2019 6th International Conference on Control, Decision and
Information Technologies (CoDIT’19) | Paris, France / April 23-26, 2019
Introduction to DC Motors for Engineering
Students based on Laboratory Experiments
Vı́tor H. Pinto José A. Gonçalves
FEUP CEDRI, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Portugal
Faculty of Engineering INESC TEC, Portugal
University of Porto goncalves@ipb.pt
Porto, Portugal
vitorpinto@fe.up.pt
Abstract—Since DC Motors are common components
in engineering projects that involve process control, it
is necessary for any student in this area to understand
their concepts, construction and applications. This paper
focuses on a series of Laboratory Experiments that were
carried out in an Entry Level Unit of the Integrated Master
Degree in Electrical and Computers Engineering of the
Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, named
Project FEUP. In this class, mandatory for all students,
they learn to how use these motors, from basic concepts to
the estimation modeling. The paper presents the developed
kits that students use, the simplified model and examples
of the experiments performed in some classes.
I. I NTRODUCTION
Learning how to use DC motors in a project is a cru-
cial part of the Electrical Engineering Curricula Courses,
given that their use is quite widespread. Some appli-
cation examples are mobile robots locomotion, cooling
fans, water pumps, industrial manipulators, among many
others. Also, the control of electric motors allows a
relatively simple introduction to the basic concepts of
P, PI and PID Controllers as presented, for example, in
[1] and [2] and State Space-based Identification, like in
[3].
During their Masters Degree in Electrical and Com-
puter Engineering, from the Faculty of Engineering -
University of Porto (FEUP), students often use DC
motors for several projects. However, they only acquire
deep knowledge about electrical motors in a 3rd-year
Curricular Unit (CU) - Electrical Machines. Before this
course, it is really difficult for them to deal with projects
using these actuators.
As a form of integration, FEUP has a CU for all first-
year students - Project FEUP [4] - in which they must
develop a project associated to their field of study. So, for
this course, the authors have proposed a project in which
students are encouraged to use DC motors, to familiarize
themselves with this kind of actuators, its interfaces and
laboratory equipment, similar to what is done by the
authors of [5].
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Paulo Costa
FEUP
Faculty of Engineering
University of Porto
Porto, Portugal
paco@fe.up.pt
Throughout this paper, the learning outcomes and
competences that students are expected to achieve, are
presented in section II. The laboratory workplan in sec-
tion III and its results in section IV. Finally, in section V,
the conclusions draw from this experience are presented.
II. O BJECTIVES
Since this course is taught to first-year students, one of
the main objectives is to introduce the general equipment
that can be used in a laboratory. With this in mind,
the first part of the experimental work is to measure
some resistances with the objective of introducing the
equipment and the electrical concepts, at an early stage.
After this small introduction, the project is then
headed to electric motors, where two DC motors are used
- one without gearbox and without encoder, and another
with gearbox and encoder. Both experiments have been
designed so that students can retain basic knowledge of
how a DC motor works, how to connect them physically,
what they can be used for, their limitations and how they
can be controlled.
Finally, students gain familiarity with the simplified
model of an electric motor, what its composition is, how
its parameters are variable and what its specifications are.
To guide the students through these experiments a script
was built, to assure safety measures and to safeguard
equipment from any short circuits.
III. L ABORATORY E XPERIMENTS
As previously mentioned, the first part of the work
is dedicated to the introduction of electrotechnical en-
gineering basic concepts - Part I. Then, a DC motor
without gearbox and without encoder is introduced -
Part II. Finally, the most commonly used motor with
gearbox and encoder is explored - Part III. All associated
experiments are listed below.
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A. Part I - Resistors
The first experiment consists in measuring some given
resistance values. The knowledge in electronics of most
of the students is practically nil, at this stage. So, as
expected, it is necessary to introduce some Concepts -
like Voltage and Current; Equipments - like Multimeter
and Oscilloscope; Tools - like Defiler.
Initially, students are introduced to the color code and
they must be able to interpret it and identify each resistor.
Although it may seem too simple, this is important Fig. 1: Graphic from Part I of the Project - Resistor
because reading the color code still raises some doubts, Measurements
namely in the order in which it is read, and how the read
values are combined.
Then, the Multimeter is presented, used as Ohmmeter
and the resistance value is read out. Taking into account
that the value of the resistance always has a discrepancy
compared to the tabulated value, students are asked to
verify that this is within the tolerance presented by the
manufacturer (also obtained through the color code).
Finally, students are asked to apply a Voltage from
1V to 6V, to each of the 5 resistors, read this value
with a Multimeter (function of Voltmeter) and obtain the
corresponding Current flowing through the circuit with
a second Multimeter (function of Ammeter).
During the experiments, students are asked to write
down the obtained values, as part of the script objectives. Fig. 2: DC Motor Simplified Model Diagram
Then, it is asked to create a graphic with the values of
the Voltage (in Volt) as function of Current (in Ampere).
After that, since the measurements are not free of error,
students are asked to include a trend line and represent
its equation. From these values, they verify that the
Ohm’s law effectively has a practical meaning. They of the motor, U is the voltage applied to the circuit, i the
also learn that they can find the value of a resistance current flowing through it, ev the counter-electromotive
only through electrical measurements. An example of a force, Tm the torque and ω the angular speed.
graphic obtained by students is presented in Fig. ??.
Although it may seem not important, given the lack Taking into account that there is no gearbox coupled
of technical knowledge of the students, this introduction to the engine, the are no associated mechanical losses.
is extremely important and will allow the concepts That said, any change during of the experiment is due to
presented later to be better understood. So, they are some placed externally interference (disregarding small
mentioned in the opening part of this paper as well as effects, like the heating of the motor windings).
they were part of the script.
An example of the graphics obtained by the students To show to the students that even the slightest change
at the end of this Part is presented in Figure 1. in the circuit can cause an effect on the engine, a helix
have been built that allow to add and vary very small
B. Part II - DC Motor without Gearbox and Encoder loads. Figure 3 shows the use of the motor, together
As a way of introducing a DC motor it was decided with the Multimeters, by the students during a class.
to do it without introducing mechanical and electronical
complications, namely a gearbox or an encoder. It was Then, four tests were performed - one in which
also decided that the model to be presented would be the motor only rotates without anything attached to its
of a motor in steady-state, because in this way the shaft; a second one in which a structure is coupled to
inductance can be disregarded, leaving only the motor the shaft, considered the helix; a third in which two
internal resistance and the counter-electromotive force in blades are placed horizontally; Finally, the blades are
the model. The scheme that was presented to the students placed vertically. Images that demonstrate the 4 steps
is shown in Figure 2, where R is the internal resistance are presented in Figure 7.

