Comments on: Motorvation http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/07/19/motorvation/ the blog that is not dansdata.com Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:41:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1-alpha by: Daniel Rutter http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/07/19/motorvation/#comment-1179 Sat, 21 Jul 2007 05:48:09 +0100 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/07/19/motorvation/#comment-1179 The torque from the standard cylindrical designs is very small, but the mass of the rotor isn't large, and there's very little friction, too. If you can hold the "brush" wire in place properly, the standard version with one 1.5V cell and a dangling screw only takes several seconds before it's spinning fast enough that the inevitable slight mis-centreing of the magnet causes it to zip off to parts unknown :-). The torque from the standard cylindrical designs is very small, but the mass of the rotor isn’t large, and there’s very little friction, too.

If you can hold the “brush” wire in place properly, the standard version with one 1.5V cell and a dangling screw only takes several seconds before it’s spinning fast enough that the inevitable slight mis-centreing of the magnet causes it to zip off to parts unknown :-).

]]> by: dvayn http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/07/19/motorvation/#comment-1178 Sat, 21 Jul 2007 04:42:28 +0100 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/07/19/motorvation/#comment-1178 It surprises me how quickly some these spin up; the length of wire that is actually perpendicular to the magnetic field is quite short in most of these designs. I guess the slight curve of the magnetic field around the battery gives enough of a perpendicular component (relative to the wire around the battery) to add up and make some torque. It surprises me how quickly some these spin up; the length of wire that is actually perpendicular to the magnetic field is quite short in most of these designs. I guess the slight curve of the magnetic field around the battery gives enough of a perpendicular component (relative to the wire around the battery) to add up and make some torque.

]]> by: Popup http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/07/19/motorvation/#comment-1177 Fri, 20 Jul 2007 18:32:48 +0100 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/07/19/motorvation/#comment-1177 Ah, evilspoons, that battery is a 4.5V 'pocket light battery. aka 3LR12 (as it says on it...) They used to be fairly popular as low-cost flashlights - you just clip a plastic thingy on top that contains a lightbulb that's neatly placed just between the terminals. It's a battery, rather than a cell - it contains three batteries of a size rarely seen anywhere else, slightly thicker than AA and much longer. Ah, evilspoons, that battery is a 4.5V ‘pocket light battery. aka 3LR12 (as it says on it…) They used to be fairly popular as low-cost flashlights - you just clip a plastic thingy on top that contains a lightbulb that’s neatly placed just between the terminals.
It’s a battery, rather than a cell - it contains three batteries of a size rarely seen anywhere else, slightly thicker than AA and much longer.

]]> by: Popup http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/07/19/motorvation/#comment-1176 Thu, 19 Jul 2007 18:01:47 +0100 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/07/19/motorvation/#comment-1176 That place (Evil Mad Scientist Labs) looks interesting. They even do my style of <a href="http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/hotdogs" rel="nofollow">cooking</a> (in essence plugging a sausage into a socket...) I used to do that as a kid, and with 230V (European voltage) it's much faster than their 1-2 minutes. More like 15-20 seconds per hotdog. That place (Evil Mad Scientist Labs) looks interesting. They even do my style of cooking
(in essence plugging a sausage into a socket…)
I used to do that as a kid, and with 230V (European voltage) it’s much faster than their 1-2 minutes. More like 15-20 seconds per hotdog.

]]> by: evilspoons http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/07/19/motorvation/#comment-1175 Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:23:27 +0100 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2007/07/19/motorvation/#comment-1175 Yeegh. The second-last video's creator has a rather nasty looking scab or something on his left hand... bit of experimenting with those before he got one that worked, eh? Also... what kind of battery is that? I don't think I've seen one like that before. Yeegh. The second-last video’s creator has a rather nasty looking scab or something on his left hand… bit of experimenting with those before he got one that worked, eh? Also… what kind of battery is that? I don’t think I’ve seen one like that before.

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