This document outlines the design and details of a PCB as an Electronic Gear Box (EGB) which can be used for a number of applications involving a single stepper motor. This uses a rotary encoder to measure the rotation of one element and generates pulses for a stepper motor to rotate a second element at a programmable rate. The enclosed document describes the underlying principles, the circuit design, the software and the method of integration with various potential applications. This system can be applied in a number of ways including making an electronic lead screw for single point threading on a lathe, cutting gears with a gear hobbing machine, a digital rotary table, a programmable tachnometer, angle and linear readout among other applications. The system uses relatively few components and is based on a Teensy 3.2 microcontroller unit (MCU) as its core component. Implementing this device to various applications will require some basic arithmetic to derive key numerical constants to ensure accurate operation. It is assumed that user will have loaded the Arduino programming platform and be familiar with its use. Finally, you will need the circuit board which needs to be populated with the appropriate components and mounted in an enclosure. In the user manual text, I have made recommendations of where I sourced components in Canada. For those in another location, these sources may not be appropriate. However, I have maintained these references so that one can look at the exact components I used to help find an alternative source. The Gerber files to fabricate the board are included.
gerritv/electronic-gear-box
This describes a circuit and PCB assembly to replace a gear reducing system for mechanical applications with an electronic version.
MIT