Hi guys I’ve watched the build video for the V-Slot belt driven linear actuator (link at bottom of this post). I think the principle is perfect for my application, which is to automate a sliding door, but I have some questions whether it is strong enough and wondering if there are additional components that could be used to modify to suit better. Any help much appreciated: 1. My sliding door is mounted on an independent track which takes the whole weight of approx 100Kg so I can move it with my little finger once it’s moving, but it does need a little more force to get it started. I’m wondering if the belt and/or motor in the video would be strong enough or if there is a larger version. 2. I want the door to move real slow. Say 3cm per second. Is there a gearbox that can be used with the motor to reduce speed? 3. I need to make sure that if the door jams against something (eg the cat!) and when it reaches the end stops that the motor switches off based on a torque switch. Is a component available to do this? Perhaps limit switches are better for the end stops? 4. I need the track to be 14m long. Can sections be joined together? And would this length give problems with belt stretch? Help on these questions much appreciated.
I think you would need a much larger belt to be able to manipulate a heavy door like that over 14 meters.
Hi All, sorry to jump in to this, but I’m facing a similar problem with potential high weight and resistance. I’m in the starting phases of a project where I need to move approximately 5kg of weight over 300mm with speeds upwards of 600mm/s I intend to drive this with the ODrive, which is basically a powerful hobby motor with an encoder on it, I figure this should give me the power and speed needed. However, I have concerns that the belt would slip due to weight and resistance. Should I be looking at leadscrews (according to my calculations there would be too much whip in them at these speeds and distances)?
You might look into belts and pulleys with heavier profiles to keep them from slipping. Going wider may also be helpful.
Yeah, I have used wider belts for other builds but never this long belts. Any ideas where to get them? (Europe)
Sorry I'm in the US so I'm not familiar with what Europe has to offer. If I were looking internationally though I would probably just go with Powge.
300mm (if that's what you meant) is not long for a leadscrew, but acceleration may be a a problem. Alex.
When you look at the RPM required to achieve 600mm/s lead screws are a non-starter. It's even questionable if it can be achieved with pulleys based on the load requirement.
Hi! Did you look into the ODrive? I think it should be capable of those RPMs, but this is based purely based on my rough understanding and assumption that I will find a good BLDC motor that will do the job. Any other types of linear motion mechanisms I should consider? I’ve looked at “real” actuators, but haven’t found any that fits this area (either too weak or too slow)