Making Things Move DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists

Making Things Move DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists

by Dustyn Roberts
Released December 2010
Publisher(s): McGraw-Hill Education TAB
ISBN: 9780071741682

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Book description

Get Your Move On!

In Making Things Move: DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists, you'll learn how to successfully build moving mechanisms through non-technical explanations, examples, and do-it-yourself projects--from kinetic art installations to creative toys to energy-harvesting devices. Photographs, illustrations, screen shots, and images of 3D models are included for each project.

This unique resource emphasizes using off-the-shelf components, readily available materials, and accessible fabrication techniques. Simple projects give you hands-on practice applying the skills covered in each chapter, and more complex projects at the end of the book incorporate topics from multiple chapters. Turn your imaginative ideas into reality with help from this practical, inventive guide.

Discover how to:

  • Find and select materials
  • Fasten and join parts
  • Measure force, friction, and torque
  • Understand mechanical and electrical power, work, and energy
  • Create and control motion
  • Work with bearings, couplers, gears, screws, and springs
  • Combine simple machines for work and fun

Projects include:

  • Rube Goldberg breakfast machine
  • Mousetrap powered car
  • DIY motor with magnet wire
  • Motor direction and speed control
  • Designing and fabricating spur gears
  • Animated creations in paper
  • An interactive rotating platform
  • Small vertical axis wind turbine
  • SADbot: the seasonally affected drawing robot

Make Great Stuff!
TAB, an imprint of McGraw-Hill Professional, is a leading publisher of DIY technology books for makers, hackers, and electronics hobbyists.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Making Things Move DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Contents
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. Introduction
  7. 1 Introduction to Mechanisms and Machines
    1. Six Simple Machines
      1. 1. Levers
      2. 2. Pulleys
      3. 3. Wheel and Axle
      4. 4. Inclined Planes and Wedges
      5. 5. Screws
      6. 6. Gears
    2. Design Constraints and Degrees of Freedom
      1. Degrees of Freedom
      2. Minimum Constraint Design
      3. Project 1-1: Rube Goldberg Breakfast Machine
    3. References
  8. 2 Materials: How to Choose and Where to Find Them
    1. Describing Materials
      1. Material Properties
      2. Material Failure: Stress, Buckling, and Fatigue
      3. How to Tolerate Tolerances
    2. Material Types
      1. Metals
      2. Ceramics
      3. Polymers (Plastics)
      4. Composites
      5. Semiconductors
      6. Biomaterials
      7. Project 2-1: Different Diving Boards
    3. References
  9. 3 Screw It or Glue It: Fastening and Joining Parts
    1. Nonpermanent Joints: Fasteners
      1. Screws, Bolts, and Tapped Holes
      2. Project 3-1: Drill and Tap a Hole
      3. Nuts
      4. Washers
      5. Nails and Staples
      6. Pins
      7. Retaining Rings
    2. Permanent Joints: Glues, Rivets, and Welds
      1. Adhesives
      2. Rivets
      3. Welding, Brazing, and Soldering
  10. 4 Forces, Friction, and Torque (Oh My!)
    1. Torque Calculations
    2. Friction
      1. Project 4-1: Estimate the Coefficient of Friction
      2. Reducing Friction
    3. Free Body Diagrams and Graffiti Robots
    4. How to Measure Force and Torque
      1. Measuring Force
      2. Measuring Torque
      3. Project 4-2: Measure Motor Torque
  11. 5 Mechanical and Electrical Power, Work, and Energy
    1. Mechanical Power
    2. Electrical Power
    3. Powering Your Projects
      1. Prototyping Power: The Variable Benchtop Supply
      2. Mobile Options: Batteries
      3. Plug-In Options
      4. Alternative Energy Sources
      5. Springs and Elastic Energy Storage
      6. Project 5-1: Mousetrap-Powered Car
    4. References
  12. 6 Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Motor: Options for Creating and Controlling Motion
    1. How Motors Work
      1. Project 6-1: DIY Motor with Magnet Wire
    2. Types of Rotary Actuators
      1. DC Motors
      2. AC Motors
      3. Rotary Solenoids
    3. Types of Linear Actuators
      1. Linear Motors
      2. Solenoids
    4. Motor Control
      1. Basic DC Motor Control
      2. Project 6-2: DC Motor Control 101—The Simplest Circuit
      3. Project 6-3: Solder a Circuit
      4. Project 6-4: Breadboard a Circuit
      5. Project 6-5: Motor About-Face
      6. Speed Control with Pulse-Width Modulation
      7. Project 6-6: Use Hardware PWM to Control Speed
      8. Advanced Control of DC Motors
      9. Project 6-7: Use Software PWM to Control Speed
      10. Hobby Servo Control
      11. Project 6-8: Control a Standard Hobby Servo
      12. Stepper Motor Control
      13. Project 6-9: Control a Bipolar Stepper Motor
      14. Linear Motor Control
      15. Helpful Tips and Tricks for Motor Control
    5. Motorless Motion
      1. Fluid Pressure
      2. Artificial Muscles
    6. References
  13. 7 The Guts: Bearings, Couplers, Gears, Screws, and Springs
    1. Bearings and Bushings
      1. Radial Bearings
      2. Thrust Bearings
      3. Linear Bearings and Slides
      4. Combination and Specialty Bearings
      5. Bearing Installation Tips and Tricks
    2. Couplers
      1. Working with Hobby Servos
      2. Working with Other Types of Motors
      3. Using Clutches
    3. Shaft Collars
    4. Gears
      1. Project 7-1: Make Your Own Gears
      2. Idler Gears
      3. Compound Gears
    5. Pulleys and Sprockets, Belts and Chains
      1. Standard Pulleys and Belts
      2. Timing Pulleys and Belts
      3. Sprockets and Chains
    6. Power Screws
    7. Springs
      1. Compression Springs
      2. Tension/Extension Springs
      3. Torsion Springs
      4. Spring-lock Washers
      5. Leaf Springs
      6. Spiral Springs
    8. References
  14. 8 Combining Simple Machines for Work and Fun
    1. Mechanisms for Converting Motion
      1. Cranks
      2. Cams and Followers
      3. Linkages
      4. Project 8-1: I Heart Pantographs
      5. Ratchet and Pawl
      6. Motion Conversion Options
    2. Automatons and Mechanical Toys
      1. Project 8-2: DIY Automaton—The Agreeable Sheep
    3. References
  15. 9 Making Things and Getting Things Made
    1. The Making Things Move Ecosystem
    2. Creation
      1. Analog Creation
      2. Digital Creation
      3. Project 9-1: Download and Open a 3D Model of a Part
    3. Translation
      1. Analog Translation
      2. Digital Translation
    4. Fabrication
      1. Analog Fabrication
      2. Project 9-2: Drill a Centered Hole Without a Lathe
      3. Digital Fabrication
    5. Integration
      1. Analog
      2. Digital
    6. Proliferation
      1. Analog
      2. Digital
    7. Reference
  16. 10 Projects
    1. Project 10-1: Not Lazy Susan
    2. Project 10-2: Wind Lantern
    3. Project 10-3: SADbot: The Seasonally Affected Drawing Robot
    4. References
  17. Appendix: BreadBoard Power and Arduino Primer
    1. Getting Power to Your Breadboard
    2. Arduino Primer
      1. Make the Arduino Play Nice with Your Computer
      2. Now Make It Blink
      3. Now Make It Blink BIG
  18. Index

Product information

  • Title: Making Things Move DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists
  • Author(s): Dustyn Roberts
  • Release date: December 2010
  • Publisher(s): McGraw-Hill Education TAB
  • ISBN: 9780071741682