I do not have experience with arduino.
I am looking to make a light lift.. I have light fixtures. I want it to maintain a distance away from the plant canopy. would need to support up to 25lbs. Was thinking some kind of stepper motor with a sonar sensor all hooked to a photocell so it only operates when the lights are on.
Anyone have any ideas? having wireless connectivity...bluetooth or wifi would be helpful as the lights are high up and wouldn't want to pull out the ladder every time i wanted to adjust the settings.. on each light. perhaps a single controller to control all the light units?
Also. It would need to have at least two points of connection to light and ceiling mounted bracket.
Maybe some type of self leveling if a multidrive lift system was being used. But its not required.
Hi AZ,
How are you with the gears, chains, etc?
Also BLE control from a phone or standalone tablet would be feasible.
Pat
Why does it only operate when the lights are on? Come to think of it - it doesn't matter.
How fast does this canopy change height? Are we just talking about plants growing?
How dense is the canopy? Is the sonar likely to mis the plant leaves, give false readings?
Another option is IR - just a spare TV remote. Controls would be up/down. The sketch would just attempt to preserve the distance it reads when you finish moving it.
Wi-Fi is probably easiest. Just a web server running at some IP address on your home network. Nothing fancy.
You wouldn't need a stepper if you have a sonar distance thing. But you do need some way to lock the thing at the correct height. A regular DC motor geared right down (worm-and-gear) with an H-bridge would work.