I'm working on a "Swimulator", a device that simulates swimming using a a motorized "rotisserie." It moves two arms through the water mimicking the motion of a person swimming. We want to rotate the "rotisserie" with a radius of about 1ft through a circle where it is submerged about half the time.
That being said, we need the arms to move through the water realistically. They need to hit the water with about the same force they would if they were attached to a person's wrist, and feel the same force as they are pulled through the water.
We're juggling torque, newtons, newton-meters, distance, speed, angular velocity and getting all scrambled.
So, in a nutshell what we are trying to answer is - What equations will we need in order to find the right motor specifications?
How does a figure of "a swimmer's hand hits the water with a force of 350N" relate to the torque of a motor? What is holding torque? If torque decreases with speed, will spinning our "rotisserie" at high speeds mean cause stalls as it pulls through the water? Will it actually hit the water with less force even if its spinning faster?
