So I'm trying to build a large automatic window shade (8ft by 16ft). The shade will most likely just be a plastic tarp of some sort. And the roller will be w/e metal bar I can find at Home Depot.
The datasheet shows Vcc & Vs pins. Vcc = 5V from arduino board & Vs = 9-18V from power supply?
Will I need any resistors, diodes, or capacitors? Or does the NTE7064 take cake of most of that?
The max arduino can take is 12V. The NTE7064 avg current is 1A.
a) Will that be enough to roll a 8'x16' plastic tarp up & down? Or should I bypass the arduino board & power the NTE7064 directly w/ 18V?
b) Can my breadboard & 22 AWG wires from the Arduino kit handle an avg 1A of current?
c) Assuming 12V & 1A avg will be enough, does that mean I need a 12v 1A power supply?
Okay.. here we go. I'll take a look at the datasheet, but I suspect it's a standard bridge.
Your arduino uses 5v internally, and 5v only. Basically, the arduino is going to provide signals to the bridge, which then switches the power off and on (and in the proper polarity to reverse the motor) to the motor. This means the motor will be operating on it's own power supply. This isolates the Arduino from all the motor voltages and currents, and makes implementing the design fairly easy.
As for the motor, those go FAST. You are going to need some type of gearing or something, which will then determine how fast you open/close. With the proper mechanical advantage, an ant can move a mountain. The breadboard can probably take the power, as well as the wires. I regularly dump 5A down 24ga, but I don't recommend it to others!
The power supply really ought to be able to supply roughly 1.25x what you are going to draw, or more. This gives overhead for heavy loading, and will be easier on the components all the way around. I'd recommend just using 12v, as the voltage regulator on the arduino can handle this voltage without complaining too loudly, and allows you to use a single power supply for the completed project.
Thanks for the reply. That definitely eases my mind about my gameplan. I hadn't really thought about the gears much. Are gears difficult to find? Will the motor come with a standard size gear I can attach a larger gear to? I guess I'll find out some of that sooner than later.
Just to update. Here is the project in action (but not exactly complete yet). After seeing the radioshack motor in person, it wasn't going to handle near the load I needed it to. I purchased the largest motor I could find on Pololu that could take the most torque. I also bought a new motor carrier that could support the 5A max stall from the new motor. First time soldering - definitely an art. Working great. Arduino isn't as scary as it looks =P
