Hello,
I have a design project for school in which we've decided electronic linear actuation is necessary. I understand many communities don't care to spoonfeed, but I have some basic questions that I'm having a difficult time finding answers to. Perhaps it's worth mentioning that this isn't my field of study.
The primary challenge of the mechanism is that when it moves, it needs to read an input and simultaneously vary the actuator speed linearly with respect to that input. In particular, we have a shaft rotating that we'd like to move in a particular helical motion. So reading the rate of rotation and reacting accordingly is the plan.
What I'd like to do is read the shaft speed directly with a hall effect sensor, then use that to computer the actuator speed and signal it. This is where things get fuzzy. I'll need to be somewhat sure of the actuator speed I'm asking of. So how do I ensure that I'll get reasonably close to a certain rate of inches per minute? I don't think varying a voltage input will give me very precise results.
Secondly, what should the setup look like from the arduino to the actuator? Is there any particular actuator that would be easier to do this with? Cost isn't the biggest factor here, so something that is a little more expensive but returns quality may be useful. The actuator will need a stroke of 10-12 inches and would ideally be precise to at least within a 0.100" (If that's not demanding)
I was hoping to be able to control the actuator directly with the arduino. Would this require the actuator to have a separate power supply?
Any help or guidance in the proper direction is appreciated. Thanks.