Gears and Drivetrains

Gears are used for two basic purposes:

1) increase or decrease rotation speed

2) increase or decrease power or "torque"

Torque is inversely proportional to speed.

You can calculate the "gear ratio" by using the number of teeth of the "drive gear" divided by the number of teeth of the "driven gear.

To increase speed and

reduce torque use a
large drive gear coupled
to a smaller driven gear.
In this example we use a
40 tooth drive gear to
turn smaller gears to get
the illustrated gear
ratios.
So the 8 tooth gear will
turn 5 complete rotations
for the every rotation of
the 40 tooth gear. The
motor has been geared
up.
 To reduce speed and
increase torque use a
small Lego gear turning a
larger gear. For the 40
tooth gear in this
example the gear ratio is
8/40, or 1/5. This gear
ratio can also be written
as 40:8 or 5:1.
So for every five
rotations of the 8 tooth
gear, the 40 tooth gear
will have turned only
once. The motor has
been geared down.

Notice that you can combine gears in a chain or series to achieve different gear ratios.

The gear ratio of a gear chain is calculated by multiplying the successive ratio of drive gears divided by driven gears. Here that would
be:

(8/20×20/24= 160/480=1/3 or 3:1)

 Extreme gear ratios can
be achieved by stacking
gears in a gear box.
Incredible changes in
both speed and torque
can be accomplished with
a little ingenuity.

Pulley Based Drive Trains

Changing the Axis of Rotation You can use a gearbox

like this along with a
"worm" or "screw" gear
and a toothed gear to
change the axis of
rotation. The Bionicle
line also has several
types of gear boxes that
split the motion along
two axis.

You can also use the

bevel gear, the new style
bevel gears, or the
"crown gear" to change
the axis of rotation. The
new style bevel gear
gives the easiest, most
powerful transference.
the other two are more
prone to slippage under
strain.

Rotation To / From Linear Motion

Use the "rack" gear to

change between linear
and rotational motion.

You can also use the

worm gear (aka screw
gear) to change between
rotational and linear
motion.
Rotation to Reciprocal Semi-Linear Motion

Rotation to Intermittent Rotation

Constant Rotation to Reciprocal Moti