VSB Chicken Coop Door Opener Repair / Upgrade

Apem Push button IS, IP67, black

LED Lenses Clear Fresnel Lens Cliplite 5mm

Arduino UNO

Adafruit TB6612 1.2A DC/Stepper Motor Driver Breakout Board

<h3 >Update:</h3><p >After 12 months of use, the system is working flawlessly! On one or two occasions, something was blocking the door when closing but the system detected it and I saw the red LED blink fast so I could solve the problem (an obstruction under the door) easily.</p><p >I'm very glad with this Arduino solution!</p><h3 >Revisions:</h3><ul ><li >2018-01 - minor addition: I added an external Arduino board reset button on the VSB housing so reset after 'tilt' condition is a bit easier. </li></ul><ul ><li >2017-04-26 - code enhancement and schematic update to Rev.1.2 due to error in wiring </li></ul><ul ><li >2017-03-30 initial upload</li></ul><h3 >Side note:</h3><p >With a minor change to the code, you can also use this project for a 'generic' Coop Door Opener system.</p><p >From the original VSB Coop Door Opener I only use the motor and switches. </p><h3 >Why this project?</h3><p >One of my two (excellent) VSB chicken coop door openers was broken. This was caused by wood expanding due to moisture, preventing the door from opening.</p><p ><span >If the door get jammed at closing, the motor simply stops </span><strong >but not so when opening! </strong><span >In that case the motor keeps on running for ever, destroying the Mosfet H-bridge chips I suspect.</span></p><p >So I sent an Email to AXT Electronics in Germany and they advised me to sent the unit for repair. But I decided not to spent the 60-80 euro's and first look if I could repair it myself.</p><p >So at first I stripped the plastic from the backside of the PCB to see if I could exchange some components</p><div id="gallery"><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/138c0717-b463-4bb8-928f-fc25ef7f5040.jpg /><figcaption>stripping the plastic off was relatively easy</figcaption><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/529fdbf6-e92b-4d1b-be70-8bc8430ab417.jpg /><figcaption>I'm alway curious what's underneath... ;)</figcaption></div><h3 >The Arduino controller</h3><p >But later I decided to forget about the repair and to add an Arduino controller which is much more fun :)</p><p ><span >This way I could add </span><strong >manual control</strong><span > and some </span><strong >LED's</strong><span > with </span><a href="http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/423/CLB-300-5mm-round-lens-drawing-471606.pdf">Fresnel lens holders</a><span > to see from our home if the door was closed at night and open at daytime.</span></p><div id="gallery"><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/9d57e12d-c69b-44f4-9d32-3d9307532045.jpg /><figcaption>because of the Fresnel lens, the LED's are visible from any angle!</figcaption><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/0685e894-3298-4ef3-a105-3f546c889f62.jpg /><figcaption> </figcaption></div><p ><span >I used a 30 x 30 hole piece of stripboard to mount my home-brew Arduino clone, an </span><a href="https://www.adafruit.com/product/2448">Adafruit motor driver</a><span > and some other components. </span></p><p ><strong >Be sure to use the right motor driver chip/board</strong><span >!  Some do not work at certain motor voltages. This board did so I could use one 9V 100mA power supply, regulated to 5V for the Arduino </span><em >and</em><span > motor.</span></p><p >The motor driver PCB is removable by using some high quality female headers so if it burns up due to a jamming door (like the orginal VSB PCB), I can easily exchange it. But maybe this motor driver is protected so probably this was not necessary.</p><div id="gallery"><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/b7e68690-2d4a-41f3-81d3-ea7fd3858bec.jpg /><figcaption>not very pretty but it does the job...</figcaption><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/6aa54146-1351-4f16-acf3-cd495c9fb8ce.jpg /><figcaption>be careful to double check for shorts!</figcaption></div><p >To connect the wires for the reed switches, the push buttons for the manual control and LED's I used male and (high quality) female headers. For the remote switch and light sensor I used some el cheapo chinese removable screw terminals...</p><p >Some other pictures of the build...</p><div id="gallery"><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/136807f2-d730-4d0c-8573-a395f37a3da8.jpg /><figcaption>I cut all the traces and wired up the 2 reed switches and the moror</figcaption><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/9dbc7503-d767-4331-9b47-7789c02b84e8.jpg /><figcaption>the mechanical part is very good so that's the only part we use of the VSB system</figcaption><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/b7de2bc4-6015-4293-881d-2f5567f82cbe.jpg /><figcaption>to prevent rust I used pvc bolts and nuts</figcaption><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/8a2a70d2-574a-426e-b0a8-02cf92a6e4e5.jpg /><figcaption> </figcaption><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/d4c10f95-92fc-49c1-8bbd-fc33a00871d3.jpg /><figcaption>BE CAREFUL to route the wires so the mechanical parts are not obstructed!</figcaption><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/2a0fab95-7d71-47e7-beaa-ce69f7b67531.jpg /><figcaption> </figcaption><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/b4b73c55-8a57-4b13-82c0-d61e9dbfb8c1.jpg /><figcaption>because I used male/female header connectors for the external connections, the hole must be made bigger. </figcaption><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/181a8fed-de0f-48e1-b2b9-516dc3935285.jpg /><figcaption> </figcaption><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/3c66b53e-1bd3-4d5d-9a7c-dda614e4de30.jpg /><figcaption>used hot glue to make the front of the housing water tight </figcaption><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/bdc38b08-ec04-44fc-8dda-10a56005e40a.jpg /><figcaption>again check for free movement of the mechanical parts!</figcaption></div><h3 >Video...</h3><p >Dutch spoken but English subtitles available...</p><div class="se-component se-video-container __se__float-none" contenteditable="false" style="width: 100%;"><figure style="width: 100%; height: 56.25%; padding-bottom: 56.25%; margin: 0px;"><iframe frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JBBfZcFwhCc" data-proportion="true" data-percentage="100%,56.25%" data-size="100%,56.25%" data-align="none" style="width: 100%; height: 100%;" data-index="0" data-file-size="0" data-origin="100%,56.25%"></iframe></figure></div><h3 >Tie the wires together...</h3><p >I use fishing line to lift the chicken coop door but because fishing line is so smooth, a normal flat knot can possibly slip so I use the Albright Knot...</p><div class="se-component se-video-container __se__float-none" contenteditable="false" style="width: 100%;"><figure style="width: 100%; height: 56.25%; padding-bottom: 56.25%; margin: 0px;"><iframe frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dDKaoCRT2jo" data-proportion="true" data-percentage="100%,56.25%" data-size="100%,56.25%" data-align="none" style="width: 100%; height: 100%;" data-index="0" data-file-size="0" data-origin="100%,56.25%"></iframe></figure></div><p ></p><div id="gallery"><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/0ac13b46-93f5-453f-9dde-c5897417ae54.JPG /><figcaption> </figcaption><img id="gallery" src=https://projects.arduinocontent.cc/91817519-76b8-42cc-8af5-22f608646ab3.JPG /><figcaption>Top-left: the Domotica receiver (KlikAanKlikUit) to open/close the door remotely. In the black transformer housing , I mounted a relais.</figcaption></div><p ></p>

VSB Chicken Coop Door Opener Repair / Upgrade

My broken chicken coop door opener now has manual control and LED indicators so I can see from the house if the chickens are safe at night.