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I'm planning to design a simple lifting system which is driven by an electric motor. I want to lift up to 100 kg. I also want to obtain an auto-control(feed back) using some sensors for the height of the lifted object. For example: when the temperature is around 20 C the height of the lift will be 50 cm and when the temperature is around 30 C it will be 70 cm.

Which kind of electric motors are used in these kind of applications? Do I need a micro controller such as Arduino to code the sensor feedback conditions?

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This question is a bit vague and open-ended. To get useful responses please consider adding notes on what research you have already done, and what your specific questions are, from an electronic design perspective. "Google this for me" isn't popular here. – Anindo Ghosh Nov 23 '12 at 8:17
Im talking about my specific task and even give the weights. What do u want more? – user16307 Nov 23 '12 at 8:43
What speed the platform must lift at, power preferences (AC mains / DC power etc), at the very least. Also look at this question. – Anindo Ghosh Nov 23 '12 at 9:12

closed as not a real question by Nick Alexeev, Anindo Ghosh, Leon Heller, Olin Lathrop, Brian Carlton Nov 27 '12 at 0:01

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

2 Answers

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The variable temperature -> height requirement is an unusual one; while you could do that without a microcontroller it's probably easier with one.

Finding an existing mechanical solution will probably simplify your design. I expect you'll be able to find some sort of winch designed for automotive or boat environments that runns off 12V. Either that or a mains one.

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There are easily a dozen ways to solve this. Even a tiny motor will lift 100kg if you are not in a hurry. You could use hydraulics or a small, geared-down motor driving a cable hoist or a lead screw depending on the speed of reaction you need. Total range of lift required would also be a specification. Feedback could be mechanical switches, opto or magnetic sensors, a resistive strip, to name a few possibilities. If height is strictly a function of temperature and nothing else, you might even leave it open loop, with no feed back, again depending on the accuracy required, operating environment, and other things you have not spelled out.

To me this conjures up a monster model of an old fashioned bulb thermometer!

You'd probably have some luck posting this at the home shop machinist forum. It's not a stack exchange site, and the engineers there love to put in their 2 cents no matter how vague and open-end the design questions. Also, this is at least as much a mechanical as an electronic design question.

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