Open a drawer with stepper motor

Projects General Guidance
1

Looking for a easy/cheap way to open/close a drawer with a stepper motor. Already got the arduino working with the stepper motor. So looking for advice on how to attach the motor to the drawer and where to purchase said method. Ive had two thoughts so far:

  1. Use a rubber wheel of some kind. I think this could work as the drawer will not be very heavy, only containing a cup of dog food and some water. Just not sure where to find a wheel that would attach to the stepper motor (NEMA 17) that would have enough traction to move the drawer

  2. A rack and pinion setup, but again cant figure out a place to buy a track and gear that will attach to the NEMA 17 motor.

Any links to products that will work or different ideas to open and close the drawer with a nema 17 motor

2

Servocity.com has all the hardware you will need. But if something really special is required, McMaster-Carr has it in stock.

3

Most 3D printers use "timing" belts. These are flat rubber belts with straight teeth. The pulley on the motor has matching teeth. It should be easy to buy the pulley and belt from a printer place.

Get a second pulley (no teeth) for the other end so the belt goes around a complete loop and can both pull open and pull closed.

4

If you put a spring or counterweight that closes the drawer, a string wound around the stepper can be made to pull the drawer open until a sensor detects full open then turn the other way to let the spring or weight close it.

Cash register drawers have the spring open the drawer, have to be pushed shut but the mechanism does the open-up side of the job well.

Have you looked into drawer slides at a home-build-supply store?

Heck for some drawers you could put a rubber wheel on the stepper and friction-roll both ways if the stepper has the power. Just make sure to drive the middle of the drawer or both sides evenly to prevent binding.

5

Ok, servocity.com seems to have a bunch of stuff, need to look thru there and see if they have something that will work

6

I like the belt idea, but I would not use a stepper. Those stay powered all the time. A geared DC motor and 2 limit switches would be a simple solution. Simple on the mechanical setup and simple in the code.
The geared DC motor could even be a continuous rotation (CR) servo.

Edit: Something like this pulley for a servo

7

just use a BIG electro magnet and fire that drawer across the room. Your dog will LOVE it! Dog food EVERYWHERE!