Majority opinion.
Many answer without hesitation: “Elementary!” After all, the work of any electric motor is based on the law of electro-magnetic induction, and the design consists of only three parts: stator, rotor and housing. The laws of electromagnetic induction and the movement of the frame in a magnetic field are all taught in physics lessons in high school. For those who were not an outright failing student, the device and the principle of operation of the electric motor become, as it were, simple and understandable even from school. There are other useful devices that pass superficially in school and whose physical principles may not seem much more complicated than an electric motor. Whether it’s a nuclear reactor, a rocket engine, or an internal combustion engine. However, psychological barriers are easily removed just in front of those devices and systems that can not only be seen with your own eyes, but also reproduced in the framework of laboratory work at school or the first experiments from the “Young Physicist” set. In this sense, electric motors are the most accessible and widespread for the first in life experiences and experiments of inquisitive minds. And if we add to this the modern fashion for electric movement, then the popularity and interest in electric motors begins to grow in all age groups in geometric progression.
“The illusion of understanding.”
In Soviet times, a physics professor began lecturing high school students on the basics of quantum physics so that they could choose the appropriate specialization when entering a university. Colleagues then asked him in surprise if he was trying to explain the theory of the inverse effect, which was difficult to understand. The professor replied that if you tell the quantum theory as it is, then it really will seem to schoolchildren an extremely boring and incomprehensible topic that they are unlikely to want to study further. But if students explain this complex subject in an entertaining and accessible form, then they create a certain illusion of understanding, which, although far from reality, solves the problem of removing the psychological barrier before studying quantum theory in the future.
All the apparent simplicity of the electric motor among most enthusiasts disappears already at the stage of a deeper study of various designs and types of electric machines. A significant underestimation of the real complexity of the electric motor and overestimation of their capabilities due to the “illusion of understanding” in the vast majority, as a rule, plays a cruel joke with them and soon ends in disappointment.
Reassessing your capabilities.
Some of the most self-confident and ambitious enthusiasts are not stopped by these difficulties, and they courageously embark on the thorny path of mastering new competencies by trial and error, guided by the motto: “Let’s get involved in the battle, and we’ll see!” After some time, the realization comes that the available financial and intellectual resources are needed an order of magnitude or two more than it was assumed at the very beginning. Trying to overcome the opening chasm of problems and the catastrophic lack of resources, the vast majority are limited to copying their favorite electric motor with some minor improvements. Selling such a development or product, returning previously spent investments, is an almost unrealistic task.
If, nevertheless, someone is lucky enough to achieve certain success in mastering a new competence and creating a product that is competitive in its characteristics and properties, then the temptation inevitably arises to master new related competences to achieve the “highest goal” – the independent creation of a complex system as a whole.
Taking part in the largest international exhibitions on alternative energy, we have witnessed dozens of projects related to the development of innovative small and medium-sized wind turbines. The end was approximately the same: having invented and patented one really successful element of the wind turbine (as a rule, a wind wheel), the enthusiast still got a wind turbine of mediocre characteristics. The same applies to electric drives as a complex system: if someone managed to create a very good control system for a synchronous electric motor, this does not mean that he will be able to design a good electric motor.
An arrogant attempt to independently master a wide range of diverse competencies has already led many small and medium-sized companies both in the Russian Federation and abroad to failure or even bankruptcy. Successful companies that managed to become industry leaders, as a rule, did not try to create or buy all the necessary technologies and competencies, but built cooperation chains with those highly specialized developers and component suppliers who managed to create the most successful assembly or technological solution. By providing the necessary competitive advantages for their designs and eliminating significant shortcomings, industry leaders maximize sales success for their products.
