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Motor On A Hall Effect Switch

Difficulty level: 2 (simple, but requires the use of a soldering iron)
Kits covered: Kits #6,8

This is a simple and probably the most reliable motor. You may take a look
at how easy it is to assemble this motor from the kit.

In 1879 Edward Hall placed a thin layer of gold in a strong magnetic field. He
connected a battery to the opposite sides of this film and measured the
current flowing through it. He discovered that a small voltage appeared
across this film. This voltage was proportional to the strength of magnetic
field multiplied by the current. This effect bears his name.

For many years the Hall effect was not used in practical applications because
the generated voltage in the gold film was extremely low. However, in the
second half of the 20th century the mass production of semiconductor chips
started. Chips based on the Hall effect became inexpensive and widely
available.

The Hall effect IC (integrated circuit) is a very small chip which includes
many transistors. It consists of a thin layer of silicon as a Hall generator
(which works better than gold) and several transistor circuits: to amplify the
Hall voltage to a necessary level; to trigger output voltage with its growth;
and to provide stable work regardless of the power supply voltage changes.

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The picture below demonstrates the Hall effect IC:

The Hall effect IC is a solid state electronic device with no mechanical parts
and therefore it is more reliable than a reed switch. To no surprise it is now
the most widely used sensor in industrial brushless motors. Normally,
however, they include a lot of other components. Stan designed a motor on
a Hall effect switch with minimum parts based on the same unified
mechanical design and it worked very well.

The Hall effect IC used in Kits 6 and 8 (or available as a separate part) is a
unipolar switch. It turns on and off when the South pole of the magnet
passes by its branded side. The North pole has no effect on it, unless it
approaches from the back side of the Hall IC. This Hall effect IC has a built in
voltage regulator and may work in the range from 4.5 to 24V. The Hall effect
IC's included in the kit, however, were tested extensively; and it was found
that most of them start working at 3V. This is a typical Hall effect IC shown
from the branded side:

The Hall effect switch output current is not sufficient to power this motor,
therefore it also requires a power transistor. You may find information on
this component at How It Works: Reed Switch Motor With A Transistor.

This is how this motor works:

1. When magnet #1 gets close to the Hall IC, the sensor sends a
signal to the base of the power transistor. The transistor opens, and
allows a bigger collector current to flow through the electromagnet.
The electromagnet pushes magnet #3 away.

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2. When the rotor spins away, magnet #1 stops affecting the Hall IC.
Since the signal to the base of the power transistor has been
removed, it is turned off. This disables the electromagnet.

3. The rotor continues to spin due to inertia until magnet #2 moves

into the working range of the Hall IC. The Hall IC sends a signal to
the base of the transistor. The transistor opens, and allows a bigger
collector current to flow through the electromagnet. The
electromagnet pushes magnet #4 away. This process continues until
the power is disconnected.

This motor can be built from Kit #6. Complete instructions are provided.
However, if you decide to design this motor yourself, you may order only the
parts you need (Hall effect IC, PNP power transistor, magnet wire, magnets,
heat sink).

Our experiments showed that the speed of this motor could be controlled by
an extra magnet the same way the speed control unit works for the reed

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switch motors (see Assembly Instructions: Experimentation Kit #1 and How

It Works: Reed Switch Motor). The magnetic field of the additional magnet
placed near the Hall effect IC interacts with the magnetic field of the
magnets on the rotor. As you move this additional magnet the combined
magnetic field becomes stronger or weaker depending on the orientation of
the speed control magnet. It affects the time the Hall sensor sends the signal
to the transistor and therefore changes the motor speed. You may buy a
speed control unit or just an additional magnet at our ordering page.

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