Published January 24, 2022 © Apache-2.0

HomeMade Arduino Jet Engine

Have you ever tried to create a real spinning Jet yourself! checkout the detailed making steps in this Hackster post.

IntermediateFull instructions provided2 days3,259

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Jet 3D printed parts

Arduino Portenta H7

Throne board for Portenta

Machine Screw, M3

Connector Accessory, Hex Nut

Geared DC Motor, 12 V

Texas Instruments Dual H-Bridge motor drivers L293D

JLCPCB Customized PCB

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

CircuitMaker by Altium Circuit Maker

Hand tools and fabrication machines

3D Printer (generic)

Soldering iron (generic)

Solder Wire, Lead Free

Digilent Screwdriver

Story

Hey guys! are you ready for a new project! just let's get to Spin some Engines..

If you hate to read articles then maybe watching videos is a solution!

As usual I made this tutorial to guide you step by step while in case you decided to experience the same adventure and you make Your own Real Spinning Jet Engine.

During the making of this project, we tried to make sure that this post will be the best guide that contains the necessary making documents and references.

We've made this project in just 6 days only, just Five days to get all the needed parts and finish the hardware making and the assemble, then we have prepared the code to suit our project.

Before starting let’s see first.

What you will learn from this project:

How to assemble the Jet Engine parts.
Adding of a DC motor to the Jet structure (Remastered parts).
Arranging your Jet setup like a pro..
Start the first Jet run.

Starting with the Ingredients

1 / 2

This Jet Engine has been fully 3D printed and I got the STL files from Thingiverse specifically the ones prepared by Catiav5tfw user but I have added some extra parts to make the design suitable to get a DC motor installation and this way we could turn the design from a static to dynamic one.

Also I have scaled all the available parts to 60% of size because the original size is a bit big one and it will be complicated for me to make it spin.

I attached the image that shows the necessary parts that you need (the minimum parts) and the rest of the needed parts are shared in the next steps so just keep on reading.

Jet Assembly

1 / 15

I found that the best way to guide you on this step is to drop images about the assembly since the Jet has many parts.

Make sure that you have enough screws (3x8mm) and nuts (around 100 pieces each) to join the cover parts together. You need to consider also that there are some inner parts that you need to deal with them carefully to keep an aligned structure which helps the motor to spin smoothly.

How to insert the Motor!

1 / 11

Now this is the major upgrade that I made for the available model, by adding a DC motor to our Jet it will spin that's why I got a geared 48V DC motor for the Jet, make sure that you are using a geared one otherwise the motor will not start.

We will hold the motor to the Jet structure by the Motor join part, this is one of the extra parts that I made and I uploaded its STL file. You will also need two bearings (6001) for front and back sides of the Jet.

The needed motor has to have a medium torque (anything above 0.88Kg cm will be fine).

I recommend the JGA25-370 Model and for this you will need the second version motor support STL file.

About the Control Circuit Board

I have done this Throne board months ago and this is the best occasion to test the Portenta capabilities to drive a 24V DC motor and also to get powered through an external power source. I have developed the board schematic and PCB through Altium designer where I found all the necessary tools to successfully complete my design, after finishing the design I got my board beautifully manufactured by JLCPCB.

The Arduino Portenta board is the guest board in this project and I added an L293DD H-bridge motor driver to control the 24V DC output through the 5V PWM signals from Portenta.

Arrange the Setup

1 / 14

After getting both the circuit board and the Jet Engine core assembled, we just need to place the Jet on its support and the circuit board in its placement then we finish the wiring of the power source and the motor power control as it is showed in the above images, in order to keep an arranged looking of the wiring setup I have designed some wire clips and produced them through 3D printing.

Before getting to the final step, I remind you that I have insert an SMD potentiometer and some slide switches on my Throne board which will be helpful for controlling the motor speed and direction.

Software and Test

Here is the final step, I just made this Arduino code that allows me to read the analog signals from the SMD potentiometer, convert it and then transmit it over the PWM outputs of Portenta, it also gives ability to switch the spinning direction of the motor through the digital signals of the slide switch.

I attached a snap shot of the Jet spinning but you still can watch the full making video on my Youtube channel.

Do not hesitate to let me know your thoughts and suggestions through the comment section.

Schematics

Code

Arduino code

const int Motor_Direction_One=PC_3C;
const int Motor_Direction_Two=PC_2;
const int Motor_Speed=PA_8;
const int Motor_Direction_CTR=PH_7;
const int Motor_Speed_Indicator=PC_7;
void setup() 
{
  pinMode(PC_3C, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(PC_2, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(PC_7, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(PH_7, INPUT);

  digitalWrite(PC_3C, LOW);
  digitalWrite(PC_2, LOW);
  digitalWrite(PC_7, LOW);
  digitalWrite(PA_8, LOW);
}

void loop() 
{
  if(digitalRead(PH_7))
  {
    digitalWrite(PC_3C, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(PC_2, LOW);
  }
  if(!digitalRead(PH_7))
  {
    digitalWrite(PC_3C, LOW);
    digitalWrite(PC_2, HIGH);
  }
  analogWrite(PA_8,analogRead(A0)/4);
  analogWrite(PC_7,analogRead(A0)/4);
}

Credits

DIY GUY Chris

48 projects • 332 followers

I'm having fun while making electronics projects, I am an electrical engineer in love with "Do It Yourself" tasks.

HomeMade Arduino Jet Engine

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

What you will learn from this project:

Starting with the Ingredients

Jet Assembly

How to insert the Motor!

About the Control Circuit Board

Arrange the Setup

Software and Test

Custom parts and enclosures

STL File for motor joint

STL file for wire clips

STL File for Motor holder V1

STL File for motor holder V2

Schematics

Schematic

Code

Arduino code

Credits

DIY GUY Chris

Comments

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HomeMade Arduino Jet Engine

HomeMade Arduino Jet Engine

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

What you will learn from this project:

Starting with the Ingredients

Jet Assembly

How to insert the Motor!

About the Control Circuit Board

Arrange the Setup

Software and Test

Custom parts and enclosures

STL File for motor joint

STL file for wire clips

STL File for Motor holder V1

STL File for motor holder V2

Schematics

Schematic

Code

Arduino code

Credits

DIY GUY Chris

Comments

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