Cheap small and good rumble motors for projects!

[bacteria]

Not updating this into my .PDF's for a short while, but I had a brainwave a couple of days ago in regards to rumble motors. The ones in an N64 or GameCube or PSone controller or whatever are quite large; the option is to use the viabration pager or mobile phones - they viabrate but its the noise they make that make you know they are working!

Here is an alternative - I had a dead PSone CD mechanism from my first attempt on my IntoPlay project when I tried to solder to the ribbon - did it but got a short somewhere; so kept the drive in my rubble box.

The CD drive motor is quite powerful, has a plastic end so it is easy to melt or glue a small piece of metal onto it to make the motor unbalanced (what a rumble motor is), and the motor is small; about 15mm x 12mm (or with shaft, 25mm x 12mm). It also runs happily on 7.x volts, or about 8.4v as I tested it on.

Given that you can buy PSone's or PS1 consoles for about £3 sometimes as car boot sales, it is cheaper to buy a console just for this component than buy it new!



What this means in real terms is that you can have a cheap and small but fairly powerful rumble motor without having to use a much larger one from a controller. (For comparison, the CD spin motor in the pic is about the size of a normal rumble motor). I will use these in future projects; thought I would share this snippit with you too.

Looking into the small joysticks at the moment, seeing if I can find a source for some of the Pandora joysticks, for small joysticks in portables.

[NiCEL.2X]

Ooh I might look into that when I get home. You do mean the motor from the little PSOne or are they the same in both.

[bacteria]

The motor in the pic - there is a screw that holds it in place in the black cavity in the pic. There is a plastic screw at the end of the motor, which spins one way or the other, turning cogs and a slide, moving the laser part as needed. That is why the motor is ideal for a rumble motor - easy to attach something to, small and good power. I imagine many devices with CD's use similar motors - eg old computer CD drives, DVD drives etc that you have in the attic collecting dust.

[XCVG]

The problem is that not all of us have access to car boot sales, garage sales, thrift stores with good prices, or any other way to get PS1s cheap

You can find similar motors in anything with an optical drive, sometimes you can find them in floppy drives too.

[themadhacker]

I got a lot of motors like that from faulty CD drives lying around. I never thought of using one for a rumble motor, though. Good idea,.

[palmertech]

I personally like cell phone motors. Some people might say that they are "Not as realistic", but tell me, when did having your hands shake when you get shot become "realistic"?

This looks good for a more powerful rumble, though.

[Rixer 1337]

I like this ideas because anybody could have an old dvd drive or something laying around that they could use.

[weaponepsilon]

Bacteria, I've got a couple from an n64 rumble pak that should work.

[bacteria]

Oh crud, just realised - rumble motors in N64 controllers use 3v (2 x AA's), these motors don't work at 3v, they need more voltage, like 7.x volts instead. Ideas?

[palmertech]

Use the 3v to trigger a transistor hooked up to the main battery, and then to the motors?

The 3v would allow the the 7v to flow when triggered.

[metalcookie]

the absolute smallest rumble pack alternatives are the motors in those mini rc cars. they run at a small voltage, and i'm guessing if you charge it with soe more juice it might give a small rumble. similar to cell phone vibrators

[XCVG]

Oh crud, just realised - rumble motors in N64 controllers use 3v (2 x AA's), these motors don't work at 3v, they need more voltage, like 7.x volts instead. Ideas?

You'll just get less rumble with 3.3V. Don't worry 'bout it.

[bacteria]

XCVG - no, motor doesn't work at 3v.

Use the 3v to trigger a transistor hooked up to the main battery, and then to the motors?

The 3v would allow the the 7v to flow when triggered.

Diagram please?

[palmertech]

I have done it before for other projects, but only by looking at transistor switch diagrams. I will take another look, see if I can figure it out. Or, some nice person could come along and explain it.

[weaponepsilon]

Do you still want my n64 rumble motors?

I am not looking for much, just enough to cover shipping.