Pneumatic actuator, solenoid valve and timer

small instrument motor with gearbox geared to 12rpm - 5rpm, an appropriate cam, and a spring plunger

TygerDawg

I assume this is for testing the mechanics of the key since you can write a program for a pulsed key input signal.

If you are looking for the MTBF you will want to have some guidance on the striker to keep from putting a side load on the key.  Try to make the guidance long and the spring deflection 25% or less of max.  The MTBF may be in the millions of cycles.

Barry1961

I would use a small servo motor from an rc car, aircraft, etc. I would then use a parrallax basic stamp to conrol the servo motor.

best regards, PLCSAVVY

You could also use a servo driven linear actuator (electric cylinder). The cylinder is powered by 24vdc and can of course be controlled by a PLC. A reliable and easy to program electric cylinder is one from mirai international. This cylinder does not even need a PLC for control. It can be interfaced directly to an inexpensive laptop computer. As I said this device is very easy to setup and program. The end of the cylinder rod is threaded and can thus accomodate any type of tooling you can dream up.

best regards, plcsavvy.