Opening the chicken coop with the help of ESP32 - how to implement the mechanism?

Electronically, with a constant voltage supply there is no problem in determining whether something has blocked your door. You simply measure the motor current and if it is overloaded, the current increases.
And just out of curiosity, how do you currently have the door open?

The door hangs on a hinge and opens sideways. They are locked with a latch, so they are naturally opened manually. Now I've only just thought of the fact that in a rope scenario it would also be useful to lock these doors. From the outside, no animal will open them, because they don't open inwards, but if they are pushed from the inside they will open. Perhaps it would be possible to use the central locking motor to move the latch and then activate the cable pull. Although in this case the cable pull would already be better implemented with a weight.

If the opening is on a hinge placed on the side then unfortunately a linear actuator would be the best solution. How about moving the hinge to the top edge and then opening would be very simple by winding the cable onto a wheel placed on the motor axis and closing by unwinding the cable and the door would fall under its own weight?
And would this slider then be necessary?

For example, see this mechanism Pipe ball valve controller 1/2″ ZigBee 3.0 TUYA" with a little modification, it might be able to open the door.

xabro1 wrote:

I was also thinking about this, but I would like to open two chicken coops, and the cost of such a power jack is more than 100 zł, which is already almost 300 zł when buying 2 pieces.

If you think you will do it cheaper, you are wrong. I've given you a tried and tested solution, butchering the wiper gears will take more than £300 worth of time, and you will still need to buy various other components.

I don't know what kind of windscreen wiper drive motors you have, but mine only turn one way.

Stepper motor, gearbox, screw, nut, all put together and you have a mechanism. i would add two more stops. No locks or latches needed.

zdenek_zdenek ,wrote:

Quote:

Stepper motor, gearbox, screw, nut,all put together and you have the mechanism. i would add two more stops. You don't need any locks or latches

But you got worked up and forgot that you still need a motor controller + pulse generator not to mention a lock/open cycle controller.

If only opening then it will probably be easier to use a permanent magnet in the door and an electromagnet on the frame and some iron so that the permanent magnet can hold the door in the closed and open positions. The electromages could normally be unconnected and, with the right polarity, push back the door with the permanent magnet. In addition, a sufficiently strong permanent magnet could prevent the door from opening and/or closing on its own.

Ryszard49 wrote:

pulse generator not to mention the controller for the closing and opening cycle.

The ESP will be used for this





I didn't write about the motor controller because it's obvious that it has to be there in the first place, secondly I only described the mechanics side as briefly as possible.

There could also be a DC motor instead of a stepper, then the control would be simplified, but the project gets less ambitious.

gregor124 wrote:

If only opening then it would probably be easier to use a permanent magnet in the door and an electromag on the frame and some iron so that the permanent magnet could hold the door in the closed and open position. The electromages could normally be unconnected and with the right polarity push the door back with the permanent magnet. In addition, a sufficiently strong permanent magnet could prevent the door from opening and/or closing on its own.

I would be concerned that if the door pi...ng when opening and closing, you would stress the hens so much that they would stop laying eggs.

Just search under the keywords: automatic henhouse doors Smart doors and we have a multitude of solutions. And on You Tube you can learn about the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed solutions.

Walery K wrote:

gregor124 wrote:

If only opening then it would probably be easier to use a permanent magnet in the door and an electromag on the frame and some iron so that the permanent magnet could hold the door in the closed and open position. The electromages could normally be unconnected and with the right polarity push the door back with the permanent magnet. In addition, a sufficiently strong permanent magnet could prevent the door from opening and/or closing on its own.

I would be concerned that if the door when opening and closing pi.

It is always possible to adjust the strength of the solenoid, you can also add a spring, you just need a little creativity.

As I wrote, the linear actuator is the simplest, you can find one at Chinese brothers for less than £ 100.

