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Spin It Yourself: Building Brushed and Brushless Motors from Scratch
by SyavashStart with no physics background and discover how invisible forces make a wire spin. You'll build a simple brushed motor, then a brushless one, and understand exactly why each turns and how they differ.
Library
Lesson 1
The Mystery of the Second Wire
A dead battery feels like an empty can, so why won't a bulb glow unless it's wired to both ends?
StartLesson 2
What Fills the Gap Between a Magnet and a Needle?
A magnet can swing a compass needle across empty air and through cardboard without ever touching it, so what is really filling that gap?
StartLesson 3
The Compass That Twitched
In the middle of an 1820 lecture, a compass needle jumped the instant a nearby wire carried current — no magnet in sight — and nobody in the room could explain why.
StartLesson 4
The Wire That Got Shoved
Put the right wire near a magnet and something pushes it. Which way, and why?
Locked till you take the prior lessonLesson 5
Why Won't It Keep Turning?
Your loop of loop starts to turn, then stubbornly stops. Find out what keeps getting in the way.
Locked till you take the prior lessonLesson 6
The Half-Scraped Wire Trick
One strange step in building a homemade motor looks like a mistake. It's actually the secret to nonstop spinning.
Locked till you take the prior lessonLesson 7
Build Night
Wind, scrape, balance, and connect. Build your own motor and learn to diagnose why it won't spin yet.
Locked till you take the prior lessonLesson 8
The Sparks Inside Your Drill
Open up an old power tool and you'll find parts designed to wear out. Why would anyone build a motor that way?
Locked till you take the prior lessonLesson 9
Turn the Motor Inside Out
What if the magnet spun and the coils stayed perfectly still? One swap solves a big problem and creates a new one.
Locked till you take the prior lessonLesson 10
A Switch That Knows Where the Magnet Is
Without brushes, something has to decide when to flip the current. Meet the tiny parts that can sense and switch.
Locked till you take the prior lessonLesson 11
Build Night II: No Brushes Allowed
Build a spinning rotor that times its own pushes. Then figure out why it stalls, stutters, or refuses to start.
Locked till you take the prior lessonLesson 12
The Six-Step Dance
Real brushless motors juggle three coils at once. Program the sequence yourself and see what makes it smooth.
Locked till you take the prior lessonLesson 13
The Motor That Fights Back
A spinning motor quietly works against its own battery. Discover why, and how clever controllers use it to see.
Locked till you take the prior lessonLesson 14
Faster, Stronger, Smarter
Brushed or brushless, could your motor spin faster or push harder? Test your ideas against the physics you've built.
Locked till you take the prior lesson