Foot controller for servo motor

[chrisash]

I have a 29K without the professional sewing table, looking to fit a table top motor to drive it, but what do you use for a foot controller, are there flexible ones like domestic machines that will operate the servo or do you have to make a mechanical one to use the servo imk. For a normal industrial you naturally have the existing pedals, but for something without them how do you control the servo

[Constabulary]

I know that Adler 30 patcher are sometimes equipped with smaller 90Watt right angle gear motors and they er controlled by foot pedals as you find them on domestic machines. But they cost a lot more than a simple servo motor but they really work well but they have no brake.

 

If you want to use a servo motor remove the accelerator unit from the bracket put a plain foot pedal on a wooden board and make a bracket for the accelerator unit and mount it onto the wooden board... ya know what I mean?

Edited March 6, 2020 by Constabulary

[chrisash]

Thanks Constabulary 

Is there no way to control it via a electronic pedal?

I understand making a foot controller, but no easy way to lock that sort of controller to the black and decker table i have the machine bolted to, and its often moved out of the way

Have considered using a domestic 120 watt motor and foot pedal, but prefer not to go that route

[mikesc]

Try something using a bicycle brake cable setup ( that will give you the return spring effect )  and a foot pedal ( two pieces of wood which a hinge would do ) on the other end to action ( pull on ) it..When not in use you can leave it attached, just coil it up and put it next to the motor..Once you have the cable the correct length it will be so every time you put it on the floor below the table.If you need the cable to come up over the motor in order to action the lever..Copper tubing, or aluminium tubing, or even plastic tubing can make a a cable sleeve guide..easy to fix to the table  drill hole matching sleeve guide external diameter..secure above and below table with hex nuts which tread onto the tube..Think about it and you'll see what I mean..I built a similar set up using scrap bicycle parts for a sewing machine ( a second 20U ) that I have in storage ( behind a load of stuff in my atelier )..works fine..allows good control ( as good as a pitman rod system ) and takes 10 seconds to coil out of the way when not in use.

HTH

If you use a brake lever , instead of a pedal..you can use it as a hand operated control system...or use the pedal and push against it with an arm, knee, chest or whatever.Pitman rod systems are cumbersome and take space, cable systems are flexible , and space saving.

Edited March 6, 2020 by mikesc

[dikman]

What he said, probably the simplest and easiest way to achieve what you want. The other way would be to make a foot pedal and fit the actual actuator housing to it, but this would likely mean extending the electrical cables between it and the control box/motor.

I seem to recall Uwe made a remote foot pedal for a servo?

[jhrleather]

To control my motor I pretty much did what Constabulary said.  Simple and works excellent.  

[Jcferguson]

I’m working on a cable driven servo motor, would any of you that have made one be willing to post a pic?  Thank you!

[Uwe]

I made a table-top setup once for an Adler 69, with a pedal on the floor connected by just the wire. 

I also just installed an Adler 30-1 at my maker space with a table-top mounted 1,500W servo motor, needle positioning, and standard pedal configuration. Maybe it helps you figure out your configuration. 

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by Uwe

[DonInReno]

I’m in the same boat - putting together a table top base for a 441 (so it can be placed on the kitchen table or wherever), and it’s time to figure out a new remote pedal.   There isn’t an easy replacement since each motor may have a different type of switch or specification as to what gets fed back to the controller.

Inside the square box that the pedal chain attaches to is mostly empty space with a small circuit board and a magnet (square black thing just below the circuit board) that moves closer to a sensor on the board as more throttle is applied.

This throttle box has three wires - ground, 5v constant power, and the throttle signal that gets returned to the control box.    On this model zero rpm is 1.78v on the signal wire and full speed is the full 5v.    There are ready made remote pedals that are made for a three wire 0-5v signal, even cordless Bluetooth pedals, but there is a risk that there is more going on than might appear .   That 1.78v signal at standby might have to be established for a certain number of seconds before the control box will accept any signal for additional rpm’s - a check of sorts that the circuit is functioning properly.

 I’ve also heard of people having problems when changing from one type of signal switch to another because the control box is programmed to look for more than just a simple voltage - there might be additional communication that I’ll have to look for with an oscilloscope.

Best case - any three wire pedal will work.   Worst case - I’ll have to retrofit a pedal with the circuit board that came in my speed control box.

The bad news is many of the commercially available pedals look rather industrial.  I have seen some cool guitar pedals that could be stripped out and retrofitted.   I’m still looking for something to catch my eye.

 

 

[dikman]

You're building a "portable" 441? I can barely lift the head unit of mine, let alone having it attached to a base with a motor on it too!

You must pump a lot of iron.

