NextEngine scanner accessory development- need advice!

[aparkes]

Hi! I have a NextEngine 3D scanner, which comes with an accessory turntable that's about six inches in length and width and is powered by an RJ22 cable that runs from the scanner to the turntable. (The kind of cable that runs between the phone and the handset on a regular landline phone.) I'm assuming, since there is no separate power supply to the turntable and there is no way to replace batteries, that the cable simply powers a motor that turns the turntable, that the motor is a 4-lead motor, and that they just stuck the leads into an RJ-22 connector so it could be powered by the scanner.  Each time the scanner completes a scan, it sends a signal to the turntable to turn a certain number of degrees so it can scan the next side.

Anyway, I want to make the scanner move around the object instead of using the turntable. So I'm building a little "car" to put the scanner on, with the axles angled so it runs in a circle, and powering a little motor on it by the same kind of cable as the turntable. But I don't know what I need to know about the wiring. I can't find any info at all on how the turntable is built and I want it to stay in one piece so I'm trying to avoid busting it open. The only electrical information I can find on the scanner is a little box that says 1 amp, but I have no idea if that's coming into the scanner or going out to the turntable. Any recommendations on what kind of motor to get? AC? DC? Stepper? Servo? Voltage? I have no idea.

[aparkes]

Okay I think I figured out a setup that will work, and I multimetered the scanner to find that it outputs roughly 15v direct current. This may be a dumb question but I don't remember a thing from high school physics- does that mean I need a 15v motor, or should I be able to work with anything that runs below 15?

[Soeren]

Hi,

You can be absolutely sure that it won't work by just rigging up a motor. Your turntable either gets or sends positional data, or it wouldn't be able to make a precise scan.

Only way of reverse engineering the turntable is to open it, but even then, it's a slim chance that you should be able to rev-eng it (an oscilloscope and experience in using it, is asolutely mandatory in this discipline), so perhaps you're best off using it as it was meant to - what's the point in doing it the other way around anyway?