Hello,
I’m really new to all of this and after several hours of searching multiple internet sites, I still can’t find a straight answer to a question I have, so I’m hoping somebody here can give me a simple “yes, you can do that with these components” or “no, that simply won’t work”.
The Project: My wife wants a “sunrise” alarm clock. The kind that slowly raise the light level over a period of time in the morning. She could simply buy one, but what’s the fun in that? Also, the only one she was able to see in person was unimpressive. I’m fairly certain that I can build one that will be superior in function - even if the aesthetics are somewhat less appealing. She’s willing to live with the trade-off.
The Problem: I have no programming skills whatsoever. None. Nada. Zip. If I did, I assume I’d have understood more of what I was looking at and would probably not be here asking any questions. I’ve ordered a couple beginner books to learn a little more about robotics in general, but I still doubt that I’ll be ready to program anything in the very near future. Fortunately, I think I’ve come up with a way to mechanically overcome my lack of programming ability so I can slowly raise the light level over a set period of time.
The Solution: What I need ( and this is my real question ) is a small motor or servo that will turn at a very low RPM ( or that I can gear down to achieve the same result ). I found those… but what kind of controller do I need? In a nutshell, my design would call for an adapter that is plugged into the wall sending power to ( I assume ) a motor controller that powers the motor. This is where I’m lost because I don’t want something I have to program, I just want the motor to run when the power is on and stop when it’s off but I haven’t seen anything that says it will perform that specific function. I’m still deciding if I’ll control the intensity of the light by using the motor to manually turn a dimming switch or if I’ll design some type of shade that will slowly open to let more light escape. Either way, all I need is for the motor to run when the current is on and for it to stop when the current is off. I can control the on/off and duration of the current with a simple light timer and hopefully eliminate the need for any programming… Can anyone point me in the direction of the components I need?
Thank you in advance for any help you can provide as it is greatly appreciated!