Design and testing of a dual-mode mechanical drive

A dual-mode mechanical drive is designed to allow operation in two modes, which may be combined in various ways to give optimum performance for a given motion such as high speed movement, high acceleration and high accuracy for point-to-point movement. The operations are controlled by a number of clutches and a brake. The drive also consists of a spring which can be used to repeatedly transfer packets of energy from the input to the load in such a way that a variable speed ratio is achieved. The dual-mode drive concept was investigated by the development of a prototype which is controlled from a PC through two interfacing cards and a number of drivers and sensors. The performance of the built prototype was analysed and compared with simulation. The drive system proves that it can be useful for high performance applications.