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OK, as long as I'm programming my arduinos, I've been wondering how they can help me with automating the glass cleaning. I have five pieces of glass on the front of the tank, about 36" high and they total about 25 feet long and I'd rather have a machine than my elbows clean 75 square feet per day. Other than a stop at each end of the 25' distance, the "U" shape of the tank has four corners to turn of about 45 degrees each. I'm thinking of putting a stainless rail/track on the 3.5" stainless horizontal bar at the top of the glass and another on the bottom of the tank a few inches away from the front glass. (not too difficult in my case because I'm going with a bare bottom tank and don't have to worry about sand getting in the track). These rails/tracks could also be fiberglass and I could custom make something if necessary, but I'd prefer a track that already exists. I'm thinking that the inside scrubbing mechanism being maybe a series of circular nylon scrubbers that are powered by water lines or powerheads. I could put a third rail on the ceiling to hold 25' of looped wire or water tubing to move with the apparatus. Perhaps a vertical bar of stainless steel inside the tank holds springs which give steady pressure from the brushes onto the inside of the glass. In addition to springs, perhaps there is an outside half of the system where another bar holds magnets that roll directly opposite the glass from a magnet on the inside of each scrubber. There are a lot of challenges in my situation. The tank is framed with stainless steel angles, so inside of the tank there is about a 1" bump in between the panes, so the apparatus would have to cross that bump. And the 5 pieces of glass are set into a "U" that wraps around the viewer, so I'm dealing with a curve where two sides of the glass have different lengths. So probably there are two different stepper motors running down the track, one with more revolutions for the outside of the curve and a second with fewer steps. Also at the end of each pane of glass there needs to be an action to disengage the inside scrubbers in order to navigate around a 45 degree corner. Perhaps I could buy small radius turns in a U shaped rail/track and just run around the corners. The total distance inside these viewing panes would be a foot or two longer than the outside distance because of the "U" shape. We have some smart people in WAMAS, who can help me figure out something that could be robust, yet simple? Is there a better way than stepper motors and circular scrubbers? Don't be afraid to offer suggestions from way outside the box! I can see that my narrative is getting complicated, so a couple of pictures may be in order so people can see what the aquarium frame looks like. I will post them soon.
