Powering an overhead container crane

[Libbi]

Hi All
I am in need of advice and instruction. I want to build a container crane for my N gauge layout and need to be able to make it move up/down side to side  lift and drop. Any one ever done this before ?  Some of you guys must be able to help a female in a muddle

Thank you
Libby

[ntpntpntp]

There was a model by Brawa back in the 1970s.  I'm not sure exactly how it worked but I would guess probably motorised threaded rod for the horizontal  movements, and maybe a motor and toothed rod to raise/lower the grab?

[Libbi]

Thank you very much for replying. I have seen this on you tube and it is a pity they are no longer available
. I can scratch build the structure. But then I will be stuck with finding the electronics and making it work.   But not giving up.   I am sure some body somewhere has the answer
Libby

[AlexanderJesse]

One solution miht be to use modified micro servos for the mechanics and "normal" servi controls.

Servos usually have a limited range of movement, but the modification is relatively simple. This modification is often used in RC controlled sailboats as sail-winch.

3 servos could give you all axis. And a small electric magnet could be used for hooking up the load.

I have not found a ready to go solution, but that could be available, altough a little hidden... in the net.

[devonjames]

I'll start with the caveat that I haven't actually built anything quite like this but you are going to need to control it with servo motors.  Basic servos are pretty cheap, like this one:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hxt900-micro-servo-1-6kg-0-12sec-9-8g.html
which you can then control with a Train-Tech sv1:
https://railsofsheffield.com/products/train-tech-ttsv1-servo-controller-for-dcdcc-systems
that isn't quite so cheap but fairly easy to use out of the box.

[Libbi]

Thank you devonjames and Alexander for replying  not figured how to reply to you individually
I think I have to do a lot more research as to how the electronics work.  A nursing career did not equip me for this hobby 

[emjaybee]

Thank you devonjames and Alexander for replying  not figured how to reply to you individually
I think I have to do a lot more research as to how the electronics work.  A nursing career did not equip me for this hobby 

It may not have equipped you for the electrickery, but you've got a head start on most of us when the inevitable 'finger slicing' happens.

[Libbi]

I slice my own fingers too 🤣🤣

[AlexanderJesse]

I slice my own fingers too 🤣🤣

Of course, but you know what to do then...

Replying to an individual post... often is done using the "quote" link in the upper right corner of a posting...

An alternative to a ready made servo controller would be a do-it-yourself system with an arduino or a raspberrypi... for the second one a lot of tutorials exist, as it was engineered for school projects. You can find lectures held by 12 year old kids! It definitrly is not MAGIC...

[ntpntpntp]

Servos and arduinos etc. would make a splendid "modern" solution but are not the only option. 

As I mentioned in my earlier reply a lot of this can be done with good old mechanical parts and motors to drive threaded rod, with push buttons to switch motor direction.  I'm sure I've seen someone achieve the main structure movements using motors to drive fishing line to pull things along.

[chrism]

Thank you devonjames and Alexander for replying  not figured how to reply to you individually
I think I have to do a lot more research as to how the electronics work.  A nursing career did not equip me for this hobby 

IMO, the mechanics is going to be the greater challenge - especially in such a small scale.

You will need to source small enough motors that can be hidden away within the structure without it being too obviously oversize, then work out how they drive the  movements. My suspicion is that the overhead movements in the Brawa one involve motors in the overhead cabin, each turning a pinion gear that engages on a toothed track, one to move the cabin structure left & right, the other to raise and lower the cradle. That would be, I think,  the simplest and most compact method. Movement of the whole structure along its tracks probably uses a motor in the base.

Then, you need to get power to the motors - which means either wires with sufficient slack (possibly with a spring return to keep them under control) to accommodate the maximum movement or wiper strips and sliding pickups.

Once the mechanics is done, the control side should be a doddle - if, say, you just use ordinary small motors then all you need, at the most basic, is a two-way centre off switch for each to drive it in forward or reverse and to stop it. Not sure about servos, but I think they'd need three wires each.
The Brawa one appears to use joysticks to control more than one motor at the same time, but that's not necessarily essential.

[AlexanderJesse]

Check out this one: https://www.justngauge.co.uk/container-port

Small enough motors... microservos might be the ticket, that's why I mentioned them. Many overhead container cranes have a fairly big cabin...

[emjaybee]

I slice my own fingers too 🤣🤣

Oh, you'll fit in a treat here. 'alf the time it's like a doctors waiting room crossed with A&E!...

...mind, that's before craft knife issues.

[icairns]

There were a few articles in last year's Railway Modellers that might be of interest.  Although the articles are for OO and O gauge projects, their ideas and methods might be applicable to N gauge.

1) "Motorising the Dapol Travelling Crane Kit" by Andrew Hicks (OO gauge).  RM July 2021 pp524/5.

2) "A Bodge Engineers Ltd" by Peter Osbourne (O gauge).  RM February 2021, pp120-123.  Layout article that includes a working overhead crane.

3) "A Bodge Engineers Ltd - The Working Parts" by Peter Osbourne (O gauge).  RM March 2021, pp190-193.  Describes how the working overhead crane is motorized.

Just food for thought.

Ian

[Libbi]

Thank you devonjames and Alexander for replying  not figured how to reply to you individually
I think I have to do a lot more research as to how the electronics work.  A nursing career did not equip me for this hobby 

IMO, the mechanics is going to be the greater challenge - especially in such a small scale.

You will need to source small enough motors that can be hidden away within the structure without it being too obviously oversize, then work out how they drive the  movements. My suspicion is that the overhead movements in the Brawa one involve motors in the overhead cabin, each turning a pinion gear that engages on a toothed track, one to move the cabin structure left & right, the other to raise and lower the cradle. That would be, I think,  the simplest and most compact method. Movement of the whole structure along its tracks probably uses a motor in the base.

Then, you need to get power to the motors - which means either wires with sufficient slack (possibly with a spring return to keep them under control) to accommodate the maximum movement or wiper strips and sliding pickups.

Once the mechanics is done, the control side should be a doddle - if, say, you just use ordinary small motors then all you need, at the most basic, is a two-way centre off switch for each to drive it in forward or reverse and to stop it. Not sure about servos, but I think they'd need three wires each.
The Brawa one appears to use joysticks to control more than one motor at the same time, but that's not necessarily essential.

Thank you so much for the info  everyone here is really nice and helpful