Turn on a circuit, using Raspberry Pi

Question

I successfully learned how to turn on an LED. Now, having a battery and a motor, I want to turn on the circuit using the Pi: basically starting the motor when I send a signal from Pi, but not sending current to the motor itself.

I want the Pi to only send the signal that I want to power the motor using the battery.

How can I do that?

A simple way would be just using an electromagnet which will turn on the circuit mechanically, but I want to use an electric component if possible.

You could use a MOSFET as a switch to turn the motor on/off. — Ron Beyer, Aug 09 '16 at 14:31
Despite the mentioning of 12V in the linked question, the idea and the answers are quite fitting. — Ghanima, Aug 09 '16 at 14:43
@Ghanima Well, the motor thing was just an example. Another example would be to turn on any circuit, like a programatic switch. Would that work in general? Thanks! — Ionică Bizău, Aug 09 '16 at 15:44

Gotschi · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-09T14:56:15.343

2

You can use a MOSFET, as suggested by @Ron-Beyer

But if it's a heavy motor you'll need to consider a opto isolated relay. (the modern version of closing a curcuit with a electro magnet, still the same technique)

And if the motor is so big, that the inrush current might get a problem : use a solid state relay!

edited Aug 09 '16 at 14:56

answered Aug 09 '16 at 14:37

Gotschi

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Turn on a circuit, using Raspberry Pi

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