YouTuber builds simple electric motor from building blocks
YouTuber Jamie has built an electric motor from building blocks. Only a few additional parts are needed.
(Image: Jamies)
The YouTuber Jamie from the YouTube channel “Jamie's Brick Jams” has built a functional DC electric motor from building blocks, which does not require a complicated control board and is based solely on electromagnetic principles. In addition to the building blocks, only magnets, some copper wire, a transistor, and a battery are needed.
Jamie's goal was to build an electric motor that was as simple as possible, without control electronics, speed controllers, and mechanical commutators. To achieve this, the hobbyist traced the functionality of an electric motor back to its core principles.
In principle, it's a simple matter: as soon as current flows through conductor coils, a magnetic field is generated. If they run in the magnetic field of a permanent magnet (permanent magnet stator), the mutual attractive and repulsive forces lead to movement. To achieve continuous motor operation, the direction of current must be continuously reversed. This reverses the magnetic field in the conductor coil. For current switching, simple electric motors use a commutator, which sits on the rotor's axis and, with one revolution
Electric motor made from building blocks
Jamie built the rotor from building blocks and two strong round neodymium magnets with a diameter of 20 mm and a thickness of 10 mm, which he balanced opposite each other on an axle with some adhesive so that smooth rotation was ensured. The hobbyist used only a single drive coil for his motor. For this, he wound 150 turns of 0.6 mm thick copper wire around a building block construction.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externes YouTube-Video (Google Ireland Limited) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (Google Ireland Limited) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
When current flows through this coil, a magnetic field is created that repels or attracts the permanent magnets of the rotor. It is sufficient to deliver precisely timed current pulses from the connected 9-volt battery to set the rotor into smooth operation. To achieve the exact timing for this, Jamie created a sensor coil with 100 turns of thin copper wire. As soon as one of the two magnets passes the sensor coil, a current is induced. The YouTuber uses this signal to control a TIP31C transistor. The transistor uses the signal to switch a short current pulse from the battery to the control coil. The precisely timed current pulses thus ensure continuous rotation of the rotor. An optional LED indicates the timing of the current pulse by blinking.
The rotor of the electric motor made from building blocks must be started initially, but then reaches a speed of almost 4000 rpm. A 1:3 gearbox reduced the speed to about 1300 rpm, but increased the torque.
Videos by heise
The Maker built another electric motor with a total of eight permanent magnets on a larger rotor disc, which made the operation smoother and led to higher torque at a lower speed of 480 rpm.
He mounted the first motor on a simple vehicle made of building blocks, which he equipped with remote-controlled steering. The electric motor made from building blocks drove the vehicle without any problems. However, regulating the speed via the electric motor's rotational speed is not possible.
(olb)
