“Building a Lower-power Linear Actuator with Arduino: quite a few people have asked me about scaling down openDog to make it lighter and cheaper, so I thought I’d discuss the options in this ...

Arduino is a good option when it comes to actuator control. With Arduino, you can apply linear actuators in multiple projects, even those that require top precision speed and movement accuracy.

A linear actuator, of course! Although this could be done with other household implements, the form factor of this glue stick seems perfectly suited to sit on top of a servo horn.

The drive comes in ratios from 2.5 to 12.5 mm/rev and standard stroke lengths of 100 to 3,200 mm. Standard thrust is 450 N and the actuator can handle average moment loads of 1,500 Nm.

His linear actuator uses a linear motor, a linear array of coils for the motor phases, working against a line of magnets. Even better than that, he’s managed to make the whole motor out of a ...