Skip to content Skip to navigation

Connexions

You are here: Home » Content » Counterweights

Navigation

Recently Viewed

This feature requires Javascript to be enabled.

Counterweights

Module by: Jim Young. E-mail the author

User rating (How does the rating system work?)
Ratings

Ratings allow you to judge the quality of modules. If other users have ranked the module then its average rating is displayed below. Ratings are calculated on a scale from one star (Poor) to five stars (Excellent).

How to rate a module

Hover over the star that corresponds to the rating you wish to assign. Click on the star to add your rating. Your rating should be based on the quality of the content. You must have an account and be logged in to rate content.

:
(0 ratings)

Summary: Counterweights can be useful to stabilize a small robot, and to aid in the movement of its parts.

Counterweighting is a necessary evil in constructing even a simple robot. Small robots often carry a fairly massive battery, and its placement within the robot's structure is important. If the location of the robot's center of mass has not been well placed, there is a possibility of it overturning in response to sudden changes of speed, both stopping and starting. If the battery cannot be moved, weight may have to be added elsewhere to compensate. However, you may be able to use mechanical "outriders" to control tipping with much less added weight. Another use of counterweights is to keep a robot stable when a long arm extends, changing the center of mass. Examples of common counterweights are shown in Figure 1 .

Figure 1: Some Common Counterweights
(counterweight.gif)

The use of counterweights might also prove useful to raise a bin carrying blocks. Rather than committing an entire motor to raising a bin, a set of counterweights, known to be heavier than the bin plus contents, could be suspended until the time when the bin should rise. Of course if a motor is used to release the the counterweights then no motors have been saved, but a much smaller motor and gear train could probably be used, or the motor could be used for more than one task if a mechanical transmission was employed. Another solution would be to use the high current LED outputs to operate a solenoid to release the counterweights. In addition, if the weight of a bin or an arm is balanced by a counterweight, it can be moved by a smaller, lighter motor, and there is less mechanical stress on the gears and mechanism.

Content actions

Give Feedback:

E-mail the module author | Rate module ( How does the rating system work?)

Rating system

Ratings

Ratings allow you to judge the quality of modules. If other users have ranked the module then its average rating is displayed below. Ratings are calculated on a scale from one star (Poor) to five stars (Excellent).

How to rate a module

Hover over the star that corresponds to the rating you wish to assign. Click on the star to add your rating. Your rating should be based on the quality of the content. You must have an account and be logged in to rate content.

(0 ratings)

Download:

Module PDF

Add module to:

My Favorites (?)

'My Favorites' is a special kind of lens which you can use to bookmark modules and collections directly in Connexions. 'My Favorites' can only be seen by you, and collections saved in 'My Favorites' can remember the last module you were on. You need a Connexions account to use 'My Favorites'.

| A lens (?)

Definition of a lens

Lenses

A lens is a custom view of Connexions content. You can think of it as a fancy kind of list that will let you see Connexions through the eyes of organizations and people you trust.

What is in a lens?

Lens makers point to Connexions materials (modules and collections), creating a guide that includes their own comments and descriptive tags about the content.

Who can create a lens?

Any individual Connexions member, a community, or a respected organization.

What are tags? tag icon

Tags are descriptors added by lens makers to help label content, attaching a vocabulary that is meaningful in the context of the lens.

| External bookmarks