Hi All,
I'm not sure if this is the right place but I'm looking to hire someone to design or make or talk me through a project I need.
The situation:
Home Cinema - electric drop down projector screen. This screen is to drop down through a top flap and down a left and right flap at the sides. These 3 flaps need to be automatically/electronically opened before the screen descends and then close when the screen ascends.
The idea:
I need a 'control box' that receives the 12v trigger signal from the projector, activates the 3 flaps which retract and then after x seconds, sends a 12v trigger to the screen to descend. The box needs to remember this state for later. Then on projector power off the projector sends another 12v trigger, but this time the box must reverse the commands and trigger the screen to ascend first, wait x seconds and then trigger the flaps to close.
I hope that makes sense.
I'm looking for someone to either design this, talk me through what I need, or ideally make and supply all the parts so I can almost plug and play. Obviously I will pay you for your time and parts etc. I am based in Manchester, UK.
I am relatively competent but this would be my first foray into arduino work.
If you think this isn't the right forum or arduino isnt the right mechanism then please say so.
Thanks in advance
Gaz
Interesting project.
But without knowing specifics it's hard to give suggestions on the design. As with many Arduino projects this is more about the hardware than the software: the motors or actuators that move the flaps, the motor that lowers and raises the screen, the sensor(s) that tell(s) you when the screen is fully up/down, the electronics that control those motors. The code is likely quite simple in comparison.
So the question is: what do you actually have? Does the screen have its own motor and controller already? How are those flaps - you have them built already? How big and heavy; how much movement; rotary or lateral or more complex movement?
Hi,
Sorry all I should have given more details/been clearer in the first post.
So the projector screen has an inbuilt motor and various ways of triggering it (ir/rf/5-12v trigger). This is standard for an electric projection screen. The standard setup is a cable (actually a stereo cable) is run between the projector and the projector screen. When the projector turns on it sends a trigger down this cable to the screen which descends. The length of descent is predetermined within the adjustment controls of the screen (it does not need to be controlled by us/in the project). The 12v trigger just tells it to drop or raise. Obviously when the projector is turned off it sends another 12v trigger and the screen retracts.
This system is in place. I don't need motors or sensors for the screen or anything to start the initial trigger.
I do however need to intercept this intial 12v trigger from the projector so that the flaps can open BEFORE the screen starts to descend. Once those flaps are open, the control box as I call it can then send on that trigger to the screen.
I'm not sure if I can embed a photo on here so here is a link to a picture which should shed some light onto what I'm talking about https://image.ibb.co/f7KVV9/IMG_20171009_144524_stripped.jpg
That is a false studded wall that has been brought out to allow a recess for a projector screen to drop down into from inside of the top space.
The 3 flaps are: 1. the inside top face of the recess where the screen will drop down through and 2/3 are the left and right inside faces which the sides of the screen will slide down through.
In terms of size and weight, the top face flap will be roughly 10cm wide x 265cm long. The side face flaps will be 10cm wide x 150cm long. The material is 10mm mdf so weight will be small. They will all open inwards into the false void and 'hinge' on the long edges obviously. I shouldn't imagine they will need to open more than 90 degrees.
Also one thing I forgot to mention is that there needs to be some sort of failsafe that if all 3 flaps don't open, the trigger to the screen doesn't send. The last thing I want is the screen descending into closed flaps and getting crumpled etc.
I hope I have clarified it a bit but please don't hesitate to ask for more info.
Lastly I'm not getting notifications/emails when someone replies or messages me on here despite the various boxes being ticked so I'll just keep checking in.
Thanks
