I have a Dodge ram crew cab. My driver’s back door has been changed to a suicide door. It has an actuator that controls it opening reason being I’m in a wheelchair and there’s a lift in there that comes out and picks up my chair the control that’s in it right now. I’m not able to get working Often so I need to change the control right now. It’s just remote. I would like to put a couple of switches in for back up because sometimes my remote gets interference and it doesn’t work. I’m quite new to this kind of stuff the actuator had to replace cause it’s burnt out before I understand that part the remote control is all under my hood, so I can’t really access it. I just need a system. It’s gonna work every time and if the as I said, the remote fails, I can use a manual switch. I can mount somewhere or a couple of manual switches. I can put somewhere the actuator does not have any exterior limit switches on it. I may want to add some just so I can control that the door doesn’t open too far and crack where the hinges are or close with too much pressure and damage the door.
Please pass any ideas you have that would help me out here. I understand I would need a.H bridge for the actuator it’s 12 V and then I don’t know what a Uno would be enough or if there’s a better circuit board to serve my purpose I would also probably put in a door switch so that the front door had to be open in order for the actuator to be able to work.
Thanks in advance for any input you might have to point me the right way,
This is a fairly specialised request, but well do-able.
I hope someone here picks up your requirements and offers a hand, as I can see many opportunities for this to create a simpler, better and all around great product option.
Must be commercial modification. Are you the original owner and if so, did you get a schematic drawing of the modification? Does that company still support maintenance on the modification?
There isn't enough detail to understand how your system works from an electrical perspective. You will have to dig and try to find that out.
Given as an idea, the below image assumes that the solenoid (actuator) is directly controlled by the receiver using relays on the receiver. In that case you can simply place buttons / relays / switches in parallel with the relay contacts.
as far as I know, the system is very simple. I can’t get into the box under the hood. I contacted the The Mobility company that put it in and they said they’d have to put a new system in. I’m just looking for cheaper alternative I’m I can’t afford their costs for everything unfortunately being injured or with the disability cost a lot of money to get what you need for Mobility. That’s why I was trying to make a whole new system that I know was gonna work. I’ll have to get friends to help me hook things up. I don’t have the ability to get to a lot of the area. I just have an essential actuator opening closing. The door doesn’t have any limits on it so it can bust the door where it can break the c column where it is mounted Arduino like a really good choice.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?.. what Board, shield ? i need to add to my original circuit
Here is what I need to do
order of events...
OPENING
1.Turn a Servo motor upto 270Deg ...hold it there
2.Extend an Actuator....by remote or/and by momentary switches ( i want both I have had the remote not work when i am at certain buildings)
CLOSING
1.Retract Actuator... by remote or/and by momentary switches
once actuator has stopped , Turn actuator back to 0 position.
I would like to add limit switches one day to this project ..so hardware that has room for that.
You need to make sure that connections between anything don't come loose due to vibrations. This basically will exclude all boards with headers like Uno. A dedicated PCB is your best option; if needed something like a SparkFun Pro Mini, Arduino Nano or similar in a socket on that PCB.
You need a driver for the actuator; maybe a relay, maybe a H-bridge. You will need to know the specs of the actuator (current consumption, voltage) to decide on the suitable driver.
The servo control signal can be connected directly to the processor (together with ground).
Thank you for your input. I never thought about the vibration in a vehicle. Hopefully somebody else has some ideas about how I can add a remote and also use momentary switches for the actuator. The servo side of the circuit is just for latching and unlatching the door.
