This week, we made a DIY actuator and mechanisms. For controlling the actuator, we have built the circuit according to the following schematic.
Building your own DIY actuator is really a fun and rewarding project!
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Professor Marcela provided 3D printed parts and brilliant guidelines - inserting the wires into the holes to stabilize the two 3D printed parts and using a sewing machine to wrap the wires around is definitely a creative solution. It's amazing how 3D printing technology and traditional sewing techniques can work together to create innovative solutions.
Then it’s easy to change the direction of the movement by using the basic code:
int pin1 = 6;
int pin2 = 9;
int d = 500;
void setup() {
// put your setup code here, to run once:
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(pin1, OUTPUT);
pinMode(pin2, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
// put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
digitalWrite(pin1, HIGH);
digitalWrite(pin2, LOW);
delay(d);
digitalWrite(pin1, LOW);
digitalWrite(pin2, HIGH);
delay(d);
}
Connect the wires to a power supply (5V or lower), making sure to observe proper polarity. The actuator should begin to turn whenever the current flow changes direction. It's important to note that this DIY actuator may not be powerful enough to pull very heavy items. Additionally, the wires may heat up when the current is relatively high (above 5V), so be careful not to hold the actuator by the wires when using it.
THE RESEARCH: MECHANISMS
Since I want to continue the idea in project1 to create a dynamic texture using the liquid flowing inside the tube, and the pump fits very well with this concept, I will refer more to the principle of inflatable in the previous week.
References I found:
Textiles-Soft
Further exploration can be seen in the PROJECT 2: KINETIC PROTOTYPE documentation.