Mechanical Rectifier
Inspired by Wintergatan's drivetrain, a few friends and I set out to design a mechanical system that could turn oscillating, uneven rotation into smooth, consistent rotation. To accomplish this, we relied on the idea of inertia, using two primary systems: a flyball governor and a flywheel. Both systems help store rotational energy so that when the input speed decreases, the rotations are still smooth and constant. The goal was simple — let inertia attenuate a system that experiences variable input.
Below is the report that documents the results and analysis of the mechanical rectifier.
Video Results
Not Rectified means that there was nothing done to mitigate the oscillatory motion of the motor.
Rectified means that the flyball governor and flyweight were installed to attenuate the system.
V indicates the input voltage for the motor; 6V, for example, means 6 volts. As expected, higher voltages resulted in faster rotational speeds.
Note that regardless of the input voltage, the rectified version of the system consistently displays smoother rotation compared to the non-rectified alternative. This is ideal -- it implies that the subsystems were effective at reducing the impact of the fluctuating speed.
Project Files
CAD Models
Drawings
For simplicity, instead of downloading the .step files locally, you can also view this project on Onshape.