DIY electric motor

This simple model demonstrates the basic functionality of an electric motor. The model is reduced to only a few parts to be built very easy in a short time.

Required parts

• Printed body
• AA battery
• Small magnet
• ~1m enamelled copper wire
• Aluminum foil ~ 40mm x 20mm

Instructions

1. Copper wire is wind 20-25 times around the AA battery, one end gets wrapped around the coil to hold every winding in place. Both ends are positioned to be aligned as shown in the pictures. The insulation is removed by a cutter only at the marked position by scratching 2-3 times along the wire. The overall length should be around 70mm to be inserted to the body

2. Two pieces are cut from the aluminum foil with ~40mm x 8mm. Both are folded in half to be 40mm x 4mm. They are put from the inner bottom of the body through the hole on the top of the body as shown in the picture. To push down the foil in the holes, a round object, e.g. pen or screw driver could be used

3. Battery is carefully entered to the body, aluminum foil needs to be held in place to remain in the holes. Then the magnet gets positioned in the center of the battery.

4. Coil gets inserted through one hole till the end, then through the second hole on the other side. After centering the coil, a small tip in one direction should start the motor

If the motor doesn't turn: Check if the insulation was removed properly

If the motor is not running well: Check if the axis (wire ends) are properly aligned, the can be bent to be better in the center of the coil, a little trimming might be required

To stop the motor, simply remove the coil

How it works

When the uninsolated part of the coil touches the aluminum, the circuit with the battery is closed, this creates a magnetic field which is on the one side repelled and attracted on the other side by the magnet. This leads to an impulse starting the rotation of the coil, then the circuit gets interrupted by the insulation to keep the coil from creating the magnetic field which would stop the rotation. When the coil has reached the not insulated position again, the next impuls is created.

Video of the running motor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgkAOuLdyfM