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The following article was published in our article directory on January 14, 2016.
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Powerful Control Through Arduino: Interfacing a Linear Actuator

Article Category: Computers and Technology

Author Name: DC Linear Actuators

In this article I will show how simple it is to control powerful mechanical force using a microcontroller like the Arduino and a Linear-Actuator from DC Linear Actuators. The Arduino and RaspberryPi have rapidly become the go to tool for creativity among thinkers, tinkerers, and dreamers alike. Microcontrollers, like the Arduino, have repaved the path for inventors, DIY'ers and creators.

Before these microcontrollers, an electrical engineer would need to design an entirely customized circuit with many complex components just to run a simple task such as blinking multiple LED lights. Today, this task can be accomplished with a simple program on the Arduino in under 5 minutes.

But if you are like me, you've probably had your fill of blinking LED's and crave something a little more impressive. Something big or mechanical that requires direct force. Something like a powerful robotic claw, an automatic opening door or a large tracking solar-panel.

I know from personal experience that finding a linear-actuator to use with microcontroller projects can be daunting. If you've ever shopped for them before, chances are you've seen the bold line between cheap solenoids and the heavy industrial actuators ($$$).

DC Linear Actuators is introducing a new line of actuators that are sized perfectly for your DIY projects, as well as professional systems. I've noticed that many people in the open-source community have a reluctance to enter the realm of mechanical control using Arduino or other microcontrollers.

This brief article will detail the several ways that you can control a powerful mechanical device, like a linear-actuator, using a low power device such as an Arduino.
40mA (0.040 amps) on each I/O pin, and a combined total of 200mA of current between all of the I/O pins.

Keep in mind:

Microcontrollers are not meant to power anything, they are meant to provide a signal on the I/O pins that can be used to trigger or control the rest of a system.
An electronic Linear-Actuator utilizes the power produced by a DC motor to produce a linear, straight-line movement of a push-rod. We can then use this motion to control many aspects of our project that we previously were not able to. The line of actuators I recommend from DClinearactuators.com can handle a maximum of | 2.5 Amps.

How is a mere 40mA going to control multiple linear-actuators and move, say, our giant robotic T-rex?

We add a new device in-between our microcontroller and Linear-Actuator to simply handle the higher-power. We can signal this device via I/O pins from our microcontroller to tell it when we want the power. What devices provide this capability?

Here are just a few options:

Motor Driver Board/Shield
MOSFET
H-Bridge
Mechanical Relays

All of these options will work, and a beginner can easily set them up. Remember, the goal is to find a device that will take our weak microcontroller signal and turn it into something more powerful to control a linear-actuator. They all have advantages, so pay attention and do your research.

Motor Driver Board/Shield

By far the most intuitive solution for most DIY'ers would be to purchase a low-cost 'motor shield' or 'motor driver'. You simply supply power to the shield and give it a signal from your microcontroller to tell it when you want to power your motors (linear-actuator in our case).

They vary in the amount of motors that you can control with one board and also the method in which you signal it from your microcontroller. Most of the boards use PWM signals from your Arduino and some use I2C.

I have seen these boards go for as little as $2 and they may each employ a different set of circuits within itself. One board may use MOSFETs, and others, like the one below, may use an H-Bridge (L298 Motor-Driver).

Key requirements you need to look for in a Motor Driver or Shield:

Can it supply the recommended voltage? 6V-12V
Can it source the necessary current? | 2.5 Amps
Does it have enough motor output channels for the project?

MOSFET

Metal-oxide Semiconductor field-effect transistor (but I'll stick with the abbreviation) is basically an electronic switch. A MOSFET is a chip with 3 pins; one pin connects to your power-source (Source-Pin), the 2nd pin (Drain-Pin) connects to the actuator or whatever the load of your project may be and the 3rd pin (Gate-Pin) to signal when to switch and for how long.

Just remember that by creating your own custom motor-driver circuit means that you forfeit the securities and dependencies of a premade manufactured board that you would purchase.

There are many configurations for a MOSFET circuit. However, I recommend using what's called a 'common-source' setup.

To use the MOSFET in common-source mode; Connect Ground from the 6v-12v power supply to the Source-Pin, the Linear-Actuators Ground wire to the Drain-Pin, and the positive (+) 12v from our power supply directly to the actuators positive (+) wire. Now we just connect a Digital/PWM pin from our microcontroller to the Gate-Pin on the MOSFET. With our MOSFET now in common-source mode, we can turn off/on our Actuators connection to Ground. Thereby, controlling when it is On and Off. Actuator operation is achieved by simply writing a digital pin HIGH/LOW in our microcontrollers code.

To get a fast and reliable switch from On/Off every time, we need to connect a 10k Ohm resistor between the Source-Pin and the Gate-Pin of the MOSFET. This will allow a super-quick on/off time. Something to note about DC motors is that they produce something called back EMF. When the power to a DC motor is shut off, the magnetic field contained in the motors field-coils collapses. This collapse produces electrical power in the opposite polarity. Back-EMF can destroy the circuits that the motor is connected to. In-order to circumvent back-EMF, a small diode should be placed between positive and negative terminals leading to the DC motor. That is, the negative side of the Diode (silver-band) attached to the positive lead of the actuator, and the positive side of the diode attached to the negative lead of the actuator. This redirects the reversed polarity in an appropriate way to protect the MOSFET.
Keep in mind:

Whenever you are dealing with two separate circuits, like our Arduino and MOSFET circuit, it is crucial that you have a Common-Ground. A common ground just means that all of the separate circuits are connected to the same Ground point. Without going deep into theory, what this does is give each circuit the SAME reference point to work off of. A common ground lets the system work more accurately and efficiently.

Keywords: micro linear actuators, arduino, microcontrollers, dc linear actuators

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