Magnetic Actuator Controller

349

04:55:23

Close switch to start oscillator.  Two electromagnets get powered by PWM. Adjust the left hand pot to change the duty cycle going into each electromagnet.

An iron pin is placed between the electromagnets on a linear slide, and gets attracted to whichever coil has the strongest magnetic field.  The pot has direct control over the position of the pin.

got this idea from a tiny rc car I pulled apart.  It has two coils and a slide and a tiny magnet between the coils.  the coils are plugged into a H-bridge which only outputs dc +3v, 0v, or -3v. This makes the car unsteerable; there's no centre hold or proportional steering control, so the wheels can only full lock left or right, or just flap about uselessly.

published 12 years ago

Sine_eyed

12 years ago

So it's kinda like a dolled up remote control solenoid. First thing that pops into my head is some keyless entry mechanism. Pretty neat..

atlaswalkedaway

12 years ago

Quite clever.

rbrtkurtz

12 years ago

That RC car sounds terribly difficult to control. Somebody should setup the controls on an RC plane like that. >:-) This circuit is quite clever, indeed.

Mamish

11 years ago

Did this ever work out? Seems to me you wouldn't get direct control from the pot since the closer coil produces a stronger force. Same problem as with most magnetic actuators.

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