Motors for Makers

The First Maker-Friendly Guide to Electric Motors! Makers can do amazing things with motors. Yes, they're more complicated than some other circuit elements, but with this book, you can completely master them. Once you do, incredible new projects become possible. Unlike other books, Motors for Makers is 100% focused on what you can do. Not theory. Making. First, Matthew Scarpino explains how electric motors work and what you need to know about each major type: stepper, servo, induction, and linear motors. Next, he presents detailed instructions and working code for interfacing with and controlling servomotors with Arduino Mega, Raspberry Pi, and BeagleBone Black. All source code and design files are available for you to download from motorsformakers.com. From start to finish, you'll learn through practical examples, crystal-clear explanations, and photos. If you've ever dreamed of what you could do with electric motors, stop dreaming...and start making! - Understand why electric motors are so versatile and how they work - Choose the right motor for any project - Build the circuits needed to control each type of motor - Program motor control with Arduino Mega, Raspberry Pi, or BeagleBone Black - Use gearmotors to get the right amount of torque - Use linear motors to improve speed and precision - Design a fully functional electronic speed control (ESC) circuit - Design your own quadcopter - Discover how electric motors work in modern electric vehicles--with a fascinating inside look at Tesla's patents for motor design and control!

Matthew Scarpino is an engineer with more than 12 years of experience designing hardware and software. He has a master's degree in electrical engineering and is an Advanced Certified Interconnect Designer (CID+). He is the author of Designing Circuit Boards with EAGLE: Make High-Quality PCBS at Low Cost.

Introduction 1 Who This Book Is For 2 How This Book Is Organized 2 Let Me Know What You Think 3 Part I: Introduction Chapter 1: Introduction to Electric Motors 5 1.1 Brief History 6 1.2 Anatomy of a Motor 7 1.3 Overview of Electric Motors 9 1.4 Goals and Structure 11 1.5 Summary 11 Chapter 2: Preliminary Concepts 13 2.1 Torque and Angular Speed 13 2.2 Magnets 18 2.3 Equivalent Circuit Element 21 2.4 Power and Efficiency 23 2.5 Summary 25 Part II: Exploring Electric Motors Chapter 3: DC Motors 27 3.1 DC Motor Fundamentals 28 3.2 Brushed Motors 34 3.3 Brushless Motors 42 3.4 Electronic Speed Control (ESC) Systems 49 3.5 Batteries 51 3.6 Summary 53 Chapter 4: Stepper Motors 55 4.1 Permanent Magnet (PM) Steppers 56 4.2 Variable Reluctance (VR) Steppers 59 4.3 Hybrid (HY) Steppers 61 4.4 Stepper Control 63 4.5 Summary 71 Chapter 5: Servomotors 73 5.1 Hobbyist Servos 74 5.2 Overview of Servo Control 78 5.3 PID Control 85 5.4 Summary 87 Chapter 6: AC Motors 89 6.1 Alternating Current (AC) 90 6.2 Overview of Polyphase Motors 91 6.3 Asynchronous Polyphase Motors 96 6.4 Synchronous Polyphase Motors 100 6.5 Single-Phase Motors 103 6.6 AC Motor Control 106 6.7 Universal Motors 109 6.8 Summary 110 Chapter 7: Gears and Gearmotors 113 7.1 Overview of Gears 113 7.2 Types of Gears 117 7.3 Gearmotors 124 7.4 Summary 125 Chapter 8: Linear Motors 127 8.1 Linear Actuators 128 8.2 Linear Synchronous Motors 131 8.3 Linear Induction Motors 137 8.4 Homopolar Motors 140 8.5 Summary 143 Part III: Electrical Motors in Practice Chapter 9: Motor Control with the Arduino Mega 145 9.1 The Arduino Mega 146 9.2 Programming the Arduino Mega 149 9.3 The Arduino Motor Shield 158 9.4 Stepper Motor Control 162 9.5 Servomotor Control 166 9.6 Summary 168 Chapter 10: Motor Control with the Raspberry Pi 171 10.1 The Raspberry Pi 172 10.2 Programming the Raspberry Pi 174 10.3 Controlling a Servomotor 182 10.4 The RaspiRobot Board 186 10.5 Summary 192 Chapter 11: Controlling Motors with the BeagleBone Black 195 11.1 The BeagleBone Black (BBB) 196 11.2 Programming the BBB 198 11.3 PWM Generation 205 11.4 The Dual Motor Controller Cape (DMCC) 207 11.5 Summary 213 Chapter 12: Designing an Arduino-Based Electronic Speed Control (ESC) 215 12.1 Overview of the ESC Design 216 12.2 Switching Circuitry 218 12.3 Zero-Crossing Detection 225 12.4 Designing the Schematic 229 12.5 Board Layout 232 12.6 Controlling the BLDC 234 12.7 Summary 239 Chapter 13: Designing a Quadcopter 241 13.1 Frame 242 13.2 Propellers 243 13.3 Motors 248 13.4 Electronics 250 13.5 Construction 259 13.6 Summary 260 Chapter 14: Electric Vehicles 263 14.1 Electric Vehicle Conversion 264 14.2 Modern Electric Vehicles 267 14.3 Patents from Tesla Motors 272 14.4 Summary 278 Part IV: Appendixes Appendix A: Electric Generators 279 A.1 Overview 280 A.2 DC Generators 281 A.3 AC Generators 283 A.4 Summary 286 Appendix B: Glossary 287 Index 293