My Motor

Supplies

• 6 volt battery
• L brackets (4 big and 2 small)
• 14 gauge single strand wire (50-100ft)
• Iron rod
• Cork
• Spool of thread
• Heavy duty duck tape
• Wood (for base)
• Masking tape
• Hacksaw
• 24 gauge magnet wire
• Scrap wood
• Drill + nails
• 2 Penny Nails
• 16 gauge lamp wire
• 2 wide L brackets
• Boxcutter

Not all of the supplies used are pictures above.

Steps

How to Build Each Part

Base

For the base I used a 1'x1' piece of wood. Then I set up two of my big L brackets in the middle of opposite sides and used tape to stabilize them while I drilled them in place. To the base I attached all of the parts (stator and brush bases) using heavy duty duck tape.

Armature

For the armature I connected to penny nails with tape and marked the middle, and then put the iron rod through the space between them. Using a hole i drilled in some scrap wood I positioned the rod upright in order to assist me in the wrapping of the wire. To hold the armature in place I wrapped masking tape around the rod on both sides of the armature. I removed one side of tape (from when I taped the nails together) and began wrapping the 24 gauge magnet wire around leaving extra wire when I started and when i ended. Following this, I scraped off the enamel from the two ends of the wire. To test my magnetic field, I attached the two ends of the wire to the battery (the small sparks were a good sign) and checked to see if a paper clip would stick well to the armature.

Commutator

For this, I attached a cork on my rod by pushing the rod through the cork (with some help from Achilles because I am very weak). Then I held both end of the magnet wire on the cork and place a piece of foil of both wires and taped the foil to the cork to hold it in place.

Stator

In order to make this I used the 14 gauge single strand wire and wrapped it around the other two L brackets, which were taped together. I wrapped the wire five times with a layer of duct tape in between each layer of wire.

Brushes

For the brushes I used 16 gauge lamp wire. I drilled each of the wide L brackets onto a base made of three layers of wood in order for it to line up nicely with the commutator. I did my best to put the brushes in a straight line along the edge of the commutator and made sure that they were touching to prevent any breaks in the circuit.

Connecting It All Together

After everything was on the base/rod correctly, I attached the wires to their proper places. One end of the 14 gauge single strand wire connected to one of the wide metal L brackets of the brushes and the the other end connected to the battery. Then a piece of 24 gauge magnet wire connected from the battery to the other brush.

Complications with My Motor

I was unaware we were given a sheet with directions in class (thanks Achilles) so at first I had trouble understanding the logistics of the motor and how I was suppose to build it. After some research and a lot of trial and error I was able to successfully figure out the process. A few problems that arose included the stator and how it was built. When building my base, I did not account for the extra height the wire would add to the the initial L brackets of the stator so once it was built it was too high for my rod. This was easily fixed by attaching the small L brackets (with a screw and duck tape) to the ends of the L brackets that held my rod. This put the everything on the same level. Another problem I discovered later on was that there was too much distance between my armature and the L brackets of the stator. I tried to fix this by adding a few super magnets to the ends of both sides of the L brackets. But then I decided to just rebuild my stator. Aside from my stator, I, at first, had trouble with the height of my wide L brackets (used for the brushes) as well as the length of my iron rod. To solve these two problems my brother and I bought a hacksaw. It was a mini hacksaw for four dollars, but it was easily the best investment of the project. I used the hacksaw to cut the iron rod into a size fit for my motor. Then, I used it to cut multiple pieces of scrap wood (with I still thankfully kept from the mousetrap project) which was used to make a base for the brushes.

Overall, I do not think the motor was a hard project. It merely took understanding and precision.

Before I remembered I have scrap wood from a previous project, Achilles and I got creative with our bases. (pictured: Achilles using a book as a make shift base)

Here we see our trusty hacksaw cutting our iron rod into a more desired length.

Once again we see the hacksaw cutting scrap wood into pieces to be used.

UPDATE: Based on my motor's performance yesterday there seemed to be more complications that I did not account for.

History of Motors

The First Motors

Principles of Operation

An electric motor is a device that uses electricity to create mechanical force. Operation is based on simple electromagnetism. As seen with ordinary magnets, opposite (North and South) polarities attract. A DC (direct current) motor is designed to harness the magnetic interaction between a current-carrying conductor and an external magnetic field to generate rotational motion.

If the direction of the current is reversed, the direction of rotation also reverses. When magnetic field and electric field interact they produce a mechanical force, and based on that the working principle of DC motor was established. The direction of the rotation of a motor is given by Fleming's hand rule, which states that if the index finger, middle finger and thumb of your left hand are extended mutually perpendicular to each other and if the index finger represents the direction of magnetic field, middle finger represents the direction of the current, then the thumb represents the direction in which force is experienced by the shaft of the DC motor. This can be used to find the direction of the magnetic field, current, or force if two of them are known.

Important People

The basic principle of electro magnetic induction were discovered in the early 1800's and by 1820, it had been discovered that an electric current produces a magnetic field. In the following years, we successfully invented a simple DC motor. The invention involved the work of many men, so proper credit for the invention varies depending on how you choose the word 'motor.'

Michael Faraday (UK)

Michael Faraday demonstrated the conversion of electrical energy into motion. For this Faraday is often credited with the invention of the first electric motor, however, his motor is merely a lab demonstration and cannot be harnessed for useful work.

Joseph Henry (US)

By 1831, Joseph Henry had built a simple device that he considered to be a 'philosophical toy.' Despite it being more useful than Faraday's motor and being the first real use of electromagnets in a motor, it was still deemed an experiment. Nevertheless it was still considered important in the evolution and invention of motors.  

William Sturgeon (UK)

One year after Henry, William Sturgeon invented the commutator, which involved the first rotary electric motor. His motor, while simple, was the first to provide continuous rotary motion and contain essentially all of the elements in a modern DC motor.

Thomas Davenport (US)

Thomas Davenport invented the first direct current electric motor in North America in 1834. However, his model involved a high battery power cost which lead to Davenport's bankruptcy.