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Fig. 3: Students experimenting with the DC Motor,
during a class
Fig. 4: Single Motor, Motor with only the helix, helix
with horizontal blades, helix with vertical blades
This experiment consists in measuring the Voltage and
Current at the motor terminals. Since these tasks are
very similar to the ones in the first part of the project,
it is no longer so difficult for students to carry out these
readings. By using different loads in the motor shaft, the
introduced experiment allows to understand the effect
that a small load can have on the circuit.
In order for the experiment to have a satisfactory
spectrum of results, a voltage between 1V and 3.5V, with
increments of 0.5V at a time, is required to be applied
to the motor. These values should be read for each
of the configurations and should be registered for later
construction of a graph similar to what was requested
in the previous phase of the project. An example of the
final graph is presented in Figure 5
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Fig. 5: Graphic from Part II of the Project - Motor
without Encoder and Gearbox Measurements
Fig. 6: Diagram of Assembly for the Motor
C. Part III - DC Motor with Gearbox and Encoder
Despite the first two experiments are important to
introduce important concepts, the fact is that motors
without gearbox, but specially without encoder are very
uncommon in practice. This can be explained by the fact
that controlling a motor without knowing its position is
rather difficult.
So, to introduce a motor like the ones usually used, for
example, in mobile robotics, it was used a motor with
gearbox and encoder. In addition, to obtain the model
of its DC motor it is necessary to obtain the value, for
example, of the motor speed, which becomes simpler
using a motor with a built-in encoder.
Taking into account that more and more embedded
platforms are used, being easy to code and to apply,
an Arduino Uno was used to acquire and process the
motor data obtained from the sensors. The read values
are Voltage, Current and Angular Velocity, and the
information flows according to the diagram shown in
Figure 6.
In order to carry out these measurements, a current
and a voltage sensor were used to make the necessary
readings. The speed of the motor and its position are
obtained manipulating the values given by the encoder,
and the commands for the motor are sent through a
Motor Shield with an embedded H-Bridge.
The material assembly is presented in Fig. 7a, together
with blocks constructed in order to provide a well-
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defined and known mass value. This enables to calculate

the force being exerted on the motor shaft. Since this
mass is pulled by a sheave of known size, one can easily
determine the torque that the engine has to overcome to
pull it. In Figure 7b, there is an example of how the
students performed the experiment in a class.
A GUI - Motor Bench (Fig. 8) - was built and
made available in order to facilitate the information
acquisition. This allows the user to have access to the
necessary measurements, without the need to connect
external equipment, as Multimeters, as the authors of [6]
and [7] intended with their work. This interface also has
an option that allows to log the performed measurements,
so that they can be used later in a Spreadsheet.
After the data collection, this should be used, along
several motor-related equations, to obtain some key
characteristics from it, close to those presented in [8].
Namely, the data extracted by the Arduino is Motor
Current, Motor Voltage and Motor Angular Velocity.
Then, the following equations are used:

