Micromotor project - please help a novice! What part do I need?

Robotics and electronics discussion Electronics
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Hi! I’m trying to make oscillating dashboard vents for my car after seeing they were fitted to old Mazda 626 cars and how people (including me) are mesmerized by them. I have the micromotor in place but I don’t know what piece I need to connect it so it can do the pushing and pulling to create oscillation, converted from rotation. It needs to both secure a small arm in place and at the same time, allow for the parts to move. Grateful for any indication of what component to buy. Thanks! Peter Here’s the video to show what I’ve got so far:

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Hello.

I am not exactly sure I understand what you are trying to do, but it seems like your current setup with the paper clip is working pretty well. You might be fine if you just do something to more securely lock it in place, like bending the end of the clip.

However, if you are planning to do something different, you might consider doing some research on different linkage mechanisms. I found this from a quick Google search that might be a good place to start:

https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rapidproto/mechanisms/chpt5.html#fourlink

Unfortunately though, we do not have any specific recommendations about where to find linkage hardware for a mechanism like yours.

- Patrick

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I’m not sure what scale you are looking for, but I’ve had luck with mechanical parts from Servo City. If you’re like me you will get cross-eyed trying to figure out what goes with what, but there are tons of examples on the site and they have good pre-sales tech support. Their stuff may be a little pricey though…definitely won’t compete with your paper clip solution in the economics department…:slight_smile:

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Thanks Patrick. Really appreciate the reply. Half the battle is actually just knowing the words / vocabulary when we’re talking about tiny pieces like this. Now I know ‘linkage mechanism’ and ‘linkage hardware’ that has already generated some leads on web searches that are heading in the right direction. Will be sure to post a link to a video when I get this project completed!

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Hi J-Lo, I didn’t expect a reply from a celeb about my oscillating car vents! This also looks like a good lead - precisely the kind of thing I was looking for, and again, now I have the vocab like ‘push rod’ ends at least I can hunt around as I see these parts online. The paper clip is strong enough for the pushing and pulling, but just won’t stay in place even with a bend in it at both ends. Many thanks.