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"A man who is certain he is right is almost sure to be wrong" - Michael Faraday, father of the electrical motor
"Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more." - Nikola Tesla, father of the first AC motor
The theme this month comes from beacon_dave and it's Movers and Shakers. Its any project that causes things to move or shake such as ones that use servo motors, stepper motors, vibration motors, solenoids, mechatronics, levers, and linkages.
The idea was first proposed by a servo project competition was first proposed by beacon_dave in response to Building a Hobby Servo Controller – Part 1 by shabaz before expanded on in the monthly poll: https://www.element14.com/community/polls/2705#comment-125810.
Servo motors, such as the one used in Building a Hobby Servo Controller – Part 1 as mentioned by shabaz can be used to do some really cool electronics projects such as making toys, cars, planes, and of course robot projects. You could buy a servo control already made for $15 or you can do what he did and spend $2. The aim of his project was to build something that can connect a Raspberry Pi (or any sbc or microcontroller such as an Arduino or Beagleboard) and servos. The board uses a standard I2C interface to communicate, and the servo controller generates the correct PWM to control motion:
Your Movers and Shakers project can be anything that makes things move or shake! Kinda like this Ferrari:
The Movers and Shakers theme is in honor of the contributions of movers and shakers in the science and technology community such as Michael Faraday and Nikola Tesla, and to anyone that moves progress forward by forcing change for the sake of knowledge:
Michael Faraday Never Learned Math and Became a Great Scientist
Michael Faraday grew up poor and lacked a formal education. He never learned mathematics, yet he's widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time. His basic education ended at 13 and to help out his family, and his father who was in poor health, he worked as a delivery boy for a bookshop. His hard work impressed his employer so he was promoted to apprentice bookbinder.
As it turns out Michael Faraday was not only a hard worker. He was intensely curious. After he was done working he would spend time reading the books that he had bound. The two that struck him the most were the Encyclopedia Britannica, the foundation of all his electrical knowledge, and Conversations of Chemistry, which consisted of 600 pages of chemistry for the layman (non scientists). About those two books, and of Jane Marcet's in particular, he wrote:
“Mrs Marcet was a good friend to me, as she must have been to many of the human race. I entered the shop of a bookseller and bookbinder at the age of 13, in the year 1804, remained there 8 years, and during the chief part of the time bound books. Now it was in these books, in the hours after work, that I found the beginnings of my philosophy. There were two that especially helped me; the Encyclopedia Britannica, from which I gained my first notions of Electricity and Mrs. Marcet’s Conversations on Chemistry, which gave me my foundation in that science.
… I was a very lively, imaginative person, and could believe in the Arabian Nights as easily as the Encyclopedia. But facts were important to me and saved me… so when I questioned Mrs. Marcet’s book by such little experiments as I could find means to perform, and found it true to the facts as I could understand them, I felt that I had got hold of an anchor in chemical knowledge and clung fast to it.
Hence my deep veneration for Mrs. Marcet… as one able to convey the truths and principles of those boundless fields of knowledge which concern natural things to the young, untaught, and inquiring mind.” - Michael Faraday
One day while working at the bookshop, a customer asked Michael if he wanted tickets to see Sir Humphrey Davy, one of the most famous scientists in the world, lecture at the Royal Institute. It was there that Faraday took notes that would become a 300 page handwritten book with additions to the notes. He bounded these notes into a book, taking advantage of his position as a book binder, and sent it to Davy as a tribute. When Faraday's apprenticeship ended he became a full time bookbinder for another employer, whom from all accounts he found unpleasant.
Someone Gets Hurt from an Explosion, Someone Gets Fired
Turns out that mailing those notes in the form of a binded book changed the course of history. But Faraday's good luck was someone else's bad luck starting with Sir Humphey Davy. You see, he was hurt when an experiment of his exploded, robbing him of the ability to write temporarily. Davy happened to be impressed by the book Faraday sent him and gave him a job taking a few notes a day. When his temporary job ended it did not secure him anything more permanent. Once again, someone else's misfortune was yet another gain for Faraday. A lab assistant was fired for misconduct and Davy gave Faraday a job as a lab assistant at the Royal Institute. What started as a ticket to a lecture from a customer at a bookshop was about to move and shake history.
A Movers & Shakers Project is Born
Faraday was responsible for some of the scientific achievements rank up there with the great ones such as Einstein, Newton, Maxwell, Hawking, Ampere, Oersted, Hertz, Edison, Volta, Tesla, and Edison. Einstein kept photos of 3 scientists in his office: Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell, and Michael Faraday. Thomas Edison, Nikolas Tesla, and Michael Faraday are all considered the fathers of electricity. Faraday himself would meet fellow Movers and Shakers Ampere and Volta in Milan.
Another reason that Faraday is featured in the Movers and Shakers theme is because his discovery of electromagnetic motion would lead to the electric motor. His project was an electric motor apparatus and its the oldest is surviving Faraday project dating back to 1822. He used a mercury bath to transform electrical energy into mechanical energy in what could be considered the first electric motor:
Your Chance to Win
| Be Original | Stick to the Theme |
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| List the Steps | Submit Video Proof |
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Your Project Examples
| Movers and Shakers | |
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| The Lino Project with Arduino Mega 2560: Interrupts and Motors | Testing my Electric Ducted Fan Jet Motor |
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Your Project, Your Ideas!
| About Project14 | Directions |
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Every month you'll have a new poll where you'll get to decide an upcoming project competition, based on your interests, that will take place a couple of months in advance. Themes are broad in scope so that everyone can participate regardless of skill set.
What are Monthly Themes?
What are Monthly Theme Polls?
| Step 1: Log in or register on element14, it's easy and free. Step 2: Post in the comments section below to begin a discussion on your idea. Videos, pictures and text are all welcomed forms of submission. Step 3: Submit a blog post of your progress on your project by the end of the month. You are free to submit as many blog entries as you like until the beginning of the next theme.
Be sure to include video proof of your project!
Visit Movers and Shakers :
You have until August 14th, 12:00 AM CDT to submit your completed project!
A jury consisting of your peers will judge project submissions! |
Give Us Your Movers and Shakers Ideas in the Comments Below!
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