I wonder If I could make the rotary ring toothed then maybe with an Arduino, stepper motor etc it would be the coolest cat flap on the planet...... Challenge accepted :)
I'm printing the steampunk goggles remix right now (sadly I can't take credit for it) but I think I'll make a servo powered remix myself to use for a cap for my home theater projector. I'll try to post an update this is cool!
i have some huge Leica projection lenses. would be incredible for photography. i'm sure this iris would be useful if it were thinner blades in black teflon,.
Is it possible to make one that is about twice as large and exceptionally lightweight? I know it is a tall order. I would also like to operate it with a very small servo. Perhaps if it had thin paper leaves and a slightly more rigid outer ring, not sure if it is possible?
Making it larger is easy, just scale the 3d models. Making it lightweight... Well, that all depends on your material being used and your fill rate. The less fill, the lighter but also weaker. And the leaves, you can always experiment with how thin your printer can make things. I think for me I had to do 2 or 3 layers for thinks to work right. I have all the cad source files on thingiverse, so you can tweak the original shapes to your hearts content.
i want to use a servo to open and close this, I thought a chain around the gear shape but i dont know how I would design this. What do you think I could do?
your servo's gonna have to be pretty strong tho, dont use a low voltage one. maybe a 6V would work? like those metal ones? i can see this working if you attach a gear to the servo and a chain around both gears, assuming theres enough room for it