Hi @Dmzark and welcome to our forum 
You have an interesting project
I don’t know a lot about wave machines but I would like to see yours
Could you maybe post here some photos or even better some videos of it?
Thank you.
Hello, I tried to upload a video and some pics but since I’m new to the forum I’m not allowed to post attachments. I’m hoping someone has experience with very low noise high torque motors. Maybe they just don’t exist and that’s why they stopped making these machines many years ago. This whole thing started with my wife seeing one on an HBO show called In Treatment. Of course they didn’t show how much noise it makes! LOL! She said “I love those things”! And I thought “I can make one of those”… Ughhhh! I did see one called Smithsonian wave motion machine on line but it looks like a cheesy toy.
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Just as I sent my message I got a message saying I was promoted to trust level. I uploaded two pics. Video was too much data.
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Hi @Dmzark,
Thank you for providing these photos
What is the purpose of this machine? Just to watch it for relaxation? Or you plan to create a bigger scale?
What noise levels are you looking to achieve here? What is the current noise level in dB?
Hello, My only plan is to try to reduce noise level so that this thing becomes what it’s supposed to be. An enjoyable relaxing thing to look at. The noise level kills that notion. I don’t know the db level. It sounds like a loud hair trimmer. Very whiny sounding which varies as the load changes every cycle. Maybe a larger more expensive gear motor is the answer? I’ve yet to find one that I’m confident will work. I even talked to a motor manufacturer and they were no help. There’s gotta be a way!!!
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I saw now what’s on YouTube. This video for example: Wave Motion Machine, Kinetic Art - YouTube
I see he used 15RPM motor.
I originally used 10 rpm motor and decided I decided I’d prefer slower so I went to 6 rpm then 5 rpm. 6 rpm gave the best visual result. All three motors exhibited the same amount of unacceptable noise to run in a quiet environment (which is the whole purpose for this thing - relaxation). Notice that video has music playing all through it! Trust me, you gotta play the music pretty loud to drown out the noise. That’s what I’ve been doing. Maybe 15 rpm is quieter? I’m not convinced it’s that much quieter if at all. In any case, I appreciate your feedback. Now let’s solve the problem. It’s gotta be doable!
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Yes, I thought also the same. Maybe you just use bigger motor and see what happens?
Yeah, maybe bigger will be better. Haven’t found one yet.
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Do you have a product link to the motor you are now using?
Yeah, there’s tons of these out there being sold by various companies probably all made on the same production line in the same factory in China. Bringsmart just happens to be what I bought on Amazon. Guarantee it’s the same motor as Robotshop
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Yes. But, you can have a look here, E-S Motor - RobotShop, and maybe find another similar one but bigger.
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Their website does have a lot of different motors. I’ll do some digging. thanks
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You’re welcome. Let us know.
If you want complete silence, use NITINOL wire springs, attached at each end of the unit.
Positive voltages expand the spring,
Negative or 0 voltages contract the spring.
One side is expanding its spring, the other side is contracting its spring.
Then they flip their duty cycle.
Like your legs do when sitting on a teeter-totter in a playground. One persons legs are contracting the other persons legs are expanded. You already have the center pivot point.
To expand and contract them slowly, use a voltage signal that ramps up and down slowly. The more power they receive, the faster they respond. So to control that you could have a pot dials regulating the voltage, and one that control something along the lines of a 555 IC timer circuit that issues pulses to the springs to expand them then a longer delay for retractions. This way you can very the speed of the entire up and down motion of the box.
Something flexible like a silicone sleeve or a rubber CV joint sleeve over the Nitinol assemblies to protect them and for visual appeal.
But the main point would be this ---- There would be no sounds what so ever except that of the fluids within the case striking the sides. Which is in a sense waves reaching the shoreline.
BTW, very familiar with the commercial versions of these, and yes, even those will hum and vibrate because they are copying the original design and it was motor based back then. Now days, we have Nitinol. Goggle searches will give you places and prices where to get the springs. It is better to buy them pre configured as springs, then to attempts to form the spring from a straight piece of Nitinol. Its a memory alloy so you form the spring and it will uncurl back to being straight when power is applied. So obtain them pre formed so they return back to coiled springs, less the power. Apply power they they will expand. That would be the type to obtain. When the machine is shut down, the two springs will come to resist each other as they cool down and the box should just about self-level.
Acigan International
Design Division
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Thanks. Since my last post I’ve tried 2 other motors without success. I’ll give this a try
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It is a very cool alloy.
A client of Acigan wanted piston like feet that self adjusted on a hexapod leg assembly a few years back. Nitinol pistons were used.
Basically what was described above is almost the same concept that was used. but attached at both ends of the piston/spring in your project. One end to base plate and one end to the fluid box. It may even last longer then the older motor type design since there would be three attachment points instead of only the center pivot used in the commercial type designs. they will either fail at the cantilever bar that does the rocking, or at the pivot (which is the weak point in the entire design) or the motors burn out due to the stress of the resistance the motion of the fluids produce that travels back down thru the cantilever, thru the motor shaft and into the motor itself.
So by changing away from that design completely and to a tri-point type design, the pivot weak point doesnt even exist, since all three attachment points carry the stress of the fluid motions and well, they are springs, they are coiled, so physics alone will reduce that stress travel and the coils absorb it just like axel springs do on a car or truck.
Hope this change of concept shows that anything can be done, you just have to climb out of the mainstream way of approaching problems and think of solutions that to some, appear to be out of the normal lines of thought.
If you go the Nitinol route… repost the results and let everyone know the outcome.
Good luck and most of all, have fun in the process.
.
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