Linear actuator
2. General design
2.2. Electrical design
Actuators are relatively simple, consisting of basically just a DC-motor with H-bridge and two slider potentiometers. A wiring harness connects the H-bridge and the potentiometers to Arduino (the order of the wires is designed for the Arduino Unos used in the course exercises.). In order to do anything reasonable, these devices do need an Arduino that controls them. The required number of Arduino pins is 6, including VIN and GND pins. Power is provided with a 9V battery.
Connections:
| Starting point | Wire color | End point(s) |
|---|
| GND | black | 9V battery negative |
| GND | blue | Arduino ground, potentiometer grounds |
| VIN | red | 9V battery positive |
| VCC | brown | Arduino 3.3V, potentiometers |
| O2 B | green | Motor positive |
| IN2 B | green | Arduino D10 |
| O1 B | blue | Motor negative |
| IN2 B | blue | Arduino D11 |
From potentiometers:
| Pot with rack | yellow | Arduino A4 |
| Pot with rack | green | Arduino A5 |