Motorizing a spinning TV cabinet

Projects General Guidance
1

Hello all, I'm looking for some advice on a build I'm working on. The word advice is doing a lot of heavy lifting here - I'm a complete newbie.

I'm looking to build a spinning TV cabinet, something like this:
Imgur

I was thinking of using a heavy duty lazy susan bearing (I know, I know, another motorized lazy susan). Something around 8 to 12" that can take 500-1000lb. I expect the TV plus cabinet to be no more than 200lb. I'll also have a top spindle to help with radial loads/wobble. This part I can handle.

For the cool factor, I'd like to motorize it. This part I can't handle. I need it to move 180 degrees in one direction, and 180 degrees back. So I figure I need high torque/low power - it can take 10 seconds or whatever to do the 180. I don't want it moving fast. Ideally I push a button to cycle between the two positions or use a rocker switch. But I'll settle for two "hold to turn" buttons. The motor would be mounted just below the cabinet.

This is a commercial product similar to what I was thinking of DIYing myself:

That said, I'm not sure about the motor side of things - mechanically or arduino-wise. Can I use a worm gear motor (12v 4rpm?) Or how do I size that for something where one dimension is much longer than the other? How do I connect gears to the shaft? What sizes do I need? etc... I've done a ton of googling for this but I don't know the right lingo to use or have the experience to know how to scale the requirements for my spec. Most of the examples are for low weight photography and others that can hold human weight don't hand-hold me enough to understand or use custom 3d printed stuff.

On the Arduino side I guess I would mainly need to know how to connect it up, which I can probably figure out once I know what I'm dealing with. I only played with a tiny motor that ran fine with the 5v. Is an always-on Arduino even the right tool for the job if the rotation will only be happening like a handful of times a week? If all the ratios are right and I don't need the Arduino to modulate speed maybe this thing just gets hardwired to buttons somehow?

Any advice hugely appreciated.

2

Motor & gearing will be easier to address

3

First thought was a motor vehicle window winder motor/gearbox.
Low voltage so safe for fiddlers.....only need to add power supply, stop start/reverse and limit switches.
Or you could use a uC and sensors but a bit of an overkill.

Latter may be required if you need to include sensors to stop knocking Granny over. :grinning:

4

You may want to consider, as a side note, even today's energy efficient TV does output heat and if you place it in a box as pictured the heat has nowhere to go. This is why an enclosure for electronics generally has a fan or two and adequate ventilation.

Ron

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Would the car window motor have enough juice to spin 200lb? Would it connect directly or some kind of gear in between? How can I regulate the speed, and how would I power the thing? I guess I would need some specifics to know where to start. Limit switches sound useful for stopping at my 180s. Not sure how I'd wire this in though.

re: heat - the box will be larger than the TV and won't be enclosed around the TV (no front plate, TV will just be mounted in there). I'll also include some vents.

6

Are you going to also spin the AC power and the cable connection and the other cables?

7

You are not lifting it, you are rotating it. Properly borne, I think you might not need too much motor power at all.

a7

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re cables, I intend to have a hole at the bottom middle where I'll route the wires down into a cavity. This is why I will have it rotate only 180 degrees and back.

Motor-wise, I still don't really know what power/torque I'll need to overcome the weight/friction nor how to hook it up mechanically or electrically.

9

But, that is where your center bearing will go.

11

Hello trarc

Check the suitability of a servo for your project.

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