John,
wow that thread was a handy thread to have lying around, this project is for a machine similar to a sybian, though the function is slightly different than what that girl wanted from it, i just want to be able to program the missus machine so when i'm away from home working we can play without her having control on the speed function (she prefers having no control on it..obviously when i'm home that's not a problem!).
I assumed it would be a relatively straight forward thing to switch over from manual control to automated, but having read all that it seems i have a heck of a lot more reading to do! thanks for the pointers...I wonder if the OP on that thread ever got the idea working.
DVDdoug,
Currently the motor speed is controlled from like a 'dimmer switch' which is in a handset. the handset wires back to the machine
so at the very bottom of its rotation, the machine is off. rotate it a lil bit it comes on at speed 1, a little bit more speed 2 etc. What i'm hoping to be able to do is be able to automate the speed change to some degree, that is to say, have a program written out dictating speed change after x mintues to speed y etc, then to speed z after x more minutes etc etc. once the program is started it would switch on the machine and adjust speeds accordingly. I'd want to be able to change the program from time to time altering the timing and what speed setting to switch to etc, to keep things interesting, i'm hoping the arduino will work for hosting the program and sending the commands to the motor to change speeds.
edit -
DVDdoug i just re-read your post, i thnik i missed the subtle brilliance of what you said first read through. Are you suggesting using a secondary motor controlled by (possibly an arduino) to move the existing manual control? essentially leaving the original machine and its control as it is, and using a secondary device to move the control... I like that, that sounds totally straight forward and not something mentioned on the ealirer query similar to this that john referenced. It also seems the easiest way to revert back to manual control (i.e. just remove the secondary device) for when i'm home or when she does want manual control