DC Motor

About

This project was my grade 11 physics final project, where everyone was tasked with building a DC motor from scratch. This was also about the same time got my first 3D printer, hence why it was mostly 3D printed.

I decided to make my design a 4 pole motor to prevent the chance of the motor getting stuck, and also to allow it to start on its’ own without a kickstart. The cores inside the rotor windings are made from steel screws that had the threads ground down, and a center notch ground out to allow two of them to cross eachother at 90 degrees on the same plane, while the windings themselves are paint coated copper wire. The axle was made in two parts, the bottom part is a nail that rotated on its tip in a small metal cone, the top section is made from a needle to minamize friction. The commutator and brushes are cut from a tin cookie can. The Frame was also mostly 3D printed, with the stator magnets also being elctromagnets made from copper wire wrapped around steel wire from a coat hanger. Two stator magnets were used shifted to the sides, as the thought was that it would provide more torque by shifting the magnetic field lines so they are more in line with the tip of the rotor when it as active, hence, increasing the length of the lever arm.

Below is a video of the motor in action