There doesn’t seem to be a great location to post this on the forums, so im posting here. I thought you may like to follow along on my project to build a lowering projector stand into my home automation setup using a Linear actuator and a fibaro Switch FGS 223.
Im currently at the acquire all the parts and plan the build stage, but im hoping to work on this some more over the weekend and get some of the basics together. Im waiting for various deliveries at this point.
So the history. I am currently renovating a house in the UK and have stripped most rooms bear, we are living in the house so we cant gut it all at the same time, so we are having to do bits here and there to fit around us. While i was renovating the main bedroom above the living room. i took the time to install a 106" motorised projector screen under the floor. This lowers out of the ceiling and is connected to smart things using a Fibaro Roller shutter controller.
Here is the thread I posted detailing that project:
So for a while now ive been using my projector suspended from the ceiling. However Having the screen so well hidden its been digging at me the that having the projector hanging form the ceiling in plain sight looks untidy and i decided id like to go for a more stealth installation. So the idea of the hidden projector was born. Here is the current living room state
you cant see the projector screen hiding above the bay window, but you can see the projector.
My Idea is to create a low box hanging from the ceiling (i cant go up into the ceiling easily like i did for the projector so a hanging box is the simplest choice here. I initially thought it would be most simple to create a box that looks like a light feature, eg:
but in the back of it have a hole for the projector, no moving parts. however, this didnt allow me to set the projector far back enough even though it is a short throw. also I was worried about heat buildup in the hole.
some renders i created of the idea
At fist i thought a hinged door maybe enough, but keeping the door inplace and not dropping it down to fast could be difficult and also getting the angle correct for the projector could be awkward.I looked at all kinds of openers and soft close systems but none were really designed for vertical use. most for kitchen doors
I then decided some kind of height adjustable shelf or lowering shelf maybe the best idea, found a few builds on YouTube of similar things and though lets go for it.
ill post a render up later. the renders you see above are a box within a box, the outer box is about 5cm short of touching the ceiling which will allow light to cast out of the edges (led strip behind it). the inner box then does touch the ceiling and contains all the wiring, the mechanism and the projector itself. ive more or less finalised the design of the box in sketchup and ill just tweak things depending on how ill engineer the pully system to lift it up and down.
the box is 20CM high plus the bottom panel, Ive decided to use draw runners to keep the shelf level and in place, they are 3-4cm wide and when closed they are 20cm long which is great, they only extend a further 23cm which isnt as much adjustment as i would have liked but hopefully it will be enough.
as i knew about the 20cm restriction of the draw runners I bought an linear actuator from ebay (12v DC “JS-TGZ-U1”) which has a 20cm throw, this should allow the shelf to raise and lower by 20cm. and of course i cant fit anything taller than 20cm into the box when closed anyway so, it all should work out fingers crossed.
Most (cheap) linear actuators work by inverting the current flow. one direction to open the actuator and one to close.
After some great help from forum users, I was able to find a relay (DPDT) which using its coil can change the current direction of a DC power supply. linking this relay to a Fibaro FGS223 or FGS222 should allow me to open and close actuator pretty simply. I only have a very basic electronic knowledge so the simplicity of the circuit is going to be a bonus (no micro controllers or rasberry pi’s or programming skills required.
As of this moment the draw runners have arrived:
and ive build part of the frame and cut most of the wood
Hopefully Most of the parts will turn up in the next few days, although i have no idea when the actuator itself might turn up.
Ill post up further developments as the project moves on. Wish me luck!
