Power sliding window..again

Latest video from last night. This is the 800 RPM motor and the final lead screw. I'm printing the new window guide right now and hope to have it on the truck today.

http://youtu.be/8-kDKzlT6dg

 

Right, but if you mounted your limit switches, motor, and circuit board in the motor housing then only 2 wires would be moving with the motor housing, your power and ground plus it's only moving what 6-8 inches, what's the worst that could happen lol. Mount the limit switches on either side with a contact point into both sides of the slider, or use a double contact limit switch. I really wish I knew how to use the computer systems that you guys use that way I could show what I have drawn in my head lol. Looks like a good speed and a good torque motor scratch. Good job man.

 

Why not just have a round tube with a slot for the rack mount to slide back and forth in. then you could mount the limit switches in each end of the tube. It would look cleaner, and possibly safer than a open screw turning that could catch something.

Like a C shaped tube but only where the guide had to slide back and forth in.

 

Drawing kind of sucks, but like below.....

 

Let me think about this one for a bit. If we relocate all of the brains off of the motor housing, we could get away with just power and ground and just have an additional piece off to the side that talks to everything else. Might work out. This is why I love doing this stuff out in the open. I could have had a power window in my truck two months ago and just lived with the little quirks, but when you do something out in the open and get everyone's ideas it just ends up better.

 

Good thinking. About a month ago, I went out to home depot and found some PVC to experiment with just this idea. I cut out a channel, mounted the rack (eventually tried to use it to house the lead screw too, but it ended up being too large and it made the screw sound like it was hooked to an amplifier) . I could get it to work once or twice, but just couldn't get past the material limitations of the 3d prints. Rack and pinion really wants to be aluminium or injection molded plastic.

 

Hey scratch, instead of a housing to support the lead screw along it's length, how about a mount + bearing at the far end that secures it at the far end. That should help prevent it from moving around and would also give us a nice place to mount the far limit switch.

I'm thinking 625ZZ bearings since they are easy to find (used in lots of RepRap 3d printers). They also have an internal diameter of 5mm would work well with the 10-24 threaded rod (~4.83mm diameter). We might need a small sleeve for the 10-24 rod to fit snugly inside of the bearing since it's about 17mm smaller than the bearing opening.

Bearings like these:

uxcell a13061400ux0831 10 Pcs 625ZZ 5mm x 16mm x 5mm Shielded Deep Groove Radial Ball Bearing

http://www.amazon.com/625ZZ-Shielded-Groove-Radial-Bearing/dp/B00EDK5GIE/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1423444254&sr=8-6&keywords=625zz+bearing


And a mount like this:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:206691



Thoughts???

 

Absolutely, let me do some work on this tomorrow and see what I come up with. I just got a few extra motors to experiment with (800, 1200, 1800, & 2400RPM) and I'll post what I figure out.

 

The trouble is that since the screw stays stationary and the window is what moves, we need to keep the screw in perfect alignment for it to slide into the bearing. I'm printing something now (*side note, I hate printing in ABS) that are 5mm supports with a funnel shape that goes from 10mm to 5mm to guide the screw. might be able to combine those ideas. Let me know if I'm misunderstanding your idea.

I'm trying to figure out a way to mount the support on the end of the lead screw (which may be what you are talking about now that I think about it)

 

Well, Im not dead yet, but my printer is. I thought I had just blown the power supply but it looks like it might have taken one of my stepper drivers with it on its way out. Parts are on order.

 

Damn man. We'll let it slide this time, but next time there will be problems.... Lol. No worries man it's still cold outside so my windows will be closed till it gets atleast above 75. I came up with another way to cover the lead screw to keep it from being seen when the windows open and I'm trying to figure out a way I can draw or show you guys and see what y'all think.

 

lol yeah, we're a long way from 75

 

woohooo my printer is back working! Back to work.

 

Cool idea! Sub'd to see how this turns out..

 

I'm back baby. Printer is still giving me fits, but it works enough. Latest commit redid the rear window mount in case you are having trouble with it opening and closing with passengers in the back seat.

 

I guess I need to get on with gathering parts!

 

lol nice image It's actually a done deal though which is why I haven't added any updates past that last one about changing the height for folks that have single cabs and are having rubbing issues. The full STL files are in the github and GTG. TXCotton posted up arduino code for folks that want to go that way, I'm just using a dpdt switch for now while I find one of those nice ones from a sienna. The only downside is damn this thing is loud since it is stuck to the window, but it requires 0 truck mods, so that's the trade off. Overall though, I'm very happy with how things worked out. I'll post a video shortly of mine working.

Get it done, spring is coming!

EDIT: now with 100% more video
http://youtu.be/bAeOTDnCvq0

 

Damn, I need to go back through and dig a little. Find someone to print me the parts and get a motor. I thought someone found a quieter motor.

 

We ran through two motor types working on a good balance of speed and size, but the noise seems to be related to the mechanism being mounted on the window and the window acting like an amplifier for every little sound. If you press on the window for example while it's moving, it's much, much quieter. I had thought about putting some more love into making it quieter, but now that it's only 2 seconds to open and close it's less of a priority.