Friday, March 6, 2009

Motorised Antennae


We bought small motors of eBay (I forget the details of them now), but it is important to consider the size of them. We bought the smallest round shaped motor possible, and this formed the base third of the antennae.
The photo can give you an idea of how the antennae is structured. The base third is the motor, with a metal rod attached which is built into the top third (which is solid latex)
Once you have your motor, obviously check that it works and fashion the attachment (your version of our metal rod in the middle) that will make the top move.
To cover the motor base you can simply paint the latex on. The latex is coloured using light blue dye for latex (all purchased online). It's hard to get the latex smooth, but it is beneficial to even add more stripes and texture.
Obviously the top part is made by filling the top third of the mould made in the previous step.


2 comments:

  1. This is the part I've been trying to get to work for years!
    Can you give some more details on the type of motor and the other equipment involved in the moving antennae? I don't know a lot about motors and servos, and I've tried just plain ol' looking it up but I'm not sure where to even start! There's so many different kinds of everything and it would be awesome to have a basic list of what components are involved.
    Thank you!

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  2. Just to repeat my previous reply under the relevant post:

    15 RPM 3V motors (63mm x 16mm x 16mm) are available on ebay from the seller victorstudio

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