📌 TOPINDIATOURS Update ai: YouTuber builds 4,000-rpm electric motor from LEGO bric

In a world filled with high-tech robotics kits and programmable gadgets, one artist decided to strip everything back to the fundamentals of physics. 

Jamie from the YouTube channel Jamie’s Brick Jams built a fully working electric motor using mostly ordinary LEGO bricks, a handful of basic electronic parts, and simple electromagnetic principles. No advanced motor modules. No complex control boards. Just magnets, copper wire, a transistor, and a 9-volt battery. 

“Most motors need a controller, but not this one. It has no microcontroller, no speed controller, and no mechanical commutator,” Jamie said in his video.

The result is one of the simplest motors the world has ever seen. Through this project, Jamie shows that the core ideas behind modern machines—cars, fans, and even industrial robots—can be understood with simple components and a bit of patience.

Magnets, motion, and a spinning heart

Electric motors usually look complicated because they hide their essential parts inside metal casings. However, at their heart, they rely on a simple principle: when electricity flows through a coil of wire, it creates a magnetic field. If that magnetic field interacts with a permanent magnet, motion happens.

Jamie’s motor begins with a rotor—the spinning part. The rotor uses two neodymium magnets mounted opposite each other across an axle. They are carefully balanced so that the rotor spins smoothly without wobbling. Keeping the magnets steady during testing required a small amount of temporary glue.

“I used a couple of these strong 20x 10 mm neodymium magnets. You can use more than two, but these two should give us a good speed on the rotor,” Jamie added.

Next to the rotor sits the driving coil. Jamie hand-wound about 150 turns of 27-gauge copper wire around a LEGO form. When electricity flows through this coil, it produces a magnetic field. That magnetic field pushes or pulls on the rotor magnets, giving them a small push.

The motor starts with a single pulse from a 9-volt battery. However, one pulse alone only keeps it spinning for a few seconds. Momentum quickly fades. This is the main challenge with simple motors: they need precise timing. If the magnetic push happens at the wrong moment, the rotor can slow down or stop.

The pulse that keeps it alive

To maintain continuous motion, Jamie added a second coil that acts as a sensor. This sensor coil has about 100 turns of thinner 32-gauge wire. When one of the rotor magnets passes by, it induces a tiny current in the sensor coil. That small signal is sent into a simple circuit containing a single TIP31C transistor and an optional LED indicator.

The transistor acts like an automatic switch. When it detects the signal from the sensor coil, it briefly turns on and sends a short burst of power from the battery to the driving coil. This burst gives the rotor another perfectly timed push. Each pulse also makes the LED blink, showing that the timing is correct. This continuous cycle—detect, pulse, nudge—keeps the rotor spinning.

However, “it is worth noting that the polarity of the sensor and the driver coil does matter,” Jamie said. For instance, if the connections to one of the coils are reversed, the motor may not spin properly. Swapping the wires usually fixes the problem. 

Even though the transistor carries more current than its ideal rating, it remains stable and reliable in this setup. The electronics are minimal: one transistor, one LED, two coils, and a battery.

In its simplest two-magnet form, the motor reaches about 1,300 revolutions per minute (RPM) before gearing. When Jamie adds a 3:1 gear reduction, the speed drops, but the torque increases significantly. With extra LEGO gears, a belt drive, and even an old steering system from a 1990s LEGO set, the motor can power a small LEGO car across a surface.

Jamie later experimented with an upgraded rotor using eight magnets arranged on a disc. The same coils were used, but performance changed. The speed dropped to around 480 RPM. 

However, torque increased greatly, and the motion became smoother. This is because the magnets pass the sensor more frequently, the pulses come faster, and are more evenly spaced. This steadier force allows the small vehicle to move with much greater confidence.

“I’ve got to say, I just love that this thing is working all through its own self-timing,” Jamie said.

Looking at a motor from the inside

At first glance, this may look like a simple hobby project. However, its importance lies in clarity. Electric motors power much of the modern world—from household appliances to electric vehicles. Yet many people never see how they truly function. 

By building a motor from visible, understandable parts, Jamie makes electromagnetism tangible. Through his work, students and learners can see timing, magnetic interaction, and feedback control happening in real time.

🔗 Sumber: interestingengineering.com

📌 TOPINDIATOURS Eksklusif ai: US firm’s missile warning system to protect aircraft

A Virginia-based company is set to integrate its Common Missile Warning System into aircraft. BAE Systems has received contracts from the U.S. Army valued at $137 million to deliver its AN/AAR-57 Common Missile Warning Systems (CMWS) to allied nations.

The system helps protect aircraft and crews, enhancing their survivability against missiles and other advanced threats.

“International customers continue to choose CMWS for its proven effectiveness and reliability in combat, where it has saved many lives,” said Jared Belinsky, director of Integrated Survivability Solutions at BAE Systems. “We are proud of this legacy and look forward to continuing to support U.S. coalition partners.”

System detects infrared and radio-frequency guided missiles

The system detects infrared and radio-frequency guided missiles, unguided munitions, and other threats, and automatically cues warnings and countermeasures in real time. The system is installed on more than 40 types of rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft worldwide. With the new contract, CMWS will protect the fleets of more than 20 nations.

The company’s warning system — includes its 2-Color Advanced Warning System in use by the U.S. Army — are core elements of the company’s Intrepid Shield layered approach to platform survivability. The Intrepid Shield approach leverages the full electromagnetic spectrum to detect, exploit, and counter evolving threats, according to a press release.

Mission-critical capabilities

BAE Systems has delivered more than 3,000 CMWS units worldwide. The company continues to deliver systems ahead of schedule, underscoring its commitment and ability to quickly provide mission-critical capabilities to warfighters.

The company had earlier also pointed out that AN/AAR-57 Common Missile Warning System is U.S. Department of Defense-approved for export, making this life-saving technology available to our allied nations around the world on military and head-of-state platforms.

First called upon for a superior, adaptable aircraft survivability equipment solution by the U.S. Army, BAE Systems answered with a most viable solution –CMWS. Since CMWS was initially fielded in 2005, more than 3,000 systems have been delivered and installed on over 40 different platforms.

Designed to work across a wide variety of aircraft, the system features line-replaceable units that can be switched out in 3-5 minutes on the flight line, with no need for special tools or test equipment. Given its more than 4 million combat hours and ability to customize algorithms to adapt to new threats, CMWS has repeatedly proven its adaptability and versatility in various situations, according to BAE Systems.

The system is compatible with existing chaff, flare, and radio frequency decoy countermeasures dispensers, as well as laser DIRCM / ATIRCM systems. It has been flown for more than 4 million combat theatre flight hours. Tested on hostile fire indication capabilities, the system enables data recording capabilities for post-mission analysis.

The system can be used as a centralized processing system for Integrated Aircraft Survivability Equipment.

🔗 Sumber: interestingengineering.com