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November 14, 2004

DC Motor Lab: A Solar-Sensitive Window Blind Operator

At first, all I could think to create with DC motors was wheel driven robots. However, after I spent a long time building an H-Bridge, the idea occurred to build a system to control the blinds in my room.

In my room, I want the window opened during the day to let the sunlight in, and closed at night for privacy. The idea is, when the sun shines on a photocell outside the window, the PIC tells a DC motor to open the blinds. When becomes is dark outside, the contraption closes the blinds.

I did not get to far with the implementation--I still have no idea how the mechanics of opening/closeing the blinds would work. However, I built a working H-bridge and hooked it up to a motor. The motor comes from what I think is an old tape deck. I had a button that would reverse the current (taking the place of the photocell) and make the motor change direction.

H-Bridge and Motor w/ Gears:

Posted by rus200 at November 14, 2004 08:21 PM