Arduino controlled wooden box lid

I have never done a project with arduino before, so as my first I would like to have a wooden box, around the size of a jewlery box, open it's lid using servos and arduino to control it.

I guess what I'm asking is about the servo, what type would I need to lift a wooden lid on the box? Ballpark is ok, I have been browsing the internet and havent a clue how torque relates to how much weight it can lift.

Any help or even a point in the right direction would be appreciated.

I guess what I'm asking is about the servo, what type would I need to lift a wooden lid on the box? Ballpark is ok, I have been browsing the internet and havent a clue how torque relates to how much weight it can lift.

Well, without knowing anything about the box lid or its size/weight, best ball park is a servo that isn't too big, or too small, but is just about the right size for the job.

In Holland (Well, I think it's Holland) there is a canal with boats traveling along it. At one point, the canal has to go up like, 40 feet. A machine actually lifts a water filled section of canal around on the outside of a giant wheel up the 40 feet to the top, where the boats in the section of canal can then continue on their journey.

How much energy does it use? Almost none. Because there isn't just one water filled section of canal, there are two. And they weigh exactly the same when filled with water. When ones goes up, the other goes down.

The lid of your box is the same. No servo will lift the lid on it's own. It's too heavy. You would need a pretty beefy motor and a gear train. But! It the lid weighed nothing, because it had a counterweight holding it up, then any servo could move it easily.

Solve that one first, and the servo is easy.

I think a servo could be found here
http://www.hobby-lobby.com/servos_241_ctg.htm
to allow brute force opening of the lid, whether well balanced or not.

Hmm, I didn't consider that it wouldn't be easy to open a box with a normal servo. Maybe I will change the project to only unlock the box from the inside, instead of opening the lid completely, just allow it to be opened.

Yes, just slide a pin back & forth, that would be easy.

At the same time, have you seen the Worlds Most Useless machine?
That runs on just a simple servo.
How big is the lid you are trying to move?

http://www.solarbotics.com/products/60005/

I havent made/bought the box yet, i'd say the size of a decent sized jewlery box, basically big enough so I can hide the electronics in a compartment on the bottom and still have room for stuff inside.

In Holland (Well, I think it's Holland)

Or even Scotland.

Pretty clever way to move a large vertical distance.

And a rather lovely machine too.

AWOL,

Yeah! That's the one! Scotland. Not Holland.

My point was it's all about the balance. A decent Jewelry Box has a pretty good sized lid, and it's all totally dead weight that you have to lift from the point of lowest mechanical advantage if you want to hide the lift mechanism at all.

Well, one could make it spring loaded to open, then manually push close with the pin to slide in to secure it.

If the box is stationary and won't be taken to places but rather sits on a table, you can use fishing strings and mount the motor outside somewhere else.