DIY Linear Actuator design

Hi @dca5454 glad you are having a go at this , I have to say not posted proper video at moment due to having serious fun playing on the platform , and tweaking the system its sortta addictive that way I have now split my plan into 2 sections , 1 the linear actuator , and 2 the Platform itself , very happy with the platform and performance of the actuators is brilliant if I may say so (all down to Seattimes project ) I will post the circuit diagram , and rudimentary items list later this week , bit disorganised paper work wise so just need to find them and they will get posted ..

Thanks for the quick response any help you can give would be great. Your rig sounds like a lot of fun I to am looking forward to seeing a video of your rig in action.

she's being tidied up at the moment trying to make it look more presentable lol , beauty is in the eye of the beholder and more crash test dummies are volunteering their services once they have tried it so sprucing the old girl up , loads of small issues to clean up , paint etc but promise I'll get some videos as soon as the controller is t=reconnected . ( moved it form under the platform for easier access not that its needed it to date but just a tinkerers Preferance ) circuit diagram will be posted tomorrow proper Action Video soon

Hi Guys as promised this is my wiring layout for my 6DOF Project . Main elements Being the 3 Off 2x32 Sabertooth motor controllers , 1 Off Thanos AMC128USB Motion controller , Various Relays ,2 12V@57Amp Server PSU's in parallel,12Vdc Car Battery, etc am at work so will do a more detail list properly later

Do you have the battery hooked up as well as the PSU's ?

Nice work @wannabeaflyer2 that's great help for those getting to grips with these beasts.

Hi @SilentChill the batteries are only hooked up sometimes but generally only if I see a phantom PSU drop outs , to be honest I have not seen a drop out recently and have been driving the old girl hard during testing , if I have a gripe its that I may need to change the way my pot/ belt drive is setup, as occasionally one actuator will loose position due to I suspect belt slippage ( by that I mean the tension varied for some reason and the pot reference changed ) not a major issue more annoying as I have to reset the pot. like I said I'm learning more about the system limits and minor mechanical design changes are to be expected at this stage , your Pot/Belt Drive setup looks more robust so I'm gonna learn from that ,

Hey mate nice second video your baby certainly belts around and shows great potential ...great stuff PS love the new brackets for mount the actuator rose Joints on the upper platform and you seem to be drawing less current now as well , so all heading in the right direction.. excellent ( said Austin Powers or Mr Monty Burns Style )

Yes slowly and surely ironing out all the bloody gremlins lol

I can nearly taste Dirt Rally

Hello guys,

First of all, thank you for sharing this ... it is so great !

Question :

Do you think this combo is ok ?, I can cut the rod to the right length as there seems to be no bearing at the end of the ballscrew
http://www.ebay.fr/itm/Antibacklash...996732?hash=item5d68ab043c:g:AqcAAOSwAuZX1-sl

I'd like to make 1 actuator before doing 6 ...

Any good deal for the motors ?

Hi Ballscrew Combo is fine , not sure about motor options as I got a good deal on Parralux PM90 12Vdc 4000 Rpm motors, but that was acase of right place right time Ebay special, Other members have managed to get these motors on Ebay, but not sure about current deals or what the manufacture charges if you need to buy quantity at source :-( you may get lucky but would say if you come across them buy all 6 LOL and spares

@wannabeaflyer2 we need videos man !!! get OBS setup and do a live stream or something

Have you got really crap broadband or what ? I can upload to youtube in minutes on 80mbit connection

Ok arm twisted I nice way , this weekend is target, by the way guys any tips on crap youtube upload time, they always seem to take forever even for quick videos,

What connection do you have ? any fibre should be quick enough

Are you compressing the raw video?

BTW you need to move this into the Build forum, think this has advanced past being just a DIY actuator @Historiker @value1

I agree on a sticky, but would it be better to start a separate build thread to highlight the finished product and leave this here to inspire the folks looking for actuator ideas?

Thanks Guys am Humbled by the thought of my ravings being stickied , I'm with Virgin Broadband so my fight with you tube should not be issue and my PC's are all I5 upwards :-( will try this afternoon ) I generally film stuff and save file to PC temp folder then from youtube select file for upload .... I must be doing something wrong as most people don't have this issue .. Video soon guys by hook or crook

Back again small clip showing platform running in auto mode in project cars , 2nd part with my lard arse self in seated for load testing , speed still not turned up , so just to show capability , will load actual driving video soon but be warned driver is no lewis Hamilton more like Knoddy LOL