[DonInReno]

2 hours ago, dikman said:

You're building a "portable" 441? I can barely lift the head unit of mine, let alone having it attached to a base with a motor on it too!

You must pump a lot of iron.

Lol

Well…it’s not as bad as it sounds - or maybe it is - I have a row of toolboxes that has become my preferred workspace and it would be nice to keep the machine on the countertop there for most flat things and turn it so it points out for bags and whatnot.   The base is a pretty good size piece of 5/8” steel so it’s quite stable, but it will definitely have to be separated when moving.

If the dang garage was larger I wouldn’t have these problems! Lol

[DonInReno]

Well I’m glad I checked that speed box with a scope!   What the multimeter showed as a simple 0-5v signal in the speed input box is actually something else - a 15.5v signal that gets encoded with the information in a formate I’m not familiar with.  Apparently the multimeter was trying to average out all the signals for a clean voltage number.

So thoughts of a ready made pedal are out and I’ll be reusing the circuit board and magnet in some form.

Edited March 10, 2023 by DonInReno

[purplefox66]

Why dont you ask artisan as they have  a bench top model 3200

[Uwe]

1 minute ago, DonInReno said:

Well I’m glad I checked that speed box with a scope!

I was thinking there might more to that signal than a simple voltage reading. Perhaps some sort of pulse width encoding.

[Uwe]

 

Artisan’s floor pedal for the Toro-3200BT (taken from a for sale post here on LW.). Similar concept to what I did for my Adler 69 setup. The solid connection allows for heeling of pedal for position sensor or other function. My version just had push-down movement, no lift.

 

Edited March 10, 2023 by Uwe

[DonInReno]

45 minutes ago, purplefox66 said:

Why dont you ask artisan as they have  a bench top model 3200

It’s nice that they have a table top base, but it has a few things I’m not thrilled about.   There is a finger of material on the base that extends under the arm so it doesn’t tip forward - this just makes the already short arm even more restricted.

That top is just normal Formica covered particle board, which is fine, and it’s drilled for a normal motor mount and speed reducer.   However, I bought more of this 5/8” steel than I needed and once its cut to size and edges are finished, will be a nice heavy base.   The metal is thick enough that anything mounted to it just needs a tapped hole without nuts on the bottom side.

 

[DonInReno]

1 hour ago, Uwe said:

Artisan’s floor pedal for the Toro-3200BT (taken from a for sale post here on LW.). Similar concept to what I did for my Adler 69 setup. The solid connection allows for heeling of pedal for position sensor or other function. My version just had push-down movement, no lift.

I like how your pedal turned out - nice clean look!

I mocked up my little stainless pedal and it would physically work in that orientation, but the speed input box on mine is rather ugly plastic! For now I’m thinking of using it like this and maybe making a better looking smaller box.

I have two of these stainless pedals and the other is for a foot lifter.   I’m gathering parts to cobble together a simple foot operated air system - one cylinder at the pedal and another at the machine. :-)

[327fed]

How bout a go cart throttle cable? Build a pedal or buy a go cart one. 

https://www.amazon.com/DKiigame-Throttle-Cable-Manco-8252-1390/dp/B074WB4271/ref=asc_df_B074WB4271/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312034016842&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10716392868253116165&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9013241&hvtargid=pla-571772624617&psc=1

[DonInReno]

I bet that would work good.

[rlevine]

One of my projects this week was making a foot pedal for the Merrow edger I'm rehabbing. Similar issues: it has to be mostly portable, as the machine is running on a desktop slab, rather than a real table. And, I also discovered that the servo pedal switch is doing some pulse width tricks to control the motor, so the best I can do is lengthen the wire!

Here's the result, from scrap wood and random parts. Only push-down, no heeling needed for the serger. I wanted some kick protection for the switch, and didn't have real ball-joint parts for the connection, so I cobbled together a link from a stove bolt.

 

 

[DonInReno]

That turned out good!

[purplefox66]

On 3/9/2023 at 7:37 PM, DonInReno said:

It’s nice that they have a table top base, but it has a few things I’m not thrilled about.   There is a finger of material on the base that extends under the arm so it doesn’t tip forward - this just makes the already short arm even more restricted.

That top is just normal Formica covered particle board, which is fine, and it’s drilled for a normal motor mount and speed reducer.   However, I bought more of this 5/8” steel than I needed and once its cut to size and edges are finished, will be a nice heavy base.   The metal is thick enough that anything mounted to it just needs a tapped hole without nuts on the bottom side.

My idea was that they have a pedal that should work for you

 

[DonInReno]

That pedal does look pretty good.

[Uwe]

Just one more wired floor pedal reference, this time from an EFKA motor setup: