DMX controlled winch

kikko

Hello everybody,

I'm looking for DMX controlled winches, any idea where I can found it or how to built something affordable and reliable? We don't have to lift very heavy things, let's say around 5kg, but we need to control the speed. I've found something made in Germany but expensive and they sell just in big quantities.

Thank you for any help!

Francesco

Fred

@kikko if it is really not much weigth you could try something linke this

https://www.stageroads.nl/asso...

m_theater

@kikko

https://wahlberg.dk/products/dmx-winches/winch-10

They are located in Denmark, we had bought one for a production a couple of years ago.

But if you want to work with really light props. There is a problem with the safety mechanism for the steel wire.

And without enough weight there can be problems how the steel wire is rolled up inside the winch.

kikko

Thank you guys for the info! I've seen the Wahlberg winches but are expensive. We need 6 pieces and we don't have enought budget for that. About the Showtec equipment maybe we can try to tranform it in a vertical winch, but not sure...

Francesco

Juriaan

@kikko

You can also rent this kind of equipment.. I don't see the need of buying them if you are talking about a small tour.

bonemap

@kikko

Great topic!

There is a flood of kinetic light winches coming from China,

and I did find an Instructable DIY Artnet winch system.

I can really imagine investigating a DIY build for some very light lifting.

Best Wishes

Russell

m_theater

I second Juriaan's comment, that you look around to hire them. for the mentioned Production we hired extra ones as well and got a very reasonable price for the rehearsal / production. https://www.lasa-berlin.de/lei...

m_theater

@kikko

apart from all price / available model issues. One thing to consider is safety.

We made a risk assessement to be sure, if a dmx controllable winch could be used at all, and what kind of safety measurements we had to apply. (worth to check how the motor is attached to the spool)

Think of a dead man's switch, etc.

----

Specially if you consider touring, and you don't wont to argue with the local technical director :)

GertjanB

+1 on all the things above.

If you want to go very very cheap, exacte position is not necessary and safety is not a big concern. (no people near the winch for example):
I have made some with used windshield-wiper motors (±10/15€) + DMX relay boards (±30€). You need 2 relays with NC an NO connection to be able to change direction. You can use a other relay (not on dmx) for an end stop.
The last time I used them was to make Subwoofers and speakers (±70kg) drive around on stage. It worked great.

PS: For my own projects if I need it to be reliable and safe, I never use DMX. I like to use Stepper servo motors used in medical equipment (very reliable and ultra quiet) And communicate on a separate network over RS485. So I can send multiple commands (acceleration, deceleration, speed, torque, safety switch,...)

kikko

It's good to see all of you guys excited. For me starting to be a little pain in the ass... But all yours tips are great! Thank you!

@Juriaan you're right, but not that easy find stuff like that to rent in Italy...

@bonemap I had already seen China kinetic light, I'm waiting for the answer to my mail

@m_theater your right about the safety, once we have the winch we need to think about that and regarding home made solution could be a problem

@GertjanB, we are looking exactly for stuff like this but I'm not sure if I have the know-how to realize that

In the meantime I've found this (sorry, Italian web site) https://www.ledleditalia.it/p/... but bit faraway from the solution

GertjanB

@kikko said:

@GertjanB, we are looking exactly for stuff like this but I'm not sure if I have the know-how to realize that

The great thing about simple dc motors (not servo or stepper) You don't need a lot of know-how to make it work you connect them to the power and they work. if you change the wires it turns the other direction.

This is where I learned to wire a windshield wiper motor the great thing is that you can use it as a stepper motor with only one step:

To make It change directions I used this whiring diagram:

This is all you need. (for the relays you can use dmx relay boards there you give a dmx channel to a relay.)

In Isadora you can make a user actor that sends out 2 dmx channels where you can make the motor run one way or the other.

If you want to make it run slower it becomes a bit more difficult, you need a PWM.