I've designed my own height adjustable, small gantry crane for my hobby shop, perfectly sized to collapse just small enough to get under my regular-car garage doors, and yet expandable up to 9.5 ft to utilize the full ceiling height of my shop. The design has been mostly dictated by materials I have on hand (which is why I'm going with pipe for the uprights and a 4x4 i-beam along the top).
I enjoy TIG welding, but this project is going to be pretty boring from that standpoint, so I thought it could be fun to try to build some power height adjustment into the sides.
The upper/moveable part of the crane will weigh about 150 lbs. The full height adjustment range is about 38 inches from lowest to tallest. I would only change heights when there is no load on the crane (beyond the weight of the upper assembly). Once I have the right height, I would lock/secure it with clevis pins as shown in the drawings. This crane will be limited to about 1,000 as that's the limit of my I-beam trolley.
What do you think would be the most effective and economical way to add power adjustability? I'm very new to robotics but have played around with servos and an Arduino. I thought maybe a planetary or offset motor on each side (mounted on the top structure pointing down), with a lead screw going through a nut welded onto the lower leg assemblies. Or is this just a completely ridiculous idea?
I enjoy TIG welding, but this project is going to be pretty boring from that standpoint, so I thought it could be fun to try to build some power height adjustment into the sides.
The upper/moveable part of the crane will weigh about 150 lbs. The full height adjustment range is about 38 inches from lowest to tallest. I would only change heights when there is no load on the crane (beyond the weight of the upper assembly). Once I have the right height, I would lock/secure it with clevis pins as shown in the drawings. This crane will be limited to about 1,000 as that's the limit of my I-beam trolley.
What do you think would be the most effective and economical way to add power adjustability? I'm very new to robotics but have played around with servos and an Arduino. I thought maybe a planetary or offset motor on each side (mounted on the top structure pointing down), with a lead screw going through a nut welded onto the lower leg assemblies. Or is this just a completely ridiculous idea?
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