Hey all, I am new here and a newbie to robotics building. I am a fish biologist and have a passion for building things. As a fish biologist, we utilize a technique of collecting free DNA present in water and analyzing for specific species. This basically involves filtering water through a fine micron filter and sending in for analyses. This us usually done with a hand pump (tire-some) or a peristaltic pump to filter 5L of water at a time (generally <5 minutes to filter).
I am trying to solve the problem of making a more compact, more durable, and lighter-weight peristaltic pump more conducive to carrying miles and miles to sample remote mountain creeks. As of right now, most peristaltic pumps for this purpose are fairly bulky and here is an example of the “industry standard” GeoTech GeoPump
I would like to design a system similar to this and utilizing a similar peristaltic pump head. HOWEVER, I would like to condense the entire design to fit into a compact Pelican Case so that it is entirely self contained. The basic idea of this would be to relocate the drive system off at a right angle, compared to the inline system available in most Peristaltic Pumps, to fit into a small case.
My biggest question is how to make a drive system with a small 12V DC motor that will be most compact to fit into a case with the motor relocated of to the side. My original thought was to utilize aluminum channel and Bevel Gears to relocate the motor off to the side and power it from a right angle. My NEW THOUGHT is to slim down the profile even further and utilize a small timing belt to drive the peristaltic pump from the motor. An appropriately toothed sprocket would be on both the motor and the pump head. To do this in a small case, however, would require a right angle (quarter angle) turn of the timing belt to match up to the motor shaft and peristaltic pump shaft. Is a distance of about 2-3 inches enough to achieve an efficient right angle turn with a timing belt? Is this a proper application of a small timing belt if I design it to be tensioned properly? It just seems like I could lose an inch or two of profile with a belt vs. bevel gear driven. In this design, EVERY half inch counts. Thank you!
