I'm working on a silly little project and need to physically move something a short distance, very quickly, without breaking the object. My background is nearly 20 years as a programmer. My boss got me into 3D printing a few years ago. Now, I'm trying to get into projects that require circuits. I've learned enough to add some LEDs to the wearable (XBox game: Halo) Master Chief helmet I printed out. My two boys love it. I bought some Arduino kits so as to have some things I can play around with, bread boarding and whatnot. While reading this, please keep in mind I'm very much a beginner. Also, feel free to correct anything I have wrong (verbiage, design, etc.).
Basically, I'm just trying to build a proof of concept. I'm a see and do learner so I purchased this solenoid to see how it worked for this project. I don't know how to test, or even what tools I might need, to test the actual force needed. Since the solenoid was cheap enough, I bought it based on it's dimensions. If what I need is larger than that, I probably can't make it happen. If this size works (or even better, it's too strong), then that's great news. My issue is powering it for my needs. I need it at full power for <= 1 second. It's going to hit something and then it's job is done. Worst case scenario, it may be fired again in 30 seconds but in reality, it'll probably be much longer (minutes, hours) than that. The power source can be anything (A23, 9v?), but size is the ultimate issue (smaller the better).
I've chosen a solenoid because that's where my research has taken me thus far. I've thought about springs (which may work) or air (impractical) but this seems to be the most ideal solution. Some of the other posts here (i.e. "Solenoid Charge-up driver schematics", "Powering a Solenoid") were not much help to me because of my limited experience. Much of the circuit schematics are greek to me. Similarly, YouTube has only been so helpful because they tend to cover electronic formulas. I'll get there eventually, but for now, I'm not grasping it.
I was able to get the solenoid to fire with an Adafruit project (showed exactly how to breadboard it) that showed how to drive a motor. However, it wasn't firing it at anywhere near full power. I tried learning enough about transistors but it seems I may need some help from a capacitor. Considering the steep learning curve, I thought asking for help would be the way to go.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Just keep in mind my current skill level if you respond.
Thank you for reading,
John
Basically, I'm just trying to build a proof of concept. I'm a see and do learner so I purchased this solenoid to see how it worked for this project. I don't know how to test, or even what tools I might need, to test the actual force needed. Since the solenoid was cheap enough, I bought it based on it's dimensions. If what I need is larger than that, I probably can't make it happen. If this size works (or even better, it's too strong), then that's great news. My issue is powering it for my needs. I need it at full power for <= 1 second. It's going to hit something and then it's job is done. Worst case scenario, it may be fired again in 30 seconds but in reality, it'll probably be much longer (minutes, hours) than that. The power source can be anything (A23, 9v?), but size is the ultimate issue (smaller the better).
I've chosen a solenoid because that's where my research has taken me thus far. I've thought about springs (which may work) or air (impractical) but this seems to be the most ideal solution. Some of the other posts here (i.e. "Solenoid Charge-up driver schematics", "Powering a Solenoid") were not much help to me because of my limited experience. Much of the circuit schematics are greek to me. Similarly, YouTube has only been so helpful because they tend to cover electronic formulas. I'll get there eventually, but for now, I'm not grasping it.
I was able to get the solenoid to fire with an Adafruit project (showed exactly how to breadboard it) that showed how to drive a motor. However, it wasn't firing it at anywhere near full power. I tried learning enough about transistors but it seems I may need some help from a capacitor. Considering the steep learning curve, I thought asking for help would be the way to go.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Just keep in mind my current skill level if you respond.
Thank you for reading,
John