Embedded Files
Your school probably has lots of old computer parts ready to go to the scrap yard. Now you can teach your students to be creative and care for the environment by up-cycling old CD or DVD-ROM drives and turning them into cool looking toy planes.
Each Student will need the following:
Glue gun and glue sticks
1 DVD or CD-ROM Drive
3 sticks of memory or other chips
Straw
Phillips screwdriver
Small Phillips screwdriver
Optional is a pair of snips to cut chips to size,
Vocab
Upcycle - To convert (waste materials etc.) into new materials or products of higher quality and greater functionality.
DVD-ROM Drive - Digital Versatile Disc-Read Only Memory used for storing data. A DVD-ROM stores around 4.38 GB of data. DVD-ROM first introduced in 1996.
CD-ROM Drive - Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory, a type of optical disk capable of storing large amounts of data.
Printed Circuit Board (PCB) -Â A flat board that holds chips and other electronic components in layers that interconnect via copper pathways, often called traces.
Brushless DC Motor - Motors powered by DC electricity using a controller that provides pulses of current to the motor winding's that control the speed and torque of the motor.
Stepper Motor - A stepper motor is a brushless DC electric motor whose driveshaft rotates in small steps rather than continuously.
Worm Gear - A gear consisting of a spirally threaded shaft and a wheel with marginal teeth that mesh into it.
Laser Diode - Laser diodes can directly convert electrical energy into light.
Ribbon Cable - A ribbon cable is a cable with many conducting wires running parallel to each other on the same flat plane.
RAM Memory - Random access memory (RAM) is a type of data storage used in computers that is generally located on the motherboard.Â
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 Directions
 First we will take the DVD-Drive apart
Take out all screws on the case they may be in different places take them all out
 Turn the CD-ROM Drive over and take out screws on back
 Remove metal cover revealing the inside components of the Drive
 Remove the Printed Circuit Board or PCB
This may have a combination of screws and clipsÂ
Remove the flex cables and the board
 Remove Tray
The tray can be opened by pushing the lever this will push the tray out
 Push Lever until tray fully out
 Remove Tray Cover
Flip CD_ROM Drive on its edge and push in the clip.
As you push the clip down pry the cover open.
After one side is off flip over and pry the opposite side open.
 Remove Bottom Metal Case
The metal case can be removed from the other components set it aside with the other parts
The case can be pried open from the front.
 Remove Tray
The tray is held in place by two plastic clips which need to be pushed as you pry the tray out.
 Parts
You should now have the case, tray and PCB removed.
 Tray Mechanism
 Image
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 CD-ROM Drive Sled
Remove the Drive Sled by removing the screws on the metal case
 CD-ROM Drive Sled Removed
Remove Tray Mechanism Gears
The gear usually have a plastic clip that must be pushed as you pry up the gears
Remove CD-ROM Drive Sled Removed Bracket
Some Drives do not have this it has clips that are pressed then pried out.
 Remove Tray Mechanism Motor and Board
Flip the plastic housing over and remove motor and board by pressing clips and prying open.
 Remove Motor from PCB (Printed Circuit Board)
The motor can be pried, cut or broken off the board.
 Drive Sled Laser removal
Remove the screws that hold the rail brackets
 Laser and Rails removed
This is the laser, I have seen people use them to make laser cutters, engravers, 3D printers and plotters.
 Drive Sled Chassis
The Drive sled contains a worm gear motor and a brush-less motor
 Remove Worm Gear Motor
Two screws hold this part in placeÂ
 Remove Brushless Motor
Remove screws to take off the motor
 Remove Rubber Grommets
These grommets will be used for landing gear do not throw away
These just push out of the metal housing
 Brushless Motor
Sometimes you can remove this from the metal housing by pressing or prying it out.
In some CD-ROM Drives these motors are very hard to separate from the metal.
 Parts needed for plane build
Propeller - Gear or cut circuit boardÂ
Plane Motor - Tray mechanism Motor
Landing Gear - Rubber grommetsÂ
Plane Fuselage - Worm gear motor
Vertical Fin and Tail Wing - Made from PCB
Plane Wings - Made from old memory chips these are not found in the CD-ROM Drive
 Build the Plane in Part 2 we will build the plane
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