Tesla and the AC Motor – Alexander Skinner

Nikola Tesla was able to succeed in the invention of the AC Motor though a unique method.  The AC Motor used two different currents that were alternating.  This was efficient because the AC electricity was better than the DC electricity.  Tesla was an engineering geneous.  Tesla  changed the world with his invention of the AC Motor.

Tesla’s AC motor – David G

Tesla’s AC motor was a marvel of engineering at its time. It was the part of the electric system that enabled Westinghouse, and his company to outdo Edison’s DC company. The motor worked by using two different alternating currents. When one system peaks, the other is at a trough of its power wave. This causes the motor to turn towards the coils of copper wires that are arranged in a circle. As the power flips back and forth one hundred and twenty times a second the wire flips back and forth very quickly. Doing this took away the need for the brushes that transfered the electrical power from AC into DC for use in motors.

Tesla and the AC Motor – Michael B.

Tesla was not the first to attempt to create an AC motor.  His succeeded where others failed because he used two currents which were not in sync.  That way there was always a strong current availible for the motor to use.  Both currents worked together to turn the shaft and run the motor.  Because the motor ran off of AC there was no need for commutators to change the AC into DC, so there were less parts to wear out.

Tesla and AC Motors – Heera J

After Tesla thanked all his benefactors, he began to explain why the AC was better than the DC of Edison. Polyphase AC was necessary because it replaced the need for a commutator instead using a simple order of currents to provide power to the induction motor he had developed. He used one of his motors that he had to demonstrate it’s action and explained every detail involving the use of the polyphase AC and the magnetic fields used to rotate the motor. With the help of Westinghouse Tesla was able to option patens which would help further his design to make it more practical for everyday use. Tesla still at this time was viewed as a visionary and his ideas although abstract are still in use today.

Tesla Lecture & AC Motor – Ivan B.

As many electrical engineers entered Tesla’s Lecture, they did not expect for their efforts to be outdone by what Tesla had designed. What Nikola Tesla had designed was a motor that ran on the Alternating Current system and did not use any brushes or commutators. All motors previously either ran on the Direct Current system and or used a commutator or a brush. Tesla had created an AC polyphase motor that ran solely on AC and did not have to be converted to DC current or to aided by a commutator. Tesla’s motor used a polyphase system of currents, in which there was two AC currents which were out of step with each other. At the moment that one of the currents was past its maximum output of power and was dying off, the second current would step in and provide power. Tesla used this in the design of his polyphase motor. In Teslas polyphase motor, there were two sets of two electrical magnets, in each set of magnets, the magnets were positioned opposite of each other. These magnets worked out of step with each other, using the alternating currents. When two of the magnets were turned on, the other two were off. The center rotating shaft had magnets on it as well, that were pushed by the magnetic field produced by the magnets that were turned on by the alternating currents. The center shaft would always be rotated by the alternating currents and have constant power.

A similar design was proposed by Professor Thomson. The design by Thomson was similar in nature, it used the AC system, but it had one difference. The one difference was that it used one current instead of two, and it used a commutator to make the AC alternating.

George Westinghouse was big supporter of the AC system. He saw how advantageous AC was over DC and made it his own. He bought many patents from Tesla so he could use the technology to electrify the US, and make a buck from it too.

While Westinghouse and Tesla were great partners, the workers of Westinghouse were not. Tesla had trouble communicating with the workers why he wanted certain dimensions and certain settings on the devices that Tesla had invented and was improving.

Tesla and the AC motor – Stephen I

Tesla’s first lecture for his AC motor was done at the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.  This was where he spoke about his improvements to the motor and how it worked.  He also demonstrated the motor and explained how it was better than the DC motor.

Tesla’s AC induction motor was different from motors around at that time.  Tesla’s Ac motor did not have a use for the commutator brushes.  A commutator is an electrical device that reverses the direction of the flowing current.  Since his motor did not need the commutator this means that the motor is more reliable because it has less parts.  Tesla uses two AC currents because there is always a force turning the motor.  As one power dies the other one comes on and keeps the revolutions going.  This process keeps going on in order to make an electrical current.  This was what made Tesla’s AC motor so important to the electrical industry.

Westinghouse bought the patents from Tesla because they were working on the same idea.  If Westinghouse did purchase them then he would have had to stop working on his ideas because they were protected by patents.  Tesla had a hard time working with Westinghouse because Tesla liked to work by himself.  Westinghouse’s engineers did not like Tesla because he told them that their knowledge on the electricity was useless.

Tesla and the AC motor – Andrew G.

Tesla’s alternating current (AC) motor was better then any of the alternatives at the time of it’s creation.  The motor that Tesla created did not have to use commutator brushes to change AC to DC.  Instead he used two different AC currents that would peak at opposing times from each other.  While one set of magnets would be resting the other set would pull the motor round. This allowed there to be a constant driving force inside the motor.  Another benefit of having no commutator was that no current was passed through the driving rod of the motor, this helped to reduce the risk of shock.

