element14 Community
element14 Community
    Register Log In
  • Site
  • Search
  • Log In Register
  • About Us
  • Community Hub
    Community Hub
    • What's New on element14
    • Feedback and Support
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Personal Blogs
    • Members Area
    • Achievement Levels
  • Learn
    Learn
    • Ask an Expert
    • eBooks
    • element14 presents
    • Learning Center
    • Tech Spotlight
    • STEM Academy
    • Webinars, Training and Events
    • Learning Groups
  • Technologies
    Technologies
    • 3D Printing
    • FPGA
    • Industrial Automation
    • Internet of Things
    • Power & Energy
    • Sensors
    • Technology Groups
  • Challenges & Projects
    Challenges & Projects
    • Design Challenges
    • element14 presents Projects
    • Project14
    • Arduino Projects
    • Raspberry Pi Projects
    • Project Groups
  • Products
    Products
    • Arduino
    • Avnet Boards Community
    • Dev Tools
    • Manufacturers
    • Multicomp Pro
    • Product Groups
    • Raspberry Pi
    • RoadTests & Reviews
  • Store
    Store
    • Visit Your Store
    • Choose another store...
      • Europe
      •  Austria (German)
      •  Belgium (Dutch, French)
      •  Bulgaria (Bulgarian)
      •  Czech Republic (Czech)
      •  Denmark (Danish)
      •  Estonia (Estonian)
      •  Finland (Finnish)
      •  France (French)
      •  Germany (German)
      •  Hungary (Hungarian)
      •  Ireland
      •  Israel
      •  Italy (Italian)
      •  Latvia (Latvian)
      •  
      •  Lithuania (Lithuanian)
      •  Netherlands (Dutch)
      •  Norway (Norwegian)
      •  Poland (Polish)
      •  Portugal (Portuguese)
      •  Romania (Romanian)
      •  Russia (Russian)
      •  Slovakia (Slovak)
      •  Slovenia (Slovenian)
      •  Spain (Spanish)
      •  Sweden (Swedish)
      •  Switzerland(German, French)
      •  Turkey (Turkish)
      •  United Kingdom
      • Asia Pacific
      •  Australia
      •  China
      •  Hong Kong
      •  India
      •  Korea (Korean)
      •  Malaysia
      •  New Zealand
      •  Philippines
      •  Singapore
      •  Taiwan
      •  Thailand (Thai)
      • Americas
      •  Brazil (Portuguese)
      •  Canada
      •  Mexico (Spanish)
      •  United States
      Can't find the country/region you're looking for? Visit our export site or find a local distributor.
  • Translate
  • Profile
  • Settings
Motors and Drives
  • Technologies
  • More
Motors and Drives
Forum choosing a motor and parts.
  • Blog
  • Forum
  • Documents
  • Events
  • Polls
  • Files
  • Members
  • Mentions
  • Sub-Groups
  • Tags
  • More
  • Cancel
  • New
Join Motors and Drives to participate - click to join for free!
Actions
  • Share
  • More
  • Cancel
Forum Thread Details
  • State Suggested Answer
  • Replies 3 replies
  • Answers 2 answers
  • Subscribers 74 subscribers
  • Views 1046 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Related

choosing a motor and parts.

gio_dude
gio_dude over 8 years ago

Sorry about the simple questions in advance but I'm very new to motors.

 

So I wanted to make a retractable window curtain the goes up and down and coils on to its self. So what I was thinking was bluetooth or wifi feather from adafruit with their motor driver wing (https://www.adafruit.com/product/2927 ). A  motor on a rod with the curtain hanging from it.  

 

So if I'm missing something that will make this project completely fail in my face please tell me.

 

here are my questions

 

what type of motor should choose?

I've been reading a lot about stepper motor and they look promising since I can have more precision.

 

What type of torque do i need to be looking at.

I read the post about torque and need to read it a few more times to understand it all but it doesn't sound like I need a lot of torque.

 

Motor to rod connection.

I don't know terms very well and looking at 3d printers they use a coupler to attach the motor to a rod. is there a different way i should research or a better way of doing it.

 

Dual motor

I was thinking about using a motor on each side one wired in reverse is that a good idea.

 

thanks in advance

  • Sign in to reply
  • Cancel

Top Replies

  • jw0752
    jw0752 over 8 years ago +3 suggested
    Hi Giovanni, It seems that your application will need a higher torque lower speed motor if you are going to directly couple the rod to the motor shaft. Since these type motors are geared down and when…
  • 14rhb
    14rhb over 8 years ago +2 suggested
    Your ideas make good sense to me. I think what you describe is what I call a 'roller blind'. I've got a manually operated one at home. At times it can be quite hard to lift via the pull cord. You could…
  • gio_dude
    gio_dude over 8 years ago in reply to 14rhb +1
    Thank you for the reply. I will look into how toothed belt and pulleys work, but do they take up a lot of space. Thank you for your advice on the dual motors that make more sense now. Could you explain…
Parents
  • jw0752
    0 jw0752 over 8 years ago

    Hi Giovanni,

     

    It seems that your application will need a higher torque lower speed motor if you are going to directly couple the rod to the motor shaft. Since these type motors are geared down and when not powered they do not turn freely you would not be able to use one to turn the rod up and another to turn the rod down. Better to design the circuit to turn the motor either way depending on how you want to move the shade. 14rhb  's suggestion of a stepper is a good one as you can precisely control the movement in either direction as well as having reasonable torque. You can make an estimate of the torque that you will need by measuring the mass of the shade material in kilograms and multiply this number by the acceleration of gravityat the surface of the Earth of 9.8 meters per second ^2. This will give you the Newtons of force that the shade will exert on a given lever. The lever in this case will be the radius of the rod that you plan to use. Let's say that your shade has 1 Kg of mass. 1Kg X 9.8m/sec^2 = 9.8 Newtons of force. Also lets assume that you are using a Rod with a diameter of 3 cm. This means that the radius of the rod is 1.5 cm. Now we have to multiply this distance (1.5 cm) by the force of 9.8 Newtons to get the approximate minimum torque needed for the motor to raise the shade. In this case 1.5 cm x 9.8 Newtons gives us a torque of 14.7 Newton centimeters. For practical purposes it would be a good idea to get a motor that can produce perhaps half again the minimal torque required.

     

    John

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up +3 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Verify Answer
    • Reject Answer
    • Cancel
Reply
  • jw0752
    0 jw0752 over 8 years ago

    Hi Giovanni,

     

    It seems that your application will need a higher torque lower speed motor if you are going to directly couple the rod to the motor shaft. Since these type motors are geared down and when not powered they do not turn freely you would not be able to use one to turn the rod up and another to turn the rod down. Better to design the circuit to turn the motor either way depending on how you want to move the shade. 14rhb  's suggestion of a stepper is a good one as you can precisely control the movement in either direction as well as having reasonable torque. You can make an estimate of the torque that you will need by measuring the mass of the shade material in kilograms and multiply this number by the acceleration of gravityat the surface of the Earth of 9.8 meters per second ^2. This will give you the Newtons of force that the shade will exert on a given lever. The lever in this case will be the radius of the rod that you plan to use. Let's say that your shade has 1 Kg of mass. 1Kg X 9.8m/sec^2 = 9.8 Newtons of force. Also lets assume that you are using a Rod with a diameter of 3 cm. This means that the radius of the rod is 1.5 cm. Now we have to multiply this distance (1.5 cm) by the force of 9.8 Newtons to get the approximate minimum torque needed for the motor to raise the shade. In this case 1.5 cm x 9.8 Newtons gives us a torque of 14.7 Newton centimeters. For practical purposes it would be a good idea to get a motor that can produce perhaps half again the minimal torque required.

     

    John

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up +3 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Verify Answer
    • Reject Answer
    • Cancel
Children
No Data
element14 Community

element14 is the first online community specifically for engineers. Connect with your peers and get expert answers to your questions.

  • Members
  • Learn
  • Technologies
  • Challenges & Projects
  • Products
  • Store
  • About Us
  • Feedback & Support
  • FAQs
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal and Copyright Notices
  • Sitemap
  • Cookies

An Avnet Company © 2025 Premier Farnell Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Premier Farnell Ltd, registered in England and Wales (no 00876412), registered office: Farnell House, Forge Lane, Leeds LS12 2NE.

ICP 备案号 10220084.

Follow element14

  • X
  • Facebook
  • linkedin
  • YouTube