth will engage with each other over and over
leading to uneven wear pattern. If the gears are relatively prime (e.g. 6 and
17) then each tooth will touch each other tooth before repeating the cycle.

Try it out on a piece of paper and see for yourself (that's what I did).

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pmjordan
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprime>

