Want to build a automatic opening drawer? Answered

Very little power in the DVD tray BUT the principle is good.

A rack and pinion is the traditional way (as in DVD) but you could make arrangements with some string and a motor for example.

Good free running draws on tracks is the key so they are easy to move.

Remember that with a heavy object (eg a FULL draw) the inertia will be considerably increased from when it was empty and light.


T emulate that Smoooth action you so often see in CD players etc look for some smart grease and use a spring to pull the draw open when the catch is released, you will have to push it back though.

Smart grease info here:

http://www.nelsonthornes.com/aqagce/AS%20sample%20material/Head%20of%20Design%20and%20Technology/Product%20Design/AS%20Product%20Design.pdf

1. A motor to draw the curtains, preferably a motor you can operate in forward and reverse;
2. A circuit to operate the motor;
3. A circuit to determine when to operate the motor, which could be based on outdoor light level or based on time of day;
4. A circuit to stop the motor when the curtains have opened or closed completely. This can be done with mechanical limit switches, optical sensors, or other means; and
5. A circuit to provide the necessary power based on the voltage and current requirements for each of the above.

Use an automotive electric window motor and assembly to draw the drawer open and closed. Use a ball bearing or roller type slide for guide. You can wire a kick out for when the drawer opens as far as you want as a safety measure.

The electric window motor will require significant juice though...12v 10amp I believe or close to.

For this I would use a computer power supply and group all the yellow in one bundle and group all the black wires in another.

You will need to search for the proper wiring of a PC power supply. Works great though

Would love to have something like this Ikea thing, but much cheaper:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30238703/

so with research i have decided against the original curiosty..... naturaully i decided to go with push to open soft close drawer slides im gonna do a step by step for the drawer should be a fun lil project

A DVD tray opener would be much too light to open any drawer that weighs more than a few ounces.
I would suggest you think of a worm gear type garage door opener. Copy the design using an all-thread rod and a large nut. Fasten the nut to the drawer and the all-thread rod to an electric motor. You can scale the sizes to open pretty much any drawer you need. Reverse the direction of rotation of the motor with a switch and it will also close the drawer when you're ready.