Lego hacker Nico71, whose mechanical loom we posted earlier, built this great CVT:

Based on modified version of Zblj’s Transmission. This CVT enables a variation of the speed (and the torque) from 40rpm to 200 (1/5, 1,1) with constant speed for the motor (200rpm). This device is on the way to be included in a lego car. The two mechanical tachometers show respectively the speed of the motor and the speed of the output.

[via Core77]

BY John Baichtal

My interests include writing, electronics, RPGs, comics, scifi, hackers & hackerspaces, 3D printing, building sets, & toys.

3 Responses to Lego Continuously Variable Transmission

  1. Harshana on said:

    I’m truly impressed with the implementation. However I have a small problem. As per my understanding CVT is about changing the torque. ie, increasing torque at the expense of reducing speed (or increasing speed at the expense of reducing torque). This is just reducing speed by way of transferring it to another axle. Please correct me if I’m wrong

    Thanks,
    Harshana

    • You can tell by the sound of the gears that torque is increasing in proportion to the load. If you take this transmission design and reform it using planetary gears instead of two differentials, you end up with the transmission used in the Prius.

  2. alex payne on said:

    make a how to

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