New to this - looking for a motor that rotates 180 degrees

[kanoute696]

Hi All, I'm new to this so apologies.
Im looking for a motor that rotates 180 degrees - I am looking to build a simple automatic light timber gate and would like to make the controls myself.

Would anybody be able to give me some advice?.

Thank you

 

[theo92]

There's no apology for being newbie, so don't worry.
Except servo motor, all other motors will rotate 180 degrees happily. You could use a simple dc motor, they are the easiest to control/manipulate. I could be specific a bit if you explain your "automatic light timber gate" a little.

 

[picbits]

You can either use a servo motor or stepper motor.

You can also use the steering servo from a remote control (toy) car.

If your electronics knowledge is low then you'll have trouble controlling any of the above.

 

[kanoute696]

HI, yes my electronic knowlegde is low but Im going to learn.
I would like to control a gate like https://www.eglantinetimber.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=120
so the motor will have to be a substantial size - but the gate will be made with light timber.
I would like it to open in and out so 180 degrees.
Id like to built this piece by piece - maybe Im dreaming!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

You can buy gate openers, I would suggest you do so - electric ones are fairly cheap, and do exactly what you want - why try and reinvent the wheel?.

If you really wanted to you could build the electronics to control it, but it hardly seems worth the effort it would take, which would include micro-controller programming.

 

[kanoute696]

to get a really decent one would be €700 - 1000
I thought I would learn and save at the same time. How big of a project is it?.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

to get a really decent one would be €700 - 1000

Not as much as that - have a look here:



First site I looked at from google!.

I thought I would learn and save at the same time. How big of a project is it?.

Presumably you want similar specs to a commercial system?, wireless etc. - so you need to learn micro-controller programming for a start.

 

[kanoute696]

I see your point completely but isnt there only one way to learn?. or am I really mad going down this route?.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I see your point completely but isnt there only one way to learn?. or am I really mad going down this route?.

It really depends if you want to learn electronics, or if you want a gate opener

But trying to make the actuator seems a complicated mechanical feat as well. But if you want to try it, it's essentially a low geared electric motor driving a long screw thread that pushes a rod in and out. Commercial ones use the electronics in the controller (more complications) to detect over current when the gate hits the end stops.

 

[kanoute696]

I would like to do both - as I could really use these skills.

by actuator , you mean the motor and the gearing etc? -
I was going to look at it a different way - instead of using a rod to push the gate in and out. I was going to set the motor and gearing into the ground and have the butt of the gate sitting on it - so the final gear so to speak would turn the gate? (so no arm mechanism)

What do you think?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I would like to do both - as I could really use these skills.

by actuator , you mean the motor and the gearing etc? -
I was going to look at it a different way - instead of using a rod to push the gate in and out. I was going to set the motor and gearing into the ground and have the butt of the gate sitting on it - so the final gear so to speak would turn the gate? (so no arm mechanism)

What do you think?

I think there's VERY, VERY good reasons why it's not done in that way

Not the least of which is the difficulty of installation.

 

[kanoute696]

I understand the difficulty of the install but ... the other reason!?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I understand the difficulty of the install but ... the other reason!?

The massive amount of extra gearing, and associated losses in it - they are really no plus points in doing it that way.

 

[kanoute696]

ok Thanks Nigel. ok,looking at it from a different angle.
What about a sliding gate?. I can do the tracks etc pretty easily.
Would it be difficult to setup the motor\gears\cogs etc this way?. This would be my over preferred choice.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

ok Thanks Nigel. ok,looking at it from a different angle.
What about a sliding gate?. I can do the tracks etc pretty easily.
Would it be difficult to setup the motor\gears\cogs etc this way?. This would be my over preferred choice.

Try it and see - bear in mind it's outside in all weathers, and it's needs to be exceptionally reliable.

 

[kanoute696]

ok, Im going to setup a new thread with the correct heading. Thanks for your input Nigel.