A salvaged garage door opener would be an interesting way to get started.
Nabin kalauni said:
But after that I have not found a satisfactory way to make the clothes return to the open once it stops raining or once the sun emerges. Your help would be much appreciated. Also keep in mind that the motor has to be turned off once the clothes enter the house and rrmain turned off until it stops raining.Thank you.
A question well stated is half answered...
You have to mix "Logic thinking" with "measurement thinking". That's a folly some programmers fall into, they forget the computer program must base its decision on some real world condition.
That condition might be a logical state like "System is waiting for it to stop raining" , which needs no measurement from outside world
or a logical state that does require a measurement like "My moisture sensor reports It's not raining ".
Draw yourself a flowchart of the thought process that'll finish your clothes dryng task
then start working on a circuit for each block in the flowchart.
I would suggest you do it first time with 555 timers , they can be wired to do logic elements like memory , time delay, invert, and, or,,,
and if you tie TRIG to RESET and connect an analog signal there you have a dandy comparator for logic decision based on that analog voltage.
That'll teach you a LOT of basics.
Then move on to tiny microcontrollers . Learning your first one will be difficult but after that you have a real powerful tool in your 'bag of tricks' .
Leaping into them too soon might overwhelm and discourage you. Myself I don't use them because the field changes so fast i can't keep up.
Take apart an old garage door opener and see how it measures position... and how it checks for small children standing underneath the door.
Robots are without remorse so build some foresight into yours.
Above all, Have Fun !
