How to control a micro 3V motor.

[tlmartin84]

I have now idea where to even start looking, nor the correct terminology to use for a search.

In short I have a 3V motor that has a dual AA battery pack. Between the pack and the motor I need to install some small controls.

I need three controls:

-On/Off that only is "on" while depressed, when released it goes off.

-I need to be able to vary the speed, I am assuming a rheostat?

-I need some type of interrupter, something that will pulse the motor while the button on button is held down. I could do this by using the on/off button, but I would rather just hold the on button down and let something control the pulses.


Any ideas???

 

[ishiboo]

I have now idea where to even start looking, nor the correct terminology to use for a search.

In short I have a 3V motor that has a dual AA battery pack. Between the pack and the motor I need to install some small controls.

I need three controls:

-On/Off that only is "on" while depressed, when released it goes off.

-I need to be able to vary the speed, I am assuming a rheostat?

-I need some type of interrupter, something that will pulse the motor while the button on button is held down. I could do this by using the on/off button, but I would rather just hold the on button down and let something control the pulses.


Any ideas???

The on/off control is a pretty simple momentary switch.

Being a small motor, speed control could be accomplished via a potentiometer, or using a PWM speed controller. This may also get you the finer-grained control you are looking for by "pulsing", but you really need to explain the purpose of that

 

[larry_g]

Check out the controls that are used in the model railroad or RC world.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[tlmartin84]

By pulsing I mean...........

I am using the motor to power a micro pump.

Instead of a steady stream, I need to be able to have squirt, squirt, squirt, squirt.

I also want to note, it doesn't have to be variable speed. Even just 2-4 different settings would be fine.

The other issue to all of this is I need to fit it all inside of a tin can.

 

[Beemer533]

Really depends on the type of motor you use. Obviusly the on/off part could be just a SP switch. But you could control everything from an Arduino board.

A few places to check out:
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-arduino-lesson-13-dc-motors/overview
http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoMotorShieldR3

This should do exactly what you need, except the straight on/off, which could be added.

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-control-the-speed-of-a-dc-motor-with-the-ar.html

Edit: Sorry, I just noticed the pulse part... You could still do that, but the link above wouldn't apply then.

 

[laser3kw]

build a "timer" with an ol' school 555 timer chip. You can set the on / off period with a pot. Radio shack use to have kits. Check Jameco Electronic kits.

 

[TheEquineFencer]

I'll bet PWM will use less power and extend the battery life than a standard rheostat. I'm sure you buy or build one pretty cheap. There's kits out there for PWM.

 

[404]

If 2 speeds only would work for you, make a circuit that configures the 2 batteries in series for high and parallel for low.

 

[tlmartin84]

OK so it looks like I need these things:

PWM - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N30UK2M/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Momentary Switch - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0094GIKDK/?tag=atomicindus08-20

So those look GREAT and will control the speed and on/off. I still need a little more info on getting it to pulse.......

 

[tlmartin84]

It looks like to cycle it on and off I would need one of these "555" timers as mentioned above........

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GIBTQMI/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Or

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SUSRYLC/?tag=atomicindus08-20

With the last one, how do you set the timing? There are no buttons.........

Also those are rated for 12V systems, will they work for the 3V?





What order should the circuit be setup in? Battery, MS, PWM, 555, Motor?

 

[laser3kw]

upper right side - small blue cube - brass screw
that is a "pot" the screw is the wiper..
you would hook your motor up to the output contacts of the relay. The relay out put contacts are not voltage sensitive per say. Your 3v should be just fine unless you are drawing monstrous current.
You will also need 4.5 volts to operate the board . independent of your 3 volts for your motor.

 

[tlmartin84]

View media item 48846

 

[tlmartin84]

Ok based on that image, incoming on lower left will be power supply of 4.5V. I am assuming a tri pack of AAA batteries.

Now there are three leads on the left, Anode is the line coming in, controlled switch is the hot line going to the motor. And then ground it back to the negative side of the 3V source?

 

[tlmartin84]

One other thing, with the tri pack 4.5V source, will it require an on/off switch to keep from draining batteries?

I guess it would work on the Momentary switch as it has 4 connections?

 

[laser3kw]

never mind - I have to get more details of the board
it is advertised as 12 volt. I assume it takes 12 v to operate the board. But you still could hook your motor to the relay output to switch the 3v on /off