Hello everyone. I am new here as I have recently gained quite a bit of interest in electronics. I go to The University of Illinois at Chicago and I'm majoring in ME. I am just now finishing up my summer semester electricity and magnetism class. I guess that is where my new-found interest has come from.
This is my first thread, and I must say that I feel rather intimidated by the amount of knowledge that lies in these forums. Most things are simply way beyond my current scope. I only know what has been taught in the class, so, please, bear with me.
Well, anyway, I figure that the only way for me to truly understand electronics is to perform some hands-on projects. So here is where I would like to start...
Having had a certain interest in engineering since I was a kid I have accumulated vast amounts of the building toy k'nex over that time period. I am sure most of you have come across them at some point. These seem to be the perfect place to start experimenting. The overall basic thing I want to do is propel one of the roller coaster trains along the track via wheels that operate at increasing speeds.
One of these sets came with "boosters". These boosters are made up of 2 DC motors (one per shown black wheel) powered by 3 C batteries. I would like to take these apart, reposition the wheels and motors underneath the track, make them run off of a single power supply, and make each wheel run at a different speed without using gear ratios.
So, here is my thinking. I would wire all the motors in parallel and connect different resistors to each motor to control the current flowing through it. Is it unreasonable to think that the motors would run slower if I used higher resistors then are currently being used? If so, I would use high resistors for the slower wheels and gradually step down the resistance until I get to the last (fastest) wheel. To tell you the truth, I could use as much explaining on this subject as possible.
Also, I really have no idea how I would power this thing. Preferably I would use an adapter connected to mains to run it, but I don't know if this is practical.
Upon taking apart the boosters I also found that a capacitor is placed across each motors terminal. After researching this I found that this is done to reduce electronic noise. Is this true, and, if so, can I get some explanation as to what exactly this does and why it is needed?
I apologize for not having specific values on the motors, resistors, and capacitors. I am back at school for my last week of summer semester. By the weekend I will be able to assign values for these components. Although I would not be surprised if you guys could give a good guess as to what they are.
Sorry for the long, poorly structured, post, but, as I said, I am new to all of this. Any help is much appreciated. Hell, taking the time to read this all is too
I look forward to your responses.
-Santoyo
This is my first thread, and I must say that I feel rather intimidated by the amount of knowledge that lies in these forums. Most things are simply way beyond my current scope. I only know what has been taught in the class, so, please, bear with me.
Well, anyway, I figure that the only way for me to truly understand electronics is to perform some hands-on projects. So here is where I would like to start...
Having had a certain interest in engineering since I was a kid I have accumulated vast amounts of the building toy k'nex over that time period. I am sure most of you have come across them at some point. These seem to be the perfect place to start experimenting. The overall basic thing I want to do is propel one of the roller coaster trains along the track via wheels that operate at increasing speeds.
One of these sets came with "boosters". These boosters are made up of 2 DC motors (one per shown black wheel) powered by 3 C batteries. I would like to take these apart, reposition the wheels and motors underneath the track, make them run off of a single power supply, and make each wheel run at a different speed without using gear ratios.
So, here is my thinking. I would wire all the motors in parallel and connect different resistors to each motor to control the current flowing through it. Is it unreasonable to think that the motors would run slower if I used higher resistors then are currently being used? If so, I would use high resistors for the slower wheels and gradually step down the resistance until I get to the last (fastest) wheel. To tell you the truth, I could use as much explaining on this subject as possible.
Also, I really have no idea how I would power this thing. Preferably I would use an adapter connected to mains to run it, but I don't know if this is practical.
Upon taking apart the boosters I also found that a capacitor is placed across each motors terminal. After researching this I found that this is done to reduce electronic noise. Is this true, and, if so, can I get some explanation as to what exactly this does and why it is needed?
I apologize for not having specific values on the motors, resistors, and capacitors. I am back at school for my last week of summer semester. By the weekend I will be able to assign values for these components. Although I would not be surprised if you guys could give a good guess as to what they are.
Sorry for the long, poorly structured, post, but, as I said, I am new to all of this. Any help is much appreciated. Hell, taking the time to read this all is too
I look forward to your responses.
-Santoyo