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Article: Less wriggle room.(Power Transmission And Motion Control)
- Article from:
- Mechanical Engineering-CIME
- Article date:
- March 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 American Society of Mechanical Engineers. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Calling his invention a ball worm, a mechanical engineering professor at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University has coupled a low-friction ball screw to a speed-reducing worm gear. The result is a precision, high-ratio gearbox so low in friction that in many cases it can be back-driven--an impossible feat for everyday worm drives.
The impetus for the project came from needle-sticking robots that accompany patients in CT scanners. Such robots can deliver precisely guided shots into the heart of a tumor by working from the coordinates of a reconstructed 3-D scan. Needle-sticking robots can deliver drugs with precision that is unmatched by human touch. They also spare ...