Opening & Closing a Wooden Trunk Lid

Help & Support Robot Parts
1

I am trying to find the right device(s) to use to elegantly open and close a wooden trunk lid. Here are some of my requirements:

  • Lid is about 2kg and 50cm x 5 cm
  • Lid should open beyond 90 degrees (say, 110 degrees-ish)
  • Time to open/close should be around 7-8 seconds
  • Cannot be very loud

Servos have proven really ineffective for me - at least the ones I’ve found - because there’s no control (that I can find) over speed and the torque doesn’t work right.

Linear actuators do work, but they’re loud or slow or both and since they’re linear, I’m limited in terms of the “arc” of the opening of the lid.

I’m surprised I cannot find devices made specifically for this purpose. Would LOVE help finding the right thing!

Thanks!

Alex

2

Hello @AlexM,

First, you should estimate the torque required to open the lid. To do that you can use this as a guide:

Regarding speed control, if the servo you choose is faster than what you need you could use a microcontroller to “control the speed”, for example:
https://arduinogetstarted.com/faq/how-to-control-speed-of-servo-motor#:~:text=developed%20using%20Fritzing.-,Arduino%20Code,90°%20in%203%20seconds.

Regarding noise, a good option could be a brushless motor.

I hope that helps!