theothersully
Marine/Ocean
- Dec 13, 2011
- 5
Hi,
I'm facing a difficult linear motion problem.
Background:
There is a wing (foil) that can rotate 360 degrees on a post. This wing is to be controlled by a "trim tab" or "servo tab", which is, essentially a smaller wing just behind the main wing. The purpose of the small wing is to "steer" the larger wing and cause it to go from no lift to producing lift, but altering the angle of attack.
I need to use some type of control to steer the servo tab to either side, and I'm trying to do it mechanically, rather than with motors.
Ideally, somewhere on a table nearby, there would be a small joystick that says, "neutral" in the middle for having the servo tab perfectly aligned with the main foil. Then, there would be "left" and "right", allowing you to push the joystick to the left and right to move the servo tab left and right up on the wing.
Problem:
It needs to be mechanical. If the wing didn't rotate 360, a set of cables would do the trick nicely. BUT... the wing rotates through 360 and the cables would get all tangled up.
Question:
How can I, mechanically, translate the linear action of a joystick type lever as described above, to the servo tab on the wing, even when the wing is free to rotate through 360??
I would imagine this problem has come up in engineering before. I'm just a Physics (theory) guy. I'm kind of stumped on this one.
Any ideas?
I'm facing a difficult linear motion problem.
Background:
There is a wing (foil) that can rotate 360 degrees on a post. This wing is to be controlled by a "trim tab" or "servo tab", which is, essentially a smaller wing just behind the main wing. The purpose of the small wing is to "steer" the larger wing and cause it to go from no lift to producing lift, but altering the angle of attack.
I need to use some type of control to steer the servo tab to either side, and I'm trying to do it mechanically, rather than with motors.
Ideally, somewhere on a table nearby, there would be a small joystick that says, "neutral" in the middle for having the servo tab perfectly aligned with the main foil. Then, there would be "left" and "right", allowing you to push the joystick to the left and right to move the servo tab left and right up on the wing.
Problem:
It needs to be mechanical. If the wing didn't rotate 360, a set of cables would do the trick nicely. BUT... the wing rotates through 360 and the cables would get all tangled up.
Question:
How can I, mechanically, translate the linear action of a joystick type lever as described above, to the servo tab on the wing, even when the wing is free to rotate through 360??
I would imagine this problem has come up in engineering before. I'm just a Physics (theory) guy. I'm kind of stumped on this one.
Any ideas?