Old maslow - possible improvement using pendulum beam

[JuJu]

Hello

I know I am 4 years late but I am working on my frame for the old maslow (M2 in my case). It is waiting since few month now to be set… I wanted to share because I am sure some of you guys still are using the old one.

I understood that one of the weakness of this system is the performance/stability on some areas. I had an idea to possibly improve the situation.

It is certainly overengineered, and I saw there was already some trials… But there is mine:

It is a pendulum like system to apply force depending on the area.

Current situation:

Improvement:

I tried to make geometry estimation of the resulting force, with basic math.

→ Projection of the weight force on the perpendicular axis from the beam

→ Force at the sled = Force at the weight x ( Length of the beam / distance between sled and bottom pivot )

I tried to do a “simulation” in onshape. See below the result in several positions, to have an idea.

In case it is feasible, I see 2 benefits:

• On the sides: the force will help to tension the long chain and stabilize the sled.

• On the center: the weight is reduced and so reduce the force on the motors.

And playing with the simulation, I see no sled position where the effect could be negative (Maybe bottom center, to be tested). The beam weight should be lighter than the sled weight anyway I think.

I will see if I have time to test it. But please tell me if I waste my time.
Thanks
Julien

[JuJu]

If the frame is sufficiently high, moving the bottom pivot more down can reduce the big lateral force at the bottom center region:

[dlang]

interesting idea, it doesn’t help a lot in the bottom corners unless you can move the pivot lower, but as you say, it doesn’t hurt anywhere.

let us know how it works.

[jwolter]

I like that you are bringing new ideas to the original Maslow. Those lower corners were a constant source of dismay. Even though I don’t have an original Maslow anymore, I’ll be interested to see how it works out.

[jjseabra]

Following this, curious to see how the real world operation / test pans out.

[TimS]

Genius! I am surprised this was never though of before. Im still using the classic maslow. I think I might make a mod like this when I reassemble after the move.