Hey, I recently 'got into' electronics, and I have made a few gadgets, but I can't seem to get a succesful circuit working. I want to make a two part project;

1. A sensor that relays a signal back to a receiver when it senses movement. (not sure what kind yet, needs to sense movement within an few meters. Open to suggestion)

2. And the receiver, that will activate a bright LED for 10 secs when a signal is received.

The transmitter has to be battery powered, but the reciever can be powered by battery, mains or usb.

I have tried a few ideas but none seem to work. Thanks for your help, in advance.

Jagger

 

Hi Jagger--welcome to the forum!

What are some of the ideas you tried and how did they fail? Perhaps there is something there which only needs a slight tweak to get going.

If you want to build this yourself from the ground up, then I'd suggest that you should google 'PIR sensor' and read up on those. Here's the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_infrared_sensor

You could look to http://www.sparkfun.com for some easy-to-use RF modules to transmit and receive. Those kind of assume you're using a microcontroller though--have you used those before?

If I wanted to do this and have it be quick and dirty, I'd try to pick up a used motion sensor floodlight or motion sensor alarm. I'd also get one of those cheap wireless doorbell sets. I'd then rig the output of the sensor to trigger the doorbell transmitter, and the output of the doorbell receiver to trigger a 555 timer to light the LED for ten seconds instead of ringing. Or, use a selector switch so I could choose between ring, blink, or ring + blink when motion is detected.


Good luck,

Torben

 

Thanks mate, but when I meant new to electronics, I meant that i started a few weeks ago. I understood most of it, but you lost me towards the end. I was looking for a bit more help, like a circuit diagram that I could follow or something.
The PIR looks like the thing I need. Thanks

P.S. I haven't really used microcontrollers before, except preprogrammed, put-it-where-it-tells-you ones. But I am always looking to learn more stuff. I have done alot of programming before, so if you would be kind enough to point me in the right direction, i could pick it up in a week or two i guess. I am a fast learner =)

 

OK, no problem. I'm going to ask a few questions but it will help in the long run.

What programming languages do you know? What level have you used them at?

Do you want to build this from the ground up, or would you be happy just to hack something to make it do the job?

Does it need to be wireless? Or can the sensor have a wire link to the receiver?

Can you fill in your location information in your user profile? It will help people point you toward products you can get, for instance.

Give some more information about what exactly you need and folks will be able to help you better.


Torben

 

of course =)

I know HTML, Javascript, little PHP, mIRC scripting (if it helps =P), Visual Basic .NET and a few other bits and pieces along the way. I would like to build from the ground up, so that i get the experiance Yes, it needs to be wireless. And I live in Melbourne, Australia.

I just read the PIC beginners guide in the Microcontrollers forum. It cleared a few things up, but i will have to wait till tomorrow to read more. (Its nearly midnight) Thanks for your help.

edit: I also use NQC to program rcxs and nxts. that is nearly C

 

http://www.whomedigital.com.au/prod109.htm might be a start

 

Thanks, but I kinda want to make my own. Anyone have a price estimate on how much it would cost to buy parts for one? How much is a microcontroller?

 

Hi Jagger,

Here is an example price list for PIC16s: http://www.futurlec.com/ICMicrochip_PIC16.shtml

I am not one with the way of the PIC, so another must say whether any of those would work for you. I suspect some would.

You would also require a programmer--I'd suggest a kit. Bill (blueroomelectronics) sells those--I've never used one but folks on this list rave about them: http://stores.ebay.com.au/Creatron-Electronics (that's the Australian site, so I presume you can order it there).

Nigel has a good tutorial on using the PIC line of microcontrollers: http://www.winpicprog.co.uk/


Cheers,

Torben

 

You're not supposed to post copywrite material here. That's a commercial book by Nigel Gardner
http://microcontrollershop.com/produ...roducts_id=336

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Bill
Smart Kits build Smart People
http://www.blueroomelectronics.com

 

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