Mahdi Designs 0

Cable reel with

automated layering
This cable reel design evenly spools up a
500m length of a 5mm diameter cable.
This automated system ensures the cables
wraps up evenly and neatly around the
entire width of the cable drum. This allows
for a compact system and prevents the
cable from becoming bunched up and
messy.

CAD Model

Manufactured

System components
The major aspects of this cable reel are:

• A motor, drive train and cable drum

• Timing pulleys & a self reversing

screw to guide the cable wrapping

• An encoder wheel to measure how

much cable is spooled out

• Electronics

These points are discussed further below

CAD Files

Motor drive and drum

sizing

A motor mounted on the outer side of the

reel links to a pair of spur gears. In this
design a gear ratio of 1:2 was chose to give
an increase in torque. The force applied on
the cable as well as the speed it can be
pulled back at should be considered for
the specific application. Note that the force
on the cable as well as its speed will
depend on how much of the cable is
spooled up. If most of the cable is spooled
up and the effective diameter of the drum
is large then the cable will be pulled back
faster but with less force and vice versa.
The force and speed of the cable are
proportional to the effective diameter of
the cable drum - force is torque divided by
perpendicular distance.

The gear pair also allow for a slip ring to be

mounted concentric to (inside of) the
driven gear. This allows electrical signals
and/or power to pass from the electronics
on the outside through to the cable. In this
design a series of rods form the inner
diameter of the drum, it is important to
note the inner diameter should conform to
the minimum bend radius of the cable
being used (generally 6-8 x cable
diameter).

In order to calculate the required

size/dimensions of the cable drum the
below formula can be used. In this design,
the length of cable was already
determined and the width between
flanges, ‘C’, was chosen to match the
working length of the self reversing screw.
The winding depth, ‘A’, was found using the
formula below with help from an online
quadratic solver.

Thefollowingformulahasbeendevelopedtodeterminedrumcapacityundernormaltensionanduniform
windingconditions.

Formula L=Lengthofrope(metres)
A=Desireddepthofwinding(mm)
L=(A+B)xAxC Thedepthoftheflangeisnormallyreducedby40
to50mmtoalloygroundclearancefortherope
K B=Diameterofbarrel(mm)
C=Widthbetweenflanges(mm)
K=Aconstantdevelopedaccordingtothediameterof
therope.

Tablesbelowshowthevalueofconstantsfrom2to
38mmropediameter

Ropediameter Ropediameter
с mm
2 1274 16 91490
3 2865 18 103100
4 5093 19 114900

7958 20 127400
6 11470 22 154100
7 1.5600 24 183300
20370 26 215200
9 25780 28 249600
11 38520 32 326000
13 53800 35 389900

14 62400 38 459700

WorkedExample:

DrumDimensions:A=330mm,B=330mm,C=455mm
Rope22mmdiameter

LengthofRope 660×330×455
=643m
ondrum 154100

Self reversing lead

screw
Also known as a level wind screw or
diamond screw, this component is crucial
to this design:

• Two sets of spiral cuts which link into

to each other allow the nut to reverse
directions once it reaches the end of
the screw. This facilitates back and
forth motion without the need to
change the rotational direction of the
screw

• The nut on the screw should move

over one width of the cable per
revolution of the cable drum. This
guides the cable in such a way that it
wraps up in a tight layered manner
around the drum. The working length
of the screw should match the width
between the drum flanges such that
the nuts direction reverses once the
cable reaches the edges of the drum

• The cable drum and the screw can be

linked together with pulleys and a
timing belt, however we must alter the
effective pitch of the screw to match
the thickness of the cable. In this
design the pitch of the screw was
25mm so a pulley ratio of 1:5 was
used. This meant that one rotation of
the cable drum would cause the
screw to rotate 1/5th of a rotation and
the nut would move 5mm.

Encoder wheel & cable

guide
A rotary encoder measures angular
position

• In this design this is an effective way

to measure how much cable has
been spooled out. A knurled wheel of
a known diameter was mounted to
the encoder. Keeping track of the
number of rotations can be
converted to a distance
measurement of how much cable
has been spooled out. Distance =
wheel circumference multiplied by
number of revolutions

• In the case of a land or pipe crawling

robot this is a useful way to know how
far the robot has travelled

• A cable guide ensures the cable

comes out at some controlled angle.
In this design Teflon guider blocks
minimise friction, alternatively
rollers/bearings could also be used

• A cable was sourced which was rated

for the required pulling force and a
wire mesh grip was used for the cable
strain relief (not shown in CAD but
visible in photo of manufactured unit)

Manufacturing
This system was a one off prototype not
optimised for manufacturing

• In this design off the shelf

components where possible

• Several custom parts where made

mostly using CNC machining - STEP
files and detailed drawings where
sent to a supplier

• Some 3D printed parts where used for

basic electronics covers

6x©3.30THRUALL
M4x0.7-6HTHRUALL
10.90

14.10
20°0+
20°0-210
IZO

CAD Files

Compact Slewing
Bionic Bearing
Hand

Mahdi Designs

Sydney Australia

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