I'm adapting my CNC for an art project - a video camera moving through a model set. It leads to yet another technical issue. I need to work out a way to create a dimmer for some lights, or control AC current. I think there's likely various ways to do this. I'd appreciate any feedback some of you might have.
A simple on/off would be quite easy through an output relay. The thing is that I want to be able to dim the light or control the intensity of it.
I could think of two possibilities:
1. With the machine as it currently is I'm no longer using a spindle. I'm wondering if I could use the VFD of the spindle to control a circuit board. This way I could simply include the intensity of the light within the G code ( or S Code) by increasing or decreasing the 'speed' of the spindle. Could this work? Any suggestions on a board that could work with this or what type of hardware would be needed?
2. Another consideration was to configure things for a servo spindle. I haven't done this before but I believe I can control the PWM rate this way. I could use the PWM to run a circuit board and control the lights.
I suppose a third option would be to use LEDs which are a bit easier to control digitally but it would still require some sort of VFD or PWM control I'd think... Unless I could use a stepper signal sent to an arduino which would then run a circuit board. This way I could just run the light's intensity like I would an axis using steps.
I'm sure this is outside the typical spectrum but I appreciate any feedback and hope this it might be informative to others in regards to the possibilities available in interfacing between Mach and the physical world.
Thanks