Westinghouse was able to see that the patents Tesla was registering were imperative to his AC industry.  There were others at the time working with AC motors but the patents they had put in were not as broad as Tesla’s.   Once Westinghouse had the patents he hired Tesla to start creating these motors.

Tesla was a hard man to work with because of how he acted towards others.  He would tell Westinghouse’s workers that they had everything set up wrong and that all they knew about electricity was incorrect.  Tesla’s belief that the frequency inside the AC system should be set to 60 cycles instead of the 133 cycles that Westinghouse’s engineers had set up caused more controversy between Tesla and the engineers.  Westinghouse’s workers also disliked how fast Tesla rose to fame and seemed to know everything.

Tesla and AC motor – Laurence B.

On May 15, 1888 Nikola Tesla traveled to Columbia College where the American Institute of Electrical Engineers was holding a convention. Tesla was there to give a lecture on his alternating current improvements. He had written the literature for the lecture the night before. Tesla was reluctant to attend this convention, but he was slowly overcome by the fact that he needed to make himself known. And so he agreed. He began his lecture by respectfully thanking his benefactors, Professor Anthony, Mr. Martin and Mr. Pope. He explained how he was asked to come on a very short notice, and to be forgiven for the briefness of the lecture. He was also reluctant to do the lecture because he had not even received the patents for some of what he was about to show. Tesla explained his AC motor and how there was no connection between the electricity being put into the motor with the rotor arm. This meant no commutator, which was a huge step forward. A man in the crowd who was known for improving the inventions of electricities kings, was Professor Thomson. Thomson was working on an AC motor as well, but did not think of the idea of having more than one current being supplied. This was the key to getting rid of the slow commutator technology. Westinghouse had known of Tesla’s ideas before the convention was held. Westinghouse purchased Tesla’s patents because they were the final piece he needed to complete his AC empire. There was some trouble in this process because Tesla was a very out of the box kind of person, and H.M. Byllesby had some trouble comprehending Tesla’s ideas. He wrote to Westinghouse that Tesla’s Ideas were far fetched, but he saw many good points that would have been of interest to Westinghouse. Westinghouse almost bought the patents for an AC system that Ferraris had invented in Europe.

Tesla and AC Motor – Robert S.

Tesla’s speech to the American Instutite of Electrical Engineers was primarily a discussion of his AC motor in order to make himself and his invention known in the field. Tesla not only discussed his AC motor and it’s advantages over DC motors, but he also demonstrated his motor. Additionally, Tesla explained why all the existing motors were “wrong”, as his AC polyphase motor fixed all the issues of the current generation of motors. Additionally, Tesla publically defended his posisition as developing a uniquie AC motor, and that his design, while similar to Professor Thomson’s, didn’t use a commutator, and thus wasn’t the same.

Tesla’s polyphase motor was truly unique, and worked differently from any other motor available at the time. Prior to Tesla’s motor, all motors used commutators, which was a device that supplied power to the rotating magnets inside the motor. The AC polyphase motor, however, used two out of sync AC currents to provide power to the motor, bypassing the need for a commutator and metal brushes that wore out over time.

AC Motor – Rafael R.

Polyphase alternating current was important for Nikola Tesla’s motor because it allowed the dynamo that generated electric current to work without commutator. Also, Tesas induction motor worked with a rotating magnetic core which replaced the commutators. The commutators are a pair of brushes which were previously used to short circuit the armature coil. The motor also used the polyphase alternating current to function by using three currents which were out of step so that when one of the currents was reversing another current would pick it up from there.

George Westinghouse’s AC company was being dominated by Edison’s DC electric company in that Edison had a working motor to function with his DC system and Westinghouse did not. In Westinghouse’s quest to find an AC motor to function with his AC system, he found himself in a dilemma, choosing between buying the rights to Tesla’s induction motor or Galileo Ferraris motor. The difference was that tesla had designed a his motor to be intended for heavy duty commercial work while Ferraris’ motor was simply an amusing toy. Eventually Westinghouse bought the patent rights to Tesla’s motor and hired him to be a Westinghouse consultant.

While working in Tesla’s company, he struggled to cooperate with Westinghouse’s engineers. Tesla’s was correcting everything his engineers knew about making electricity and made it seem that what they previously thought was correct is irrelevant. Incorporating his induction motor into Westinghouse’s AC system was also a problem. The engineers had desighned all their AC central lighting stations to operate at a frequency of 133 cycles. Tesla had already concluded that the ideal frequency was 60 cycles and thats what his motor was based on. Making even more difficult was the fact that the engineers loathed Tesla for being rich and someday maybe even being more known than Thomas Edison.