- My plan for the project was to create a spinning ballerina. I tried to wire up two DC motors to the Arduino board, but only one would work successfully. Adham helped me figure out that the Arduino probably doesn’t have enough energy to power two DC motors, so he let me borrow his motor shield.
- The motor shield was able to successfully power two DC motors. It was really easy and straightforward to work with it.
- When I used plain paper and stuck them on the DC motor, they would be too flimsy and easily fly off. Instead, I pasted an A4 image of a ballerina on the back and front side of the tissue-box cardboard material as opposed to normal cardboard, which was too thick. I used electrical tape so the cardboard wouldn’t fly off as the DC motors are quite powerful. I lowered down the speed from 20 to 80, as a speed of 150-180 appeared quite unnatural for a spinning ballerina and was too fast for the material to stay on properly.
Sometimes, the motors wouldn’t be in sync so the lower and upper part of the ballerina can appear unnatural. Also, the gap of motors between the ballerina’s upper and lower body again appears unnatural, but I couldn’t think of any other alternative to solve this issue. Lastly, if I had more time, I would have liked to create a strong holder for the spinning ballerina, so I don’t have to use my hand to hold it together (which appears unprofessional and can create unreliable outcomes).