Desiging the Coupling device for the MCM

After our motor lab, we had to now design the coupling device and how we will mount our motor on to our MCM.
Our MCM needs two motors, one to drive the leadscrew, and one to rotate the arm. Instead of using a flexible coupling device that we used in the motor lab, we decided to use something that is more efficient because of the nature of the leadscrew (<50% efficiency)


WE decided to use the 1/2" square stock Aluminum as the raw material for our coupling device. I designed it so that it will tolerate misalignment of the motor shaft and the lead screw, since it will be really hard for them to be totally alligned.

We decided to use the same coupling device for the other motor that will coupled to our MCM too, because making two similar parts means simpler machining for us too.

Doing this made me appreciate the details that one has to pay attention to when engineering something. A simple component such as the coupling device requires much thought, and the difference between a bad and a good design may be quite big. It may certainly affect the performance of the whole machine.