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self actuating toggle switch? (midwest.social)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I have a pet project I've been working on to modernize an electric organ console, and one of the final things needed are toggle switches. On a modern organ these are able to be manually toggled, or they can be flipped up/down programmatically using electromagnets (video). The ones purpose built for this are obscenely expensive but I can't find anything even remotely similar. Am I crazy for thinking this kind of switch are used in more things than just organs?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I just had another thought on this. A servo isn't just a rotational actuator like a motor. It is also an encoder (Potentiometer). It knows what position it is in, and can be back-driven into a different position. You can use a servo as both the physical toggle and as the actuator to flip that physical toggle.

https://learn.adafruit.com/analog-feedback-servos/servos-as-input-devices

You can modify regular servos to break out the wiper; you don't need to purchase a special feedback servo.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

This might work with the original parts which would be shockingly nice, I have a few cheap Amazon servos on order to see if they might work