To open the garage door we'll make a mechanism that transfers the rotation of our servo to the rotation of the door.

We could try to mount the door directly to the servo's shaft, but this would be a bit tricky, and pretty bulky looking.

Instead, we'll transfer the rotation of the servo over a short distance using a pushrod made from a paperclip.

Take a look at the diagrams below -- there are a few key things to note:

  • The servo shaft rotates clockwise, and the servo arm rotates along with it
  • The pushrod translates (moves) to the right and slightly down as it is pushed by the servo arm
  • The pushrod pushes the door's control horn to the right
  • The door is on a hinge (made from a drinking straw) which rotates counterclockwise around the door pivot dowel

Later in the guide, we'll build a similar mechanism for our garage.

This guide was first published on May 13, 2018. It was last updated on May 13, 2018.

This page (Pushrod Mechanism) was last updated on May 11, 2018.

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