Arduino Gate
I am working on a project where I have to control a vehicle barrier gate like this:
Our team has planned to work with Arduino but we are open to other suggestions.
My question is, can I use a DC motor for this sort of task or should I look into AC motors? And what kind of motor should I use? Is this even possible using Arduino?
I looked into some of the tutorials of automated garage door openers which kind of relates to what I am trying to do. But the problem is, most of them use commercial garage door openers which are already built in to the system. So I have no way to know which hardware (specifically, which motor) they used for the purpose.
I have worked with Arduino before so have some idea on how it operates.
Either AC or DC should work, but be careful with either. For control with Arduino or other microcontrollers, the first consideration is isolation. The gate will likely require current and voltage, far outside of an Arduino's capacity.
Perhaps the easiest solution would be to use a relay connected through an opto-isolator (Arduino->opto-isolator->relay->motor) to drive a simple on/off motor. Many other possibilities exists, including motor-dirvers/shields, and servos. However, they are more complex than appears to be needed. Unless you need to control the speed and/or angle of the gate, a simple relay should do the trick.
To pick a motor, consider the weight that needs to be moved, and the power sources available. A balsa wood gate would require very little in the way of power, but would break easily, perhaps not being much of a barrier. A steel gate would be an effective barrier, but would require a far more robust motor and power supply. I'd go as light as possible. This will be cheaper, and easier (less dangerous) to work with.
Plenty of other considerations will affect the choice as well. Does the gate need to stay up if power is cut, or should it return to a closed position ? Does it need to sense an object below when it is
Our team has planned to work with Arduino but we are open to other suggestions.
My question is, can I use a DC motor for this sort of task or should I look into AC motors? And what kind of motor should I use? Is this even possible using Arduino?
I looked into some of the tutorials of automated garage door openers which kind of relates to what I am trying to do. But the problem is, most of them use commercial garage door openers which are already built in to the system. So I have no way to know which hardware (specifically, which motor) they used for the purpose.
I have worked with Arduino before so have some idea on how it operates.
Either AC or DC should work, but be careful with either. For control with Arduino or other microcontrollers, the first consideration is isolation. The gate will likely require current and voltage, far outside of an Arduino's capacity.
Perhaps the easiest solution would be to use a relay connected through an opto-isolator (Arduino->opto-isolator->relay->motor) to drive a simple on/off motor. Many other possibilities exists, including motor-dirvers/shields, and servos. However, they are more complex than appears to be needed. Unless you need to control the speed and/or angle of the gate, a simple relay should do the trick.
To pick a motor, consider the weight that needs to be moved, and the power sources available. A balsa wood gate would require very little in the way of power, but would break easily, perhaps not being much of a barrier. A steel gate would be an effective barrier, but would require a far more robust motor and power supply. I'd go as light as possible. This will be cheaper, and easier (less dangerous) to work with.
Plenty of other considerations will affect the choice as well. Does the gate need to stay up if power is cut, or should it return to a closed position ? Does it need to sense an object below when it is