Electric Motors Run Continuously At Near-Peak Power

For a lot of electrical and mechanical machines, there are nominal and peak ratings for energy output or input. If you’re in marketing or advertising, you’ll typically look at the peak …

Electrostatic Motors Are Making A Comeback

Electrostatic motors are now common in MEMS applications, but researchers at the University of Wisconsin and spinoff C-Motive Technologies have brought macroscale electrostatic motors back. [via MS…

Why Electric Trains Sound The Way They Do

If you’re a seasoned international rail traveler you will no doubt have become used to the various sounds of electric locomotives and multiple units as they start up. If you know anything abo…

Making EV Motors, And Breaking Up With Rare Earth Elements

Rare earth elements are used to produce magnets with very high strength that also strongly resist demagnetization, their performance is key to modern motors such as those in electric vehicles (EVs)…

A Wiper Motor 101

Need a powerful electric motor on the cheap? [Daniel Simu] and his friend [Werner] show us the ins and outs of using windshield wiper motors. Through many examples and disassembled components, the …

Replicating Faraday’s 200-Year-Old Electric Motor

Although new electric motor types are still being invented, the basic principle of an electric motor has changed little in the past century-and-a-half: a stator and a rotor built of magnetic materi…

Go-Kart Reverse Without The Pain

Go-karts are a huge amount of fun, but often lack the most basic of mechanical conveniences such as a reverse gear. You can’t start a small four-stroke engine in reverse, so their simple chai…

Heavy-Duty Starter Motor Powers An Awesome Drift Trike

Starter motors aren’t typically a great choice for motorized projects, as they’re designed to give engines a big strong kick for a few seconds. Driving them continuously can often quick…