A quiet 12v DC brushless motor for DIY window roller shades

[snownh2o2]

Hi guys,

 

Last night I built my prototype for automatic roller shades. For now it consists of an small motor from ebay ($ and a cheap roller shade from Walmart ($6), along with some metal scraps I had laying around the shop. I will post some pics and/or a video when it get a chance.

 

Here is the motor I purchased: 12VDC geared to 100RPMs

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221126176760?ss ... 1439.l2649

 

After a bunch of searching with no results, I am wondering if anyone knows where to find a similar brushless (quiet) motor at ebay type prices? The diameter should be around 1". The motor noise is a bit much with the one that I used. I don't expect silence, I simply want to minimize the sound while contining to stay on a budget. Also the motors RPMs could be a bit lower. I actually was using a 12V LED PWM dimmer to reduce the speed to about half during my late night testing. My goal is to do an entire room (3-4 windows each) for around $250 which is less then the price of one Somfy or Lutoron shade. Goal is 2X $37 for IOLincs, 4x $15 for motors, 12x $2 for sensors, 4x $15 for shade material, 4x $3 for metal conduit, 4x $3 for aluminum bracket material, and some odds and ends.

 

Note: I chose to have a wired setup in order to both minimize wireless signals in the house and to avoid battery changes. Also, for the cost savings. All windows in my house are the same size, therefore I will be controlling all shades in a given room with 2 IOLincs for up and down, and 2 magnetic contacts for top/bottom limits. The rest will be simply based upon timing.

 

Thanks,

Matt

[snownh2o2]

Here is a quick video of the prototype.

 

Things to note:

 

-I accidently grabbed a 12V power supply that turned out to be AC and messed up the motor. With the correct 12VDC the motor is still pulsing and much louder.

-Parts were made quickly so tolerances are not great; specifically the drill bit used for the motorshaft hole was not so good/straight and since I turned it on the lathe, it didn't notice until after it was drilled.

-I am operating it manually via a PWM dimmer

 

Attached are some pics of the concept.

 

The final design:

Shade material will be a thicker/heavier/sturdier smoked tint like panel (I saw one in Homedepot, now I need to find something similar and cheap online)

Shade panel will have better allignment

Quieter motor geared to around 25-50RPMs

ISY integrated with limit sensors

Machining will be tighter along with machining the inside of the roller tube to better match the motor connection plug

 

Enjoy and please leave so comments or ways to improve,

Matt

[snownh2o2]

A few more:

[Brian H]

Nice project.

Thank you for sharing it with such detailed photos and descriptions.

[biredale]

Very cool

 

 

Thanks!

 

Brian

[snownh2o2]

It just popped into my mind that I was planning to use 2 IOLincs per room so all windows would operate concurrently. One for UP and one for DOWN. Initially I was thinking to use some simple recessed magnetic switches on the top and bottom of each window.

 

Now that I have thought through it, since I have only one pair of status signals (2 IOLINCs per room), all the shades in the room will stop when the first one reaches its limit. I alreadly anticipate that there will be at least some incoinsistence in timing for each window, and I may need to run the room in series to minimize the issue.

 

Wanting each window in the room to reach its limits (UP and DOWN), does anyone have as simple way of doing so.

 

I was thinking that each window should have its own relay controlled by the IOs. Then power is cut by the magnetic (or even proximity) switches. The IO status' would be hooked to the window with the slowest shade. Not sure this is the most practical of solutions.

 

Please let me know any ideas.

 

Thanks,

Matt

[snownh2o2]

As for my status problem, does the smartenit EZIO8SA INSTEON-Compatible Input/Output Controller solve the issue for entire room shade control. I have never used one of these before. Only IOLincs as of now. It does mean that my per room budget will be over, but ....

 

I have been thinking of switching to ELK security. Would this be a cheaper alternative in the long run. Will the Elk be able to handle this and does it have the expandability to handle all of my door and motions sensors, plus the the window shade functions?

 

I do not know too much about ELK yet other then it integrates with the ISY. I guess the research will begin.

 

Thanks,

Matt

[Xathros]

snownh2o2-

 

If it were me, I would add some simple latching logic to the motor box of each shade to monitor it's sensors and stop when limits are reached. This way all the IOLincs need to do is tell the shades whether they should be up or down. Then each shade will run till it reaches its up or down limit. As for the limit sensors, I was thinking optical proximity sensors one on each end of the roller. A small piece of reflective tape on the back side of the shade material one on the bottom left (Up detection) and one on the top right (down detection). Add a 555 timer and you could eliminate an IOLinc from each room. Long pulse=up, Short pulse=down.

 

As you can see, your project has got me thinking...

 

So, back to your original question and with my above thoughts taken into account:

 

#1 Parallax basic stamp and servo combination. Small, low voltage, strong fairly quiet motor and programmable beyond belief.

#2 Arduino, motor shield and servo combination. Ditto

With either of the above, you could easily integrate RF control giving each shade it's own ID. Interfacing that to the ISY shouldn't be too difficult.

 

-Xathros.

[arw01]

Checking in to see what you ended up doing on this project?

 

It is too bad you cannot have the motor in the shade itself, vs having to drill a big hole into the casement there to put the motor into.

[dimensionzero]

I'd love an update on this too!

 

And as for the motor, I believe it actually is inside the shade.

[snownh2o2]

Yes the motor is in the shade. I have taken the project a step further and gone to cellular shades. Still using a wired connection for reliability, but now using an intelligent motor that I found on ebay. Mounting is figured out as there is plenty of room at the top of the cellular shade where the springs used to go. Currently figuring out the motor since the are a lot of wire and zero documentation out there. I appears I will next a simple chip to control the steps and the timing for start, stop, and current position. I think an itach may be used in combo for each room or else through the ELK.

 

Thanks for the interest,

Matt

[barrygordon]

I did a similar project last year for my Home Theater. I went with shades from the shade store that were built to my specifications. The supplied them on a hollow aluminum tube that is built to take a shade motor from Rollertrol with no other controls or accessories . I could have done the shade my self, but I was nervous about get the fabric to be properly aligned on the tube.

 

The rollertrol motors fit perfectly inside the tube and come with the needed brackets. The tube has an internal keyway that the motor locks onto so there is no slip. The motors are 12 volt reversible. One shade is 12 feet long by 26" for a clerestory window, and one is 4' long by 4' high for a normal window. I use 4 relays running with a TCP/IP controller, 2 relays per shade, to control them. There is an on-off-on toggle switch near each window. The center position puts control of the shade to the relays, the two on positions are up and down. The motors have built in limit switches so I just leave the command relay on for longer than it needs to be to get fully opened or closed. The shade fabric is room darkening.

 

If anyone wants more info send me a pm. I have all the contact info, prices, etc.