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I'm not familiar with building robotic stuff at all,
My idea was to connect an electric motor to the rope which pulls it up. It simply needs to run at a constant speed
If anyone can get me started with controlling an electric motor by USB, that'd be awesome.
1) No, unfortunately I'm not familiar with soldering either.
2) The best speed I think is for the curtain to move up at 3 or 4 inches per second, so considering the gear sizes 1 rotation per second for the wheel connected to the string should do it.
3) If you mean software programming, I'm not that skilled, but my father is, so he can help me with that, that shouldn't be a problem.
A little change of plans: im not going to connect the motor to the string but directly to the curtain axis itself (where the rope usually goes to)The weight needed to pull it up is 2,2 kg, and the radius of the pulley where the rope is connected to is 2 cm.
So I need the USB Relay Controller with 6-Channel I/O and the GM17 228:1 Gear Motor.
Are there any other things I need to have or know?
An alternative to a relay board would be a USB motor controller. It will have built-in capability to run the motor both forwards and backwards, rather than using two different relays. Something like this perhaps:http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1372 (18V, 7A, assembled)This comes with screw terminals and pin headers, so you may not need to solder much at all.The USB connection will let you tell it to run forward or reverse, at various speeds, as desired.
Hi,Quote from: jwatte on December 04, 2012, 12:21:17 AMAn alternative to a relay board would be a USB motor controller. It will have built-in capability to run the motor both forwards and backwards, rather than using two different relays. Something like this perhaps:http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1372 (18V, 7A, assembled)This comes with screw terminals and pin headers, so you may not need to solder much at all.The USB connection will let you tell it to run forward or reverse, at various speeds, as desired.If the purpose is to automate the process, it won't work, as there's no way to feedback end limit info and if the purpose is using visual feedback with manual control, there's no need for a PC, as that could be done with a simple switch.
Quote from: Soeren on December 04, 2012, 03:59:42 PMHi,Quote from: jwatte on December 04, 2012, 12:21:17 AMAn alternative to a relay board would be a USB motor controller. It will have built-in capability to run the motor both forwards and backwards, rather than using two different relays. Something like this perhaps:http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1372 (18V, 7A, assembled)This comes with screw terminals and pin headers, so you may not need to solder much at all.The USB connection will let you tell it to run forward or reverse, at various speeds, as desired.If the purpose is to automate the process, it won't work, as there's no way to feedback end limit info and if the purpose is using visual feedback with manual control, there's no need for a PC, as that could be done with a simple switch.Looks like limit switches to me!http://www.pololu.com/picture/view/0J2910
• Forward limit switch: When the scaled value of the channel is above 1600 (50%), the limit switch will be considered active and the motor will not be allowed to move forward. If the target speed is positive, a “Limit/kill switch” error will occur.• Reverse limit switch: When the scaled value of the channel is above 1600 (50%), the limit switch will be considered active and the motor will not be allowed to move in reverse. If the target speed is negative, a “Limit/kill switch” error will occur.