The automotive industry uses many electrical drive systems for applications including power 
windows, locks and seat systems.  Motors are components of these electrical drive systems, 
but motors themselves do not usually provide the torques or speeds required.  In order to 
solve this problem, these motors are often coupled with gear trains in order to trade off 
torque and speed, typically reducing speed and increasing torque.
     Selecting suitable geartrain/motor combinations can be daunting, as many variables in 
the design must be considered in order to fulfill the application. Frictional losses in the 
geartrains and reduced motor speeds as a function of applied load must be taken into account.
     The project includes designing a program to find first the important operating 
characteristics of a motor, and then to couple it with an appropriate gear train to 
produce a system that fits the application.  Once the algorithm is developed, a program 
will be able to automate this process for a user for a specific application.

http://www.egr.msu.edu/classes/ece480/goodman/spring08/group07