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Sep 23 / Greg

Motorized Stand For Show Display

As some of you know, my wife an I are photographers. We do the bridal shows every six months or so. We usually go for a minimalist display. We went with a square display that has a center post coming out the top with a couple of back to back pictures spinning.

I took a piece of 1.5″ PVC pipe and cut slits in the top. I then broke the bottom off of an electric screwdriver and wired straight into the motor. I used a pipe clamp to squeeze the screw driver into the pipe. The bottom of the pipe has a floor drain on it to create a stable base. I then used a couple of 10 pound weights to hold it down.

I took to 5 gallon bucket stir sticks and pop riveted them together. I also pop riveted a spade bit in between the sticks. The spade bit then sticks down on to the screw driver.

I had an arduino lying around, so I used that with a custom shield to fire a relay for 7 milliseconds to rotate the motor. I also used a 12 volt regulater to kick the power down, even though the arduino can handle up to 20 volts I figured I would take it easy on the lil guy. I used one of my ryobi drill batteries to power the whole thing.

Here’s a video of the stand after construction:


Here’s the finished product:

Isn’t that awesome how I made it defy gravity in the video…hehehe.

I don’t have a lot of build pictures because I waited until the last minute to build it and didn’t take time to document anything…hehehe. 😛

6 Comments

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  1. Omegatron / Sep 23 2010

    Ooh. You configure routers and arduinos.
    Gosh Greg stop trying to be like me! 🙂

    I’d recommend a PVM script for version 2, should allow you to slow the drill down enough without needing to have it visible ‘tick’.

    Next up, a knock activated door opener? http://grathio.com/2009/11/secret-knock-detecting-door-lock.html

  2. J.J. Boyd / Sep 24 2010

    Nice! & You call me redneck!?!? ;P

  3. Greg / Sep 24 2010

    @JJ, you are a redneck…hehehe

    @Andrew, I’m older than you and thus have been doing it longer, so stop trying to be like me. Next thing I know you will be bald and 6’3″ 😛 I would have made it smoother, but I had it working and didn’t care to mess with it anymore…since I finished it shortly before it was needed…hehe. I could have lessened the pulses and brought them closer together…remember I’m using a 5 volt relay that doesn’t actuate too fast.

  4. Tim / Sep 24 2010

    Do I see an Arduino board there? That’s my favorite prototype platform.

  5. Greg / Sep 24 2010

    @Tim, indeed you do sir. It’s a Mega…I’ll be using this with my halloween costume ;P

  6. Omegatron / Sep 24 2010

    This should be good. Greg dressed up as a spooky router 😀

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