Currently trying to source out a motor for my current project a wooden functional ferris wheel as per pic below:
The plans states that at least a 3 volt motor with 4 revolutions per minute with a 1/4" shaft is required.
During a chat with Sam he recommended a stepper motor. From the info provided below could you please recommend which one would be the most appropriate for my project.
The ferris wheel specifications are as follows:
Wheel has 12 chairs, is 16 inch in dia. and 4 1/2 inch wide made out of 1/4 inch plywood.
Unfortunately, as I mentioned, we’re not going to have something that ticks all of those boxes for you, so you’ll need a bit of maker intuition here. I’d recommend a stepper motor as it will allow you to more precisely control the RPM if that is important to you.
Without knowing the weight of the wheel itself, it’s a bit tricky to calculate the required torque, but I’d say that this motor would be a good choice. It doesn’t have a 1/4" shaft though, it has a 5mm shaft so you’ll need one of these 1/4" to 5mm couplers and then a 1/4" shaft at whatever length works for you.
With the mechanics done, you’ll need a stepper motor driver and microcontroller. If it’s your first electronics project like this then an Arduino Uno and a stepper motor shield will be the easiest option to get this project completed:
