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Officer needs help

Officer needs help

Officer needs help

(OP)
I hope I am not intruding on your group but I need assistance with electrical motors.  I am a firearms instructor and want to build a laterial moving target system.  What kind of electric motor do I need that I could hook up to a pully?  I want to be able to reverse direction and change the speed.  To draw a picture--the motor would be mounted on a wall, on the opposite wall would be a pully.  A cable with a target holder would run between the motor and the pully.  Again I am sorry if this is the wrong place to post this question, but I know very little about motors.  Thank-you all for any assistance.

RE: Officer needs help

The motor you choose is going to be dependent upon what power supply you have available.  Please advise what you have for power.

RE: Officer needs help

I think a small three phase, gearhead motor with the pulley mounted directly on the shaft and driven by a VFD will do the job. What is used at other target ranges. If there is something on the market, it may be better than trying to re-invent the wheel. On the other hand, nitch markets tend to be overpriced.
yours

RE: Officer needs help

Wow, there appears to be someone that builds whatever you want!

The "Running Man" as shown in the first of machmech's links appears to be exactly what you are describing. They use a 90VDC motor and a 110VAC input DC drive. Fairly simple and inexpensive, although I would shy away fro DC just because of the maintenance issue. Given that you are military this thing will likely get more use that an occasional truip to the firing range.

You could do the same thing with a AC 3 phase 220V motor and a VFD that takes 110V 1 phase AC and puts out 220V 3 phase AC. The VFDs are fairly cheap, the motors would be slightly more than DC, but no brushes to wear out and need maintenance. Depending on how heavy your target is, I can't imagine needing anything more than 1/4HP.

Eng-Tips: Help for your job, not for your homework  Read FAQ731-376

RE: Officer needs help

jojvl32, are you in North America with 120V 60Hz power available to you or are you overseas someplace with some different power source?

RE: Officer needs help

(OP)
Thank you all for your responses.  Just to clarify I am not in the military, but I had to pick an occupation to register and I think that was closest to police officer.  I am in the US (peoples republic of Wisconsin).  I have looked at market lateral movers but they are too expensive for our department (though Im sure they are worth their weight in gold with all that engineering expertise -yes a little kissing up never hurts).  I am looking for AC powered.  Stevekw, I see that motor i reversable, is the speed adjustable?  The motor does not need to be fast nor does it need to be werfull, it would just move a cable and a cardboard target or two.
Again thank-you all for your assistance.

RE: Officer needs help

Yes. My second post has a link.

RE: Officer needs help

jojvl32
I've got a few people here in our office I'd certainly like to volunteer as moving targets with the added benefit you don't need to worry about volts, torque or speed...
smile

RE: Officer needs help

I'd take a look at modifing a standard garage door opener.
Don

RE: Officer needs help

(OP)
Sed2-thanks for the offer but the Chief said we couldn't afford to feed them before using them.
resqcapt19-we had tried that in the past with little success.  I think stevekw was on the mark (thank-you) if anyone knows of a cheap combo let me know...and please dumb it down for me, Im just a simple donut eating cop.

RE: Officer needs help

Not to endorse one supplier over another, but this does make it a one-stop shop. gearmotor link VFD link

What you will need to do is determine the maximum linear speed you want the target to move and the size of the pulley to calculate the maximum shaft speed of the gearbox. The VFD will take care of everything below that.

Eng-Tips: Help for your job, not for your homework  Read FAQ731-376

RE: Officer needs help

Make sure the drive system is bullet proof... (Seriously!) I have worked around them and they will get shot if they are shootable.

Keith Cress
Flamin Systems, Inc.- http://www.flaminsystems.com

RE: Officer needs help

LOL, no such thing! The concept of "bullet proof" is just a challenge in my experience. I used to build pump control systems that often ended up in the woods. We used 1/2" steel plate for the enclosures and after the first season you could see the pock marks from being hit by .3006 slugs. Next year, the serious dents left by .45's, and within 5 years the armor piercing rounds would come out and make it through.

