Which type of motor should be used for a toy train

Robotics
1

Hello,

I have been printing out toy train parts for my daughter, and was thinking it would be more fun if the locomotive could actually move! I had a set as a kid and loved playing with it.

I don’t have any experience with motors, but have read there are several types. Brushless sounds quieter [pun!] and stepper sound more controllable. Then there are all kinds of details such as their RPMs, geared, volts & torque. What should I look for?

The train will slowly move forwards/backwards on a 3D printed track, and the speed will be remotely controlled (via RF remote). The engine and each of the 3 train cars weigh about .9 oz, plus weight of a battery. I that helps give an idea of the requirements. Please let me know if you need more info.

Thanks for any advice you can provide!

2

Hi monkeybrainz and thanks for posting!

I think a DC motor will work best for this if you are just trying to control direction and speed. Stepper motors are great for very precise movements where you need to know how far the driveshaft has moved along with a decent amount of torque. A continuous rotation servo could also work but that is going to be a bit beefier in size and is essentially just a DC motor with a motor driver built-in.

Depending on the actual size of the train, something like a couple of these [Hobby Motors should work just fine to power the locomotive. We have quite a few other options in our [DC/Gearmotor Category if you want to browse there. Also, unless you already have a DC motor driver, you will want to get one of those as well so you can control the direction and speed of your motor. You can browse all of our DC Motor Drivers in [this category if you would like. I would recommend taking a look at one of these two drivers to keep things small and relatively simple:

  • - [[Qwiic Motor Driver](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15451)
  • - [[Serial Controlled Motor Driver](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13911)
    • [/list]

    Both of these boards use the same motor driver IC, just the interface to control the motor is different. We cover how to use them in depth in their respective Hookup Guides linked on the product page. I hope this information helps you find the right motor for this project. If you have any follow-up questions about these or other SparkFun products you want to use for this project, let us know and we would be happy to help!](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13911)](SparkFun Qwiic Motor Driver - ROB-15451 - SparkFun Electronics)](https://www.sparkfun.com/categories/332)](https://www.sparkfun.com/categories/247)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11696)