I guess the subject says it all. I’ve never worked with a little DC motor like the one in the Maker Kit. It says you can drive it with one of the included transistors. But how? If someone can give me a little nudge in the right direction, I can throw together a little project, post it, and link to it from the docs for other noobs.
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Grab that NPN transistor labelled S9013 and hold it with the “flat” side facing you. Now the pin on the left is the Emitter, the middle is the Base, and the right one is the Collector.
Wire the emitter to ground, the collector to one lead of the motor. The other lead of the motor goes to +3 V or +5 V.
Now grab a 1k resistor and connect it between the base of the transistor and any core output. Drive the output HIGH to turn on the motor.
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No, really. How do I do it? That’s it? Really? I looked at the data sheet linked from the docs and it says “Nominal Voltage 1.3V”. Does that not mean much of anything? I was thinking some sort of voltage regulator or voltage divider might have been needed.
I’m going to spin this puppy up! Thanks @bko!
It works! Mwuhahahaha!
Now… How do I attach anything to it? I’m going to need a very tiny gear!
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So it is designed for a press-fit gear/propeller/etc. to be pressed on the shaft. I have had some luck pressing the shaft into a tiny hole and using a drop of super glue or a dab of hot-melt to hold things on.
You probably shouldn’t run it for a long time at 5V but if it doesn’t get hot, it will be fine.
I’ll see if I can 3D print a gear/wheel and tap a tiny hole for the shaft. I was testing it using 3v3 on A0 at variable speeds (increments of 16).
Wait… you said propeller. I was just thinking about a little wheeled vehicle. Oh man. This could get dangerous!
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I measure the shaft at about 0.78mm or 0.030".
Can you 3d print a hole that small?
Theoretically, yes. Realistically, probably not. I'll try tapping a hole in a print with a safety pin to see if that will work. It should, especially with enough hot glue!