[dorkbotpdx-blabber] where to get and learn about solenoids

[John Brown]

Thanks Douglas! That's a great page.

If I may ask a quick question, though, does a solenoid work is the
same way as a coil gun, in that the induction of current into the wire
draws in the metal shaft? Is that what gives it the binary action? And
then when current is stopped, what pulls the shaft back out of the
coil?

I hope I am understanding it correctly.

-John Brown

On Wed, Dec 3, 2008 at 10:58 AM, douglas repetto
<douglas at music.columbia.edu> wrote:
>
> FWIW, I have a website that I teach lots of workshops from that covers the
> basics of different kinds of motors/solenoids/relays/etc. By basics I mean
> basics, but with the goal of providing the vocabulary so that you can go out
> and do web searches for more specific info once you actually know what you
> want to learn about. It's here:
>
> http://music.columbia.edu/~douglas/classes/motor_mania/
>
>
> best,
> douglas
>
>
> Greg Grunest wrote:
>>
>> Greg,
>>
>> Solenoids come in all different varieties.  Typically, you find the 12 V,
>> linear, push or pull solenoids in everyday consumer electronics (disk
>> drives, hard drives, tape players, that old and now useless Zip-100 drive
>> has a really cool 6v one in it but it's *really* hard to get it out,
>> etc...)
>> but every so often you can find surplus rotary solenoids too.  For moving
>> the drumsticks, a rotary solenoid might be the thing.  They typically move
>> through a 90 degree arc when energized and then return to where they
>> started
>> when power is removed.  However I've had some before that sort of ratchet
>> through 15-30 degree increments each time power is applied eventually
>> spinning all the way around.  They were connected to a little mechanical
>> counter and appeared to do nothing more than count how many times this
>> thing
>> had fired.
>>
>> The pros:
>>        They're cool!
>>        They typically work forever - millions of cycles.
>>        You can do things with an $8.00 solenoid that you could otherwise
>> spend hundreds of dollars trying to replicate.  (I once built a remote
>> controlled golf cart and used Ford starter solenoids ($8.00 from Napa) to
>> switch the 600 Amp battery connections to the motor.  I used a $3
>> optoisolator to drive the solenoids and an 8051 to drive the optoisolator.
>> Controlling 600Amps from a microprocessor for $11 - Woot!)
>>        You can get feedback from them by measuring how much current they
>> draw (voltage drop across an in-line resistor) and tell if they are
>> hitting
>> anything.  They tend to draw a lot of current (like a stalled electric
>> motor) if you hold them against their will.
>>
>> The cons:
>>        They suck current like mad and therefore are not good for battery
>> driven applications.
>>        It's basically a coil so you have to worry about re-induction when
>> the magnetic field around the coil collapses so you don't blow up
>> sensitive
>> circuitry (like the Arduino or a transistor).
>>        They are typically not driven by any control signal that is easy to
>> generate in a microprocessor world, 9-50V, 500ma-2A.
>>        (Because of these two drawbacks, I highly recommend a simple 8 pin
>> optoisolator to drive them.  It's cheap and completely protects the
>> Arduino.)
>>        You can't control how fast they move like you can with a servo.
>> They are either in or out, turned or not.  In fact, if you try to slow
>> them
>> down by limiting the voltage they draw a LOT of current.
>>        They are entirely digital - On or off, in or out.
>>
>>        And the number one drawback is........ can you say "latch up"?
>> (sometimes they stick in the "energized" state.)
>>
>> Just my 2 cents.
>>
>> BTW:  If you're interested, I think I have a couple of the 90 degree
>> rotary
>> ones left.  Enough for you to play with and try the drums anyway.
>>
>> - Greg Grunest
>> greg at grunest.com
>>
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