This is a walkthrough of my motorized curtain opener I built using an arduino and some pieces from a robotics kit I had lying around. To controller the curtains or lock I can use X10 (wireless remotes, web interface, iphone app), RFID (cards given to all my roommates) and physical switch to lock it as I leave.
Here’s a little more detailed explanation of the mechanism that opens the curtains:
And here’s a terrible hand drawing laying out the components:
Phil's Project Blog 
Very cool!!
what kind of motor do you use for your system? =)
Hello! Thanks! I used a motor from a robotics kit I had lying around. I believe it was the vexplorer robotics kit. I used the metal sheets, axles and gears from the kit as well to hack up a little device with two barrels that spin in opposite directions that I then ran fishing line around to create the opener mechanism you can see in the video. Let me know if you had any more questions! Thanks!
How did you made the Fading of your desklamp?
Hi Georgiy,
The fading is handled by the x10 lamp module, part LM465.
Hope that helps!
Thank you.
I’m Russian student, beginner in arduino projects) But really whant to do smth automatic in my room. Your projects are very interesting
great job, I am going to have to do something similar to this.
How do i make my motor spin clockwise and the other way around? Any tutorial or known tutorial? Thanks. Im a beginner by the way. I know nothing about arduino but i can follow instructions. 🙂
Hi Daniel,
I used an H-bridge motor controller chip to keep the interface simple and clean (http://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/Labs/DCMotorControl), but you can also build the same functionality with 4 transistors (http://www.instructables.com/id/H-Bridge-on-a-Breadboard/) Both should be pretty simple to setup.
Let me know if you need any more help!
Thank you for the links and help. It helped me alot. Thank you and great work! 🙂
your work is awesome and im planning to do that kind of automation to my curtain to0 but i cant get the mechanism of the motor and string.. i cant figure out how i will tie the string or something. can you help me with this?
Hi Herman,
I don’t completely understand what you’re asking. If you’re looking for how the mechanism works, see the second video and rough illustration I provided. Let me know if you need more help.
Thanks
i mean, how the string is attached on the barrel and curtain. I can’t understand the sketch that you’ve made.
There are two loops of fishing line, each wrapped a few times around the barrel, and then through the tensioner. I then tied the first rung of the curtains to the loop. That loop moves with the barrel since theres enough friction from wrapping it around several times. If you’re still having trouble I could make up an animation of whats going on, let me know.
Hello thanks for sharing!
Do you think that a motor that pulls at a maximum of 2.2kg is powerful enough to move the curtains?
Thanks in advance!
Hi @theseethrough! I honestly have no idea how strong the motors I have are, but I would imagine that 2.2kg would be plenty to move them in my setup. There’s not much resistance when moving them horizontally after I coated the rod with a dry lubricant. I would think that would be fine, but I’m definitely not certain.
Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on blogs I
stumbleupon everyday. It will always be helpful to read through articles from other writers and use a
little something from other sites.
hey, phill awsome arrangement you have shown….. was making this or my home and i am stuck with the sort of tentioner pully that you are using at the two ends of the curtain. plz explain if possible . thankyou
The tensioners just keep spring tension on the lines, making sure they are taught and grab the spinning barrels well.
You can see in this image the tensioner in it’s two extremes, with the spring trying to return to the state on the left: http://abc.eznettools.net/D303221/X339232/tensioners/TENSION-02-400.jpg
In that way the spring is always pulling on the fishing line, keeping it slack free.
This is basically the tensioner I’m using:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/271078928145?lpid=82
Hi Phil,
Can you help me out? I am trying to basically use the same idea, but for a pet door. I want to use the RFID to open the door instead of the remote, can you help me out compile a code for it?
Hi Carlos, this will depend on what RFID reader you are using, what your existing code looks like, etc. There are many examples online if you search for arduino and your particular rfid reader. If you have a more specific question I can try to help. Good luck!
Hi Phil ,
I loved the idea of using magnetic reed switch. Would you please send the schematic and code for it ( how to read the reed switch and identify if closed or opened and send to motor) to ..
Thanks,
MJ
Hi MJ,
Thanks! I don’t have the schematics anymore, but if you use a simple reed switch it is electrically identical to using a push button.
So with one side of the switch connected to ground, and the other to a GPIO pin, the code is very simple:
//in setup()
pinMode(reedSwitchPin, INPUT_PULLUP);
and then either attach an interrupt or poll the value in loop():
bool isPressed = digitalRead(reedSwitchPin) == LOW;
Hope this helps!
Thank you so much. I have bought magnetic reed switch but it is very small. can you please send the details for it or link to buy.
Thanks,
Manoj
Hi Manoj,
Sorry the delay. This is the form factor I bought. I just search for ‘reed switch’ and there are many similar listing:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ALEKO-Magnetic-Reed-Switch-Security-Alarm-For-Doors-Windows-10BS-MC13S-10-Sets/283343864192
Thanks Phil.. I have managed to do a prototype with with the magnetic reed switch. Now need to assemble it to curtains.
Thanks again for the details …
Hi Phil,
I was able to do the code. Please let me know how the string is attached on the barrel and curtain. Is the string is a loop to the barrel of next side (i,e – left side string goes to right barrel ?? ) Also do I need to do a complete loop for a side ??Hope this makes sense. If you can give some pictures on how to connect string to barrel , that will be greatly helpful…
Thanks ,
Manoj
Hi Manoj,
To answer your questions: Yes, it is one loop per side. The loop is wrapped around the motor-driven-barrel several times to give it grip. The loop for the left curtain does go around the right barrel, so that the curtains can be pulled into each other for a tight close.
This youytube video may help visualize that:
Let me know if that didn’t make sense! Good luck! I’d love to see a picture or video if you get yours working!
Thanks for the quick reply. But it is not clear on the video. Can you please send a diagram for one side only??
I have doubt on if we tie a knot to the first ring on the curtain then why we need a loop?? May be I am missing something basic here .. please guide..
Thanks,
Manoj