I am an artist that is getting into kinetic sculpture, and my latest idea is to use solenoids to make strings of pennant flags bounce up and down (whereas, in the past, I've used motors to make them do other things). I was thinking of using a DC push/pull solenoid with a long stroke to make the end of the string move, and I've been told that I need to build a pulsing circuit if I want the solenoid to continuously move up/down.
First, I was wondering if there are any simple tutorials on the web to build such a circuit. I am hoping to have the bouncing get continuously faster and more frequent, until the flags are bouncing around like crazy, and then calm back down again until they come to a complete stop for a little while. Should I use a micro controller to control this or is there an easier/other way?
Second, is a DC solenoid even the right tool to use in this application? Or is there such a thing that moves up and down continuously without the need of a pulsing circuit?
Thanks for your help!
First, I was wondering if there are any simple tutorials on the web to build such a circuit. I am hoping to have the bouncing get continuously faster and more frequent, until the flags are bouncing around like crazy, and then calm back down again until they come to a complete stop for a little while. Should I use a micro controller to control this or is there an easier/other way?
Second, is a DC solenoid even the right tool to use in this application? Or is there such a thing that moves up and down continuously without the need of a pulsing circuit?
Thanks for your help!