I found a ready-made lifting door made of cheap plastic on Allegro for about a hundred bucks, terrible quality, maybe it would last a summer season. The aforementioned power jack actuator for a swing gate works OK, it has built-in limiters, you just need to give it power for a time not shorter than the required opening, the limiters are set to operate when you want, there is no full opening of the door but why should there be, DC motor controller for about £10 "STEPPING MOTOR CONTROLLER MODULE L298N ARDUINO", 2A is enough, 19V 3A power supply from an old laptop, although the actuator supposedly requires 24-36V, simply has less power and lower current consumption. Such an actuator, however, is 2 hundred pounds lightly. The stepper motor module can of course be used with a DC motor, the controller is an ESP8266. I need to add a button to open manually and a limit switch to confirm that it is open or closed. It would be nice if it was in WIFI range, then it gets the time from the NTP server, with a simple algorithm you can open and close at a calculated time for sunrise and sunset, or add integration with some domoticz or HA. You do not need to write any special programme, you can upload the tasmot and set the schedule permanently, the on-off option only switches the direction of opening, the actuator remains in the position after switching off the limit switch and does not consume electricity as, for example, an electromagnet, the tasmot also has WWW, through which you can change the state of the switch with your finger.

Hello
I will give you my solution, which has worked for several years. It is simple and rather reliable. A window blind works as a door, controlled by a timer e.g. like for an energy meter. In the morning around 8 it is opened and around 18 it is closed. The control of the roller shutter is, of course, free. It can also be remote controlled. Regards

Walery K wrote:

Maybe move the hinge to the top edge and then opening would be very simple by winding the cable onto a wheel placed on the motor axle and closing by unwinding the cable and the door would drop under its own weight?

This could pass the test.

zdenek_zdenek wrote:

Stepper motor, gearbox, screw, nut, all connect and you have the mechanism. I would add two more stops. No locks or latches needed.

You mean a long threaded rod and a nut that rests on the rail that will slide? I've seen such a mechanism here on the forum and on YouTube. I guess it would be better to use a pulley and make some two grommets with some sort of end-activating element in between.

gregor124 wrote:

If only opening then it would probably be easier to use a permanent magnet in the door and an electromag on the frame and some iron so that the permanent magnet could hold the door in the closed and open position. The electromages could normally be unconnected and with the correct polarity push the door back with the permanent magnet.

Electromagnet when activated would have the same polarity as the permanent magnet, causing the door to push back? What then of the piece of iron

Walery K wrote:

I would be concerned that if the door pi...ght when opening and closing, you would stress the chickens so much that they would stop laying eggs.

Or they will lay immediately

@kaczakat this module for the DC motor is it to be used for the linear actuator or for the motor option? I have some sort of 12 volt DC motor from an old children's vehicle, I just don't know how many A's it needs.
I also found a 30W AC motor probably from a washing machine, probably from a water pump. Maybe it could also be used, just how to control the speed?

@oskar007PL link does not work

gregor124 wrote:

You can always adjust the strength of the solenoid, you can also add a spring, all it takes is a bit of creativity.

No sense. Closing and opening that flap so violently can castrate a cock at any time. Check the gentlemen under , "model servos" .

@xabro1 this 2A module supports DC motors, it simultaneously supports 2 DC motors or 1 4-wire stepper motor. For an AC motor it is not suitable. You can apply voltage to left or right speed with it, I use it for a power jack actuator. An old car doesn't say much, it could be an RC model with 1W motors or a 50W/wheel drive 4x4, I used to have one that had 30A fuses, a 2A module would go up in smoke from looking at the car. I checked my actuator's draw is under 1A.

An AC motor is not suitable because it will only rotate in one direction. Two relays and two limit switches are sufficient to drive a DC motor. To make a low-cost screw mechanism, you will need tools such as a drill, an angle grinder, a welding machine and a lathe, but you can easily do without it.

A few centimetres of threaded rod is sufficient.

Fix the screw on a lever attached to the door, and the screw drive on another lever to the wall also hesitantly, it can not be rigid.
Look at how the mechanisms for opening gates are made, and you will know how to do it.