(a)
U = R · i + ev (1)
ev = k · ω (2)
Tmotor = k · i = Tq + B · ω (3)
Tmass = W · r (4)

where U represents the voltage applied to the motor, R

its internal resistance and i the current flowing through
it. k is the counter-electromotive constant, Tmotor the
torque produced by the motor, Tmass the torque pro-
duced by the weight. Tq stands for the static damping
coefficient, B the viscous damping coefficient and ω the
angular velocity. Finally, the weight can be calculated
by W = mass · g, g = 9.80665m/s2 and r is a known
value equivalent to the sheave radius, which behaves like
the torque arm. Through these it is possible to arrive at
some simpler forms of analysis, as is the case of the
following ones:

U =R· i+k·ω (5)

k · i = Tq + B · ω (6)

After the measurements are inserted in the equations,

students can calculate the motor’s static damping coeffi-
cient and viscous damping coefficient, which are intrinsic
motor characteristics, not measurable, and which are
important for a more realistic motor modeling.
(b)
IV. E VALUATION R ESULTS
Fig. 7: Assembly of the Project’s Part III and use by
From a teaching point of view, the experiments only
students during a class
make sense if the students to whom they are addressed
retain the intended knowledge. In the case of this project,

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Fig. 8: Motor Bench GUI

the evaluation was carried out in 3 ways: report, oral

presentation and allusive poster.
Through the reports, it is possible to know if the
students could understand the concepts presented to them
and what they did during the lessons. Also if they were
able to obtain results that corresponded to the expected
ones, if they did not succeed, the reason for that to
happened, and to conclude what is important. From the
oral presentations, it is possible to perceive more deeply
if the students have actually been able to understand the
concepts, or if they can only describe them, with no
practical notion of what they are talking about. Finally,
the posters allow you to understand the students’ ability
to choose the most important information to put in a
small document, which is posted in the main hall of the
college, available for other members of the community.
The following graphics (Fig. 9) were results obtained
in each part of the work by 3 teams of students, presented
in their reports.

Fig. 9: Examples of graphics obtained by students

5 Graphics from Part III of the Project - Motor with Encoder
and Gearbox Measurements - Current, Torque, Electric Power,
Mechanical Power and Efficiency vs. Angular Speed

Through the delivered reports, it can be concluded

that students acquired the learning outcomes and com-
petences that were expected, reaching the intended goal
for this introductory course.
V. C ONCLUSION
As a first conclusion, it is noticeable that the introduc-
tion of these practical projects at such an early stage of
the Master’s program is beneficial to students, since the
introduced concepts introduced will be used in several
Curricular Units.
However, it is perceptible that most students still do
not have enough scientific maturity to retain all the
knowledge that is transmitted to them. Even so, since
this CU is introductory, the emphasis on the educational

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perspective is not given to the more complex knowledge,
but rather the basic concepts. Regarding these, they all
have retained the important concepts, taking into account
the confidence with which they have approached the
latter part of the work.
Taking into account the experience as students, the
authors realize that it is considerably easier to under-
stand a topic when it is possible make a parallel with
something practical that is familiar to us, from our day
to day life. Having said this, it is considered that in the
future, students will have a greater facility in applying
DC motors in their projects.
As noted from the first to the second experiment,
students have performed the measures more confidently
and the time required for that process was shortened.
Also from the second to the third experiment, this time
has decreased, despite the introduction of a new motor,
with different characteristics, and a PC application. De-
spite the difference, students were able to understand the
parallelism between both works, and were able to were
able to reduce the assembly and measurements time.
From a point of view more related to the equipment,
it was also important for students to experience that an
adjustable voltage source may have current limitations,
that may prevent the motor from reaching the desired
speed. Students understood that the obtained current
values were always the same after a certain voltage
value, and they also realized that, if the current is limited,
the load power will also be limited.
However, it is also noteworthy that many students
failed to realize the difference between motor’s internal
resistance, the resistance of the circuit and the simple
linear resistance that was used in the first part of the
experiment. A few of them mentioned in the final report
that the motor’s resistance was dependent on the asso-
ciated load. This clearly demonstrate that students were
not able to properly acquire some of the more complex
concepts associated with the motors, as well as the forces
associated with their movement, and the resistance of an
electric circuit.
Finally, these experiments were intended to introduce
basic concepts of Electronical Engineering, DC motors
and the usage of equipment and components associated
with laboratory work. Regarding these goals, this project
was considered a success, since students have developed
capacities that will be useful throughout the course.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work is financed by the ERDF European Re-
gional Development Fund through the Operational Pro-
gramme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation -
COMPETE 2020 Programme within project POCI-01-
0145-FEDER-006961 and by National Funds through the
FCT Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portuguese
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Foundation for Science and Technology) as part of
project UID/EEA/50014/2013.
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