Development of Nutation Motors

1st Report, Driving Principle and Basic Characteristics of Pneumatic Nutation Motor

Abstract

A new type of pneumatic stepping motor, named pneumatic nutation motor was developed. Pneumatic nutation motor consists of some pneumatic cylinders, an input bevel gear and an output bevel gear. Injecting air into each cylinder causes nutation of the input bevel gear, which makes the output bevel gear to rotate. In this report, first, the driving principle and design of this motor are presented. Next, its characteristics are analyzed theoretically. The prototype of pneumatic nutation motor is fabricated and tested. Experimental results are very promising. The features of pneumatic nutation motor are (1) simple structure, (2) big torque and (3) low speed operation.