Good repeat business that was, but I felt sorry for the owners.

Eng-Tips: Help for your job, not for your homework  Read FAQ731-376

RE: Officer needs help

Hahah!   Were they your '06 bullets?  infinity Like those dorks who were BART seat repair men who would ride BART on off hours with box cutters.

I image jojvl32 expects just pistol ammo but maybe not.

Keith Cress
Flamin Systems, Inc.- http://www.flaminsystems.com

RE: Officer needs help

Probably cheaper to feed sed2's office mates! Linear motors have their uses for sure, but overkill for this I would think.

Eng-Tips: Help for your job, not for your homework  Read FAQ731-376

RE: Officer needs help

(OP)
I plan on having the motor on the side furthest from the shooting so bullet resistance isn't much of an issue....though we do have some "challenging" shooters.  

RE: Officer needs help

Hey, I can send them with sandwiches packed...
Whatever you decide on for the solution, I'm sure the company would just love the publicity of a real "bullet-proof" product. You might even get one for free with an offer of unlimited publicity!

RE: Officer needs help

Here's another possibility:

1x High torque RC car motor
1x RC car gearbox (optional for lower speed and higher torque)
1x Pulley (custom fit to motor or gearbox shaft)
1x RC car proportional speed controller
1x RC car receiver/electronics box (might have speed controller onboard)
1x Inexpensive 2-ch proportional RC transmitter
1x Slightly modified 120VAC to 9-15 VDC (power supply (similar to a cell phone or radio charger)

With the exception of the pulley and the power supply all of the parts should be available at your local hobby shop or from a myriad of online shops.  Just make sure that your speed controller is adequate for your motor choice.  It might also be a little more inexpensive (not to mention easier) to buy a complete RC car kit and just use what you need out of it.  The power supply can be bought from your local electronics or hardware store and the DC voltage and current should match the requirements of your electronics box, etc.  Mounting is left to your imagination.

If the object is to simply move a paper target back and forth, it just might have the guts for it.  Also, to go with the latest comments, the compact nature of the components limits unwanted target aspect. blllttt

Just a thought,

Mike

RE: Officer needs help

I was once asked as a favour to come up with a cheap and simple way of `Automating` a curtain on a theatrical-stage at absolute minimum cost. In true `Junkyard-Wars fashion` (yes...we have it over the pond too)! Myself and a colleague came up with a solution using a DC motorgearbox, battery and control gear from a scrapped electric-wheelchair. We dumped the unwanted chair parts, fixed a 2nd-hand pulley on the ouptput shaft and wrapped the curtain cord around it, fixed the joystick and control gear onto a fabricated bracket then weighted the whole thing down to the stage-floor to keep the tension on the cord.
It worked perfectly on the opening night much to our surprize. Pushing the joystick forward opened the curtain, bringing it back closed it, all with the advantage of variable speed. I just phoned my friend to remind me what the whole thing cost, we spent about £25 on various bits and pieces etc but that was without the wheelchair parts which were donated...thats about $43.50 at todays rate. If you can get hold of an old chair I am sure with a bit of crafty thinking the idea can be adapted to power the target in the required manner. Simple, hard wearing, easy and cheap. Just remember to charge the battery overnight.

RE: Officer needs help

stardelta; nice idea.  You even get the joystick in the deal.  The speeds are right.  Just pull the tire off a rim.  Use the other tireless wheel elsewhere for the return pulley.

Sweet.

Keith Cress
Flamin Systems, Inc.- http://www.flaminsystems.com

RE: Officer needs help

Ingeniuos, bravo.

Didn't "Junyard Wars" originate from your side anyway?

Eng-Tips: Help for your job, not for your homework  Read FAQ731-376

RE: Officer needs help

I think it did, but over here its called `Scrapheap- Challenge`

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