I am really excited about where our hobby is headed. So many new things coming out and so many possibilities!
I am fairly new to this and last year was the first year for animated lighting. But I have never wanted a display with tens of thousands of lights. What I want is a display that is uniquely mine. I want a display that is made of elements that you can’t just run out to target and buy. Animation is the direction I have wanted to go in, so the new control board is exactly what I have been looking for.
I can handle the fabrication items. I can do the welding, wiring, software, design,…just about all of it. What I don’t know I can generally find online and learn fairly easily.
All but a couple of things. I don’t fully understand powering the actual movement. I need to learn a lot more about using servos, wiper motors and other small motors. I can deal with 440v 3ph 40 hp blower motors. I have even assembled vacuum systems that stacked a dozen 12†impellers on 30 hp motors. But I am totally lost with small frame motors and servos.
No matter where I look I can’t find information on choosing the right servo. How do I know how much torque it will take to move an object? How do I know which serve will supply the correct amount? I don’t want to spend a ton of time building something just to find that it burns out servos because the servos are too small. But at the same time I don’t want to run the cost of a display element through the roof by installing oversize servos.
I understand how to use PWM for controlling the speed of a wiper motor. But how do I control exactly where it stops at? I know this can’t be that hard to do because every car on the road built in the last 50 years does it, I I’ll be damned if I can figure out how to do it!
Pneumatics are no problem for me, but I really don’t want to use them. They can be noisy and I don’t want my display tied to a big compressor.
So I am here asking for help.
I need guidance as to where I can find information on sizing servos for different designs. I go to the ServoCity website and find that it is more than a little overwhelming!
I can see how people are using wiper motors to supply movement. I really like the idea since wiper motors are tough, powerful, waterproof and cheap. But I need some way to control exactly where the motor stops. For example, I would like to build an animated snowman that dances. I just want to make his hips move back and forth. A wiper motor would be perfect for this. But when the motor comes to a stop I want the hips centered. Frosty would look a little weird standing there with his hips thrust off to one side.
So, anyone have any suggestions as to where I can find some info on these topics?