Page 167 - Making things move_ DIY mechanisms for inventors, hobbyists, and artists

146 Making Things Move

Recipe:

1. Touch the black wire from the motor to the black wire on the battery.

2. Touch the red wire from the motor to the red wire on the battery. Your motor
should spin!

3. Reverse the black and red wires. The motor will spin the other way. The motor
shown in Figure 6-16 has a small duct tape flag to make movement more
obvious.

P roject 6-3: Solder a Circuit

Solder is like conductive hot glue that lets you stick metal things together to conduct
electricity. For this project, you’ll need a soldering iron, which is like a pen with a hot
tip that you plug in. A cheap one like RadioShack 64-2802 is fine for the amount of
soldering we’ll do in this book. This kit comes with a small stand and some solder, so
you’ll have three of the items you need for this project. If you plan to spend much
time with electronics, you may want to spring for a nicer model with interchangeable
tips and a temperature control dial like Jameco Electronics (www.jameco.com/) part
46595. You’ll also need some solder. Lead-free solder is the standard in Europe. It’s a
little harder to use for beginners, but better for you and the planet.

You’ll also need a single pole, single throw (SPST) on/off toggle switch. A SPST switch
will have two legs and will toggle between on and off. When the switch is on, two
metal pieces inside the switch touch, like when you touched the wires together in
Project 6-2. When the switch is off, those metal pieces are pushed apart so no power
can flow through the switch.

Shopping List:

• DC toy motor
• Corresponding battery (9V used here)

• Snap or holder with wire leads (like RadioShack 270-324)
• On/off toggle switch (like SparkFun COM-09276) or other SPST switch