I have a Homestar Pro planetarium (see http://www.audiocubes.com/product/Segatoys_HomeStar_Pro_21st_Century_Home_Planetarium.html), which is a cool device. To make the device go, after it is plugged in, the unit must be turned on by sliding the power switch to the left and also pressing the "move" button. After 3 hours, the unit stops moving and displaying stars. At that point, the powering sequence must be re-executed. Of course, I'd like to have the unit to run continuously. Unplugging and replugging the power cord does not bypass the powering sequence. It must be done manually each time.
The unit also has separate timer buttons for 15, 30, and 60 minutes. It appears that pressing these buttons while the unit is timing down resets the timer. So I think what I'm looking to do is to make a gizmo that automatically press the timer button at least every 14 minutes. (It might even be possible to press another button such as the moving stars button once every 179 minutes to reset the timer. I'm not certain about that.)
So the question is what can I do to build an "automatic button pusher"? I found a circuit diagram online that might do the job, which is attached to this post.
The first question is whether I'm missing something simpler than this. It seems to hard to believe that in the entire world of hobby robotics, that there not automatic button pushers all over the place.
If indeed there are not, then could this circuit do the job? For one thing, it's not clear to me whether a solenoid is capable of pushing and then letting go automatically (pulling back) or whether that has to be be programmed into the circuit.
The unit also has separate timer buttons for 15, 30, and 60 minutes. It appears that pressing these buttons while the unit is timing down resets the timer. So I think what I'm looking to do is to make a gizmo that automatically press the timer button at least every 14 minutes. (It might even be possible to press another button such as the moving stars button once every 179 minutes to reset the timer. I'm not certain about that.)
So the question is what can I do to build an "automatic button pusher"? I found a circuit diagram online that might do the job, which is attached to this post.
The first question is whether I'm missing something simpler than this. It seems to hard to believe that in the entire world of hobby robotics, that there not automatic button pushers all over the place.
If indeed there are not, then could this circuit do the job? For one thing, it's not clear to me whether a solenoid is capable of pushing and then letting go automatically (pulling back) or whether that has to be be programmed into the circuit.
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