Motors for Makers: A Guide to Steppers, Servos, and Other Electrical Machines
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.
From start to finish, you'll learn through practical examples, crystal-clear explanations, and photos. If you've ever salivated at what you could do with electric motors, stop salivating…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!
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction to Electric Motors
Chapter 2: Preliminary Concepts
Chapter 3: DC Motors
Chapter 4: Stepper Motors
Chapter 5: Servomotors
Chapter 6: AC Motors
Chapter 7: Gears and Gearmotors
Chapter 8: Linear Motors
Chapter 9: Controlling Motors with the Arduino Mega
Chapter 10: Controlling Motors with the Raspberri Pi
Chapter 11: Controlling Motors with the BeagleBone Black
Chapter 12: Designing an Arduino-Based Electronic Speed Control (ESC) Circuit
Chapter 13: Designing a Quadcopter
Chapter 14: Electric Vehicles
Appendix A: Electric Generators
Appendix B: Glossary
About the Author
Matthew Scarpino has a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering (MSEE) and is an Advanced Certified Interconnect Designer (CID+). He currently develops software for embedded systems. His books include Designing Circuit Boards with EAGLE: Make High Quality PCBs at Low Cost and Programming the Cell Processor: For Games, Graphics, and Computation.