Windmill Inspired Lamp

Our goal is to create a windmill-inspired tabletop lamp that will utilize a motor to turn a windmill blade and will include LEDs to provide aesthetic lighting on top of the lamp.​

Tools Required

• Philips Head Screwdriver
• Hot Glue Gun
• Dremel 200-1/15 Two-Speed Rotary Tool Kit with 1 Attachment 15 Accessories 

Materials Required

• DC Motor ($14.99)
• M3 - 0.5 Screws ($3.99)
• Acrylic Sheets ($29.99)
• Popsicle Sticks ($6.99) (May want to swap out for construction paper for safety reasons)
• Arduino Nano ($10.99)
• Wire Bundle ($6.98)
• Breadboard ($1.67)
• 24V Power Supply ($14.99)
• LED ($0.12)
• Toggle Switch ($2.66)
• Mosfet ($1.51)

First, it is recommended to wire the board first and check for correct wiring before programming and powering the device. For wiring, you will need your 24V power supply, breadboard, wire bundle, Arduino Nano, and MOSFET. 

The detailed connections for wiring are listed below, and all unlisted pins are unused and unconnected [1]: 

GND -> Negative of 24V power supply 

5V -> Resistor to LED 

D4 -> Gate of MOSFET 

Negative of Motor -> Drain of MOSFET [2]

Negative of power supply -> Source of MOSFET 

Positive of 24V power supply -> Positive of Motor 

To wire the power supply to be usable in this system, you must use two wires to connect to the attachment that comes included with the 24V power supply. You will use a screwdriver to loosen the screws on the attachment and then insert the wires into the now open holes. Then tighten these screws down to hold the wires in place. When ready, you can attach this to the output plug of the 24V supply. 

Now it is time to connect the Arduino to your computer and upload the program. The code file is attached below and all you need to do is load the program onto the Arduino using the right arrow button on the top left of your screen.  

If the code does not upload, ensure you navigate to the tools menu in the toolbar. Here you will select your board as Arduino Nano and your processor as ATmega328P (Old Bootloader).  [3]

Safety Note - Be careful when using the dremel and use safety glasses to protect your eyes!

First, you need to mark out where to cut the pieces of acrylic sheets.

Dimensions: 

Two 5.75” x 3” pieces (side) 

Two 3” x 4” pieces (roof) 

One housing shape is 4” x 4” on the triangular part, and the sides are 6” and 6” for base 

One 6” x 5” piece (base) 

One 1” x 6” (back) 

Next, clamp down the piece to a surface. Attach a cutting wheel to the Dremel tool and cut the pieces using the dimensions above.

Then smooth down the edges by grinding it with the grinder attachment of the Dremel tool.

Using a hot glue gun we are going to assemble the housing structure. Refer to the photo for reference in the next few steps.

Glue the edge of the longer side on the base to the front cutout.

We are going to place the side pieces. Take the longer piece of the side cutout and line it up with the edge of the side edge of the front piece. Glue along this edge and along the edge that is touching the base.

Repete this step for the other side piece.

The roof pieces will be assembled. Line up the longer side of the roof piece with the top, slanted edge of the front piece. Also, line up the short edge of the roof piece with the top of the side piece. Glue along both of these edges.

Repete for the other roof piece.

Glue on the back piece. Do this with the long edge flat on the bottom piece with both short edges flat against both side pieces.

For this step, we need to drill holes and assemble the rest of the components together.

On the front of the housing, we need to drill holes for screws of the 24 DC motor or any other motor you prefer.

Mark the position of the holes first, drill the holes, and attach the motor to the front piece of the housing.

For this, place the motor up the back of the acrylic and drill one larger hole for the motor shaft to fit. Then mark and drill the six holes for the screws to fit.

Once the holes are made add the screws to secure the motor in place.

Note: for safety purposes, the popsicle sticks should be switched out with construction paper

For this step, we will be assembling and attaching the blades of the windmill to the motor.

Take a popsicle and cut it hallway in the middle.

Rotate the sticks so that the two halve are at different angles.

Do the same for the second stick attach them together in the middle and glue them together with a hot glue gun.

Cut two 1” by 1” acrylic. Drill a hole estimated to be the diameter of the motor shaft on one of the pieces, and then glue them together. Glue this piece to the motor shaft, and insert the shaft into the piece with the hole.

Using hot glue, attach the popsicle stick turbine to the flat surface of the acrylic pieces.

Then, drill a hole in the back piece for the toggle switch and screw the toggle switch in place. 

Finally, remove the sticky cover from the bottom of the breadboard and place it in the base of the house

Attach the LED to the top top of the motor inside the housing.

Now you have successfully built the Windmill Lamp!

[1] “Arduino Nano,” Arduino Online Shop. [Online]. Available: https://store-usa.arduino.cc/collections/nano-family/products/arduino-nano. [Accessed: 04-Mar-2023]. 

[2] “ONSM-S-A0003585260-1.pdf - rocelec.widen.net.” [Online]. Available: https://rocelec.widen.net/view/pdf/nfro6xva19/ONSM-S-A0003585260-1.pdf?t.download=true&u=5oefqw. [Accessed: 24-Apr-2023]. 

[3] “Greartisan DC 24V 800RPM Gear Motor High Torque Electric Micro Speed Reduction Geared Motor Eccentric Output Shaft 37mm Diameter Gearbox,” Amazon. [Online]. Available: Amazon.com: Greartisan DC 24V 800RPM Gear Motor High Torque Electric Micro Speed Reduction Geared Motor Eccentric Output Shaft 37mm Diameter Gearbox : Automotive. [Accessed: 03-Apr-2023].