a Project...

AM a ND student, and am planning to do an Electronic garage door for my project...
i have looked at quite a fair bit of sites for prices and all that... i m not exactly deep into the engineering altho that is what i m doing at the moment...


to the topic, i m planning on doing it, havn't started anything yet, just in the initial stage of research...
i m wondering whether to buy the motor, then modify it a lil' bit, or try and build my own, which i don't think is a very good idea...
and there is things for control, the sensors and the whole lot...


the catch, i m running a bit late on the whole thing, if any one has any links which u might think, might help, plz spend a few seconds postin em here... !
will be appreciated...

It would help a little if you gave us a little more background on the actual details of your project. I'm not really clear on what your asking. Why are you planning on modifying a motor you just bought?

and there is things for control, the sensors and the whole lot...

Click to expand...

Do you have questions on what type of sensors to use here?

You can start by looking at this post here.. Then add the missing features. http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?postid=69095#post69095

The code is for an AD PLC. You can use an DL-05, about $100.00 US. A Micro controller such as a PIC or Basic Stamp could also do the job well.

If you need to build a small model of a working garage door you can look here for some small gears and motors etc.. http://www.pololu.com/products/gearbox.html

Good luck with it. Mike

the project is for "national diploma in electronic/electical engineering". we had to choose a topic and i chose "electric garage door"

i have to make circuit diagrams, and bla bla for it...
i havn't bought a motor yet... i have to buy one, i have looked up and found quite a fair bit about motors for such a purpose, am not entirely sure if i will have ot modify it or not yet, unless i find a perfectly suitable one...
i know i will be using controllers to control the flow of the garage door, and sensors to ingage and disengage the closing/opening of the door, i.e. infrared. and was also thinkin over the idea of making it stop if it senses that there is someone/something whilst closing and goes back up.
all just an idea, need to know more so i can turn them to reality...

Do you have to build a REAL grage door or just a model. BIG difference in the motor and other materials you'll need? If you want some direction youll need to provide some more info on your requirements.

Mike.

yes a real life garage door..
probably a motor able to lift/shift the door weighin 50-75 kgs.
i don't mind if it is at just one slow speed or multispeed.
if there is something underneath it when it shuts, it should stop.. "electric eyes" in other words... remote controlled operation... don't know what motor power is needed or what power of motor can move what weight...
u have to take in mind that i am a rookie, just doing my second year in ND, so i would not know a lot, but am tryin the best as i can to try and learn and grab from it...
the first link u gave didn't make sense to me, the second one was quite relavant.. thx for em btw.. it would be good for a working model...
i think i will also make a model, just in case i don't finish the my project in time, will something to present... but then again, i shouldn't have my mind set negetively...
also, will i have to get an entire new door or just a use a motor to set it up in such a way that the current one will be ok.. i shall post some pics/sketches of my planns later..

Ok so what's your budget fot this project??

well my dad is paying me about £100 for it, and i can afford to spend about £100 (GB pounds, something about $120-$160 i think, not sure)more.. but want to make it cost affective as we can get ready made garage doors at starting price of £120...
that is one of the objectives of this project, to make it cost affective...
also, the deadline for this project is end of feb 2005 but i have loads of other assignments to deal with and will be more, so want to get this one over and done with the building and everything by end jan2005

Ok so 1 USD = .53 GBP..

120 GBP = 222.53 USD ??

The remotes easy: Click on this link: http://www.imdoors.com/tableremotes.htm

Look up this part no. on that page: GIC390-1

For the control end of things for fun and exiperance you could go with a PLC, but that throws you out of budget.. You'll also need a long range electric eye. Thu beam would be best.

Anyway the PLC & encoder below will allow you to use the encoder to set up limits, (open and closed). It will also tell you if the door is stalled by lack of counting feedback. If no count then reverse the door...

Not knowing about the weight of the door and counterweighting etc.. I can only guess that you want someting like a 1/6 hp gear-motor. The door should go no more then lets say .75 ft per second, and operate with no more then 20 lbs of force before stalling.

A through beam electric eye would be mounted about 3" or 4" above the floor to stop the door if there is an obstruction.

Disclamer: All this is a guess, and I'm no garage door expert so google for the proper code on force, speed, and placement of the eye etc..

Here's a quote for AutomationDirect on the PLC and encoder etc.. I would use..

good luck with it,, Mike.

BTW try searcing ebay for cheap used PLCs and software etc..

Forget about trying to build one for less than you can buy one. Think about how much a new car would cost if you tried to buy it one piece at a time from your local automotive parts store. The economics of manufacturing a garage door opener is no different than the economics of manufacturing an automobile.

Your first design task should be to pick the proper size motor and mechanical drivetrain. Apply a little basic physics to the task. How much force is it going to take to raise the door? How fast should it raise? How much energy is that? What size motor can deliver that amount of energy? How fast does the motor rotate? How do you convert the rotary motion of the motor shaft to the motion of the garage door at the speed you need?

The basic controls are pretty simple. Something to make the motor turn in one direction, something else to make it turn in the opposite direction. Something to stop it from turning when the door is fully opened and fully closed.