Art Project: Rotating Arm

Hello
I’m new to this forum (and new to electronics). For an art project I would like to make a rotating arm that simply rotates slowly and knocks things over, and writes on the floor. For the time being I would like some advice on the first step, i.e. How to get something to rotate slowly.
I have a 2rpm gear motor, a potentiometer, some wires, and a 9v battery. Once I connect these together are there any recommendations on what to mount to the motor?

Many thanks
Kero

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Hi Keroshin.

Welcome!

Do you have a link to the particular motor you were using? I wouldn’t suggest hooking them up all together just yet, the power rating on the potentiometer would be a factor lower than the motors, causing it to burn out. I would imagine the 9V should be all good, but it might not be able to deliver the full amount of current required to turn the motor.

If you have access to a 3D printer I would suggest CAD’ing up a model and making that or even grabbing an already made mount for the motor if thats an option.

PS: to get more control of the motor you will need a motor controller, and a microcontroller to feed in the signals (there will be some required programming in this step).

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Thanks for the response Liam.
Yes, here is a link to the motor that I have:

I don’t have access to a 3D printer at the moment unfortunately. Getting a read made mount sounds like a good suggestion. What should I be looking for in terms of a mount (Sorry if that’s a silly question).

-Kero

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image
Here are the dimensions from the Sparkfun web site. Should not be rocket science to drill a few holes in a plate to mount this motor. A mount of some sort fixed to a bush with a 6mm hole and screw locking mechanism could be used to attach to shaft.
BE CAREFUL. I notice all the other measurements are imperial (inches) except the shaft diameter. I would measure this as it could be 1/4".
Cheers Bob
Edit. Also for the same reason check the threads to make sure they are actually M3

Edit 2. Another little gem from the same site.
Important: The manufacturer has issued a warning that stalling the motor can cause gear damage. Please keep this in mind for testing & using this motor.

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