This is my first attempt at motorizing the armature.
The motor is a $29 Craftsman dual-speed cordless screwdriver. The handle (right above it) contains the battery pack. For a powerful, geared-down motor complete with battery and recharger, it's hard to beat. There's a piece of 2-1/4" rubber heater hose around it to quiet the motor noise. Next to the handle is a pair of Radio Shack 9 volt relays, which connect in turn to a pair of magnetic reed switches and three micro-switches that are really hard to see, so they're circled in green.
The motor turns a small reel (a magnetic bit extender), which reels in and lets out a nylon cord which I colored green so you can see it against the aluminum. The small pulleys right below the reel re-direct the cord through a pair of guides to tie-points on the wings. A small metal bar and spring mounted on the wing arm serve as a tension detector, to stop the motor if the cord goes slack. Unfortunately, they can only keep the motor from making the cord go more slack. If the wings start to close for any other reason (like running into something), the pulleys will get fouled every time.
Back to the old drawing board.
