For this assignment I was trying to see how many different forms of movement you could create with just one single DC motor (rotation). I used the laser cutter to make cogs that would help me in this process. I also built a box with two holes: one hole would hold the DC motor attached to a cog, while the other used to fix a rod running through a cog. Here's a short demo:
This is a simple sketch of the entire setup:
So the DC motor powered the rotation of the rod. I then attached a thread to the top of the rod. The rotation of the DC motor would then reel in the thread, transforming rotation to translation. At the other end of the thread, I attached a piece of paper to better see the translative movement. Additionally, I wanted to explore direction of translation and how to easily manipulate it, so I used a second rod, to influence the path the piece of paper would travel. Below is a picture from the right side:
As soon as the DC motor turns, the paper would first travel towards you, then spin around the rod and then change direction to travel towards the direction of the DC motor in the back.
Here's a video from the front demonstrating the result.
During the building I also encountered a few problems with using the 5V DC motor:
- the motor is not strong enough to power the cogs at a slower speed (the initial power given to the cogs has to be fairly high in order for them to keep moving).
- with my setup, it is difficult to pull big weights because any weight changes the angle of the rod in the wooden box. As a result, the cogs jam. So currently I am only able to pull small weights.
On a positive note, I learned how to solder because the wires of the DC motor were too short and I kept on encountering problems with the DC motor disconnecting from the breadboard.
If you have any questions, please reach out to me!
