Mechanical, Transmission & Materials
The structure and drivetrain: gearboxes, bearings, linear motion, wiring, materials, and the parts that carry the load.
- 01
Robot Gearboxes: Harmonic & Cycloidal Drives, The Ultimate Guide
Harmonic, cycloidal RV, and planetary robot drives compared on ratio, backlash, stiffness, efficiency, and backdrivability, and which joint each one fits.
- 02
Linear Motion Systems: Rails, Ball Screws & Linear Motors (The Ultimate Guide)
Pick and size linear axes: profile rails, ball, lead and roller screws, belts, rack-and-pinion, and linear motors, with real parts and sizing math.
- 03
Bearings for Robotics: The Ultimate Guide
Pick and size robot bearings: ball, roller, thin-section, crossed-roller and bushings, with L10 life, load ratings, preload and fit math.
- 04
Belts, Pulleys & Chain Drives for Robotics: The Ultimate Guide
Size timing belts, pulleys, cable/tendon drives, and chains for robots: pitch, tension, backlash, tooth-shear math, and when to skip gears.
- 05
Rotary Encoders for Robotics: Incremental, Absolute & Resolvers (The Ultimate Guide)
Incremental, absolute, and resolver encoders for robotics: quadrature, optical vs magnetic vs inductive, BiSS-C/EnDat/SSI, and why resolution isn't accuracy.
- 06
Robot Wiring, Connectors & Slip Rings: The Ultimate Guide
Size robot conductors for ampacity and voltage drop, spec continuous-flex cable, pick M12 connectors, ground shields, and cross joints with slip rings.
- 07
Materials for Robotics: The Ultimate Guide
Pick robot structural materials by stiffness-to-weight, specific strength, fatigue and cost: alloys, titanium, carbon fiber, engineering plastics.
- 08
3D Printing for Robotics: The Ultimate Guide
Which additive process, material, and print settings actually make load-bearing robot parts, and where printing beats machining.
- 09
Robot Enclosures & IP Ratings: The Ultimate Guide
Decode the IP code, design real seals and breathers, and resolve the sealing-versus-cooling conflict for robot enclosures with worked numbers.
- 10
End Effectors & Robotic Grippers: The Ultimate Guide
Robotic end effectors (parallel jaw, vacuum, adaptive, soft, and dexterous hands): grip-force and payload numbers, sizing math, and a selection cheat-sheet.
