<h1><p style="font-family:georgia; font-size:x-large"> <i><b> MICROCONTROLLERS </i></b> </p> </h1> <p style="font-family:'Gill Sans', 'Gill Sans MT', Calibri, 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif"> this week, i modified my lacquer portal. i noticed when i first configured the gadget it was really really vast, to the extent that anything i affixed on top would either be not visible or spin off. my goal using arduino was to modify the speed using a potentiometer. i wanted my next iteration of this project to use the lotus and koi fish i made from clay, and the gears need to turn significantly slower to make that happen. </p> <h2><p style="font-family:georgia; font-size:x-large"> <i><b> results </i></b> </p> </h1> <p style="font-family:'Gill Sans', 'Gill Sans MT', Calibri, 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif"> for reference, this was the speed before, using a regular 3.3v power supply: </p> <video width="320" height="320" controls> <source src="fast_lacquer_portal.mp4" type="video/mp4"> </video> <p style="font-family:'Gill Sans', 'Gill Sans MT', Calibri, 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif"> this is the speed after: </p> <video width="320" height="320" controls> <source src="slow_lacquer_portal.mp4" type="video/mp4"> </video> <h3><p style="font-family:georgia; font-size:x-large"> <i><b> process </i></b> </p> </h1> <p style="font-family:'Gill Sans', 'Gill Sans MT', Calibri, 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif"> i followed the instructions on the ps70 website to use the L9110 to power a motor with arduino. i then connected a potentiometer and supplied the code, and experimented with a bunch of different speeds until i found one that worked for me. i ran into a few hiccups: first, my computer refused to recognize the com port. i have no clue why, and after some tears and 3 different arduino boards, i finally got one working. second, i ran into some troubles using analog code. initially when i tried to moderate the speed using analog code, the motor was unresponsive to changes (or perhaps i did not notice them). third, after connecting the potentiometer, i couldn’t easily moderate the speed to make the gadget function. although the motor and central gear would move at any speed regardless of how slow, the side gears would not move if the central gears weren’t spinning fast enough. so, i found a sweet spot at about half way. </p> <img src="4.2.png" alt="arduino code" width="900" </img> <p style="font-family:'Gill Sans', 'Gill Sans MT', Calibri, 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif"> here's my circuit, in both a picture and a hand-drawn schematic </p> <img src="4.3.png" alt="arduino motor bits" width="500" </img> <img src="4.4.png" alt="schematic" width="500" </img>