detecting steps on the floor - Electronic Circuits Projects Diagrams Free

Charon102 · 24th July 2005, 05:11 PM

Hello folks

Is it possible to detect steps on the floor? I mean the tremor from the feet.
Hard grounds should transmit steps, of course for a very small area.
Is there a sensor avaliable which could detect it an gives a "wake up" signal to a microcontroller?

Any suggestions

Greetings Charon102

spindrah · 24th July 2005, 05:32 PM

you could use an Accelerometer with an op-amp to triger the microchip

Charon102 · 24th July 2005, 06:36 PM

Quote:

you could use an Accelerometer with an op-amp to triger the microchip

Sounds interesting.
The only acc. sensor that I could I is the MMA 1201.
Here is the link:
http://www.distrelec.com/ishopWebFro...aadat&series=1

I have doubts that the sensor sensitivity can detect steps on the floor. Even humans cannot sense steps on floor if there are some meters away. The tremors are too weak.

What do you think?

spindrah · 24th July 2005, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charon102

Quote:

you could use an Accelerometer with an op-amp to triger the microchip

Sounds interesting.
The only acc. sensor that I could I is the MMA 1201.
Here is the link:
http://www.distrelec.com/ishopWebFro...aadat&series=1

I have doubts that the sensor sensitivity can detect steps on the floor. Even humans cannot sense steps on floor if there are some meters away. The tremors are too weak.

What do you think?

you're probably right
i put this together with 2 op-amps
it flashes a led when you walk, but not if you walk slow

and it is hard to tune.

zachtheterrible · 24th July 2005, 11:24 PM

Search for seismic sensor, or vibration sensor on the net.

evandude · 24th July 2005, 11:50 PM

december 2004 issue of EPE online magazine, "super vibration switch".

http://epemag.com/projects.html

they claim it will detect a pin dropping on a wooden floor 2 meters away, and detect footsteps from virtually any distance. sounds good enough to me.

I have the issue, let me know if you're interested in seeing it.

upand_at_them · 25th July 2005, 02:50 PM

Evan,

Do you subscribe to EPE? I'm in PA and would like to subscribe, but they don't say anything about a paper subscription or shipping to the U.S.

Mike

evandude · 25th July 2005, 02:55 PM

I am subscribed to the online version of EPE. It works better for me, because I would never be able to keep track of all the issues if they were paper copies, instead I have them all as PDF's. If I need an article on paper, there's always printers :lol:

not to mention, the online subscription is cheap. (like $15 a year if i recall correctly)

and quite frankly, the issues are rather hit-or-miss, so I don't think I'd be subscribing if it cost significantly more than it does. Some issues have "must-have" projects that are really cool and make it worth subscribing, but some issues don't have a single interesting project in them (to me at least).

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24th July 2005, 05:11 PM	(permalink)
Charon102	detecting steps on the floor Hello folks Is it possible to detect steps on the floor? I mean the tremor from the feet. Hard grounds should transmit steps, of course for a very small area. Is there a sensor avaliable which could detect it an gives a "wake up" signal to a microcontroller? Any suggestions Greetings Charon102

24th July 2005, 11:24 PM	(permalink)
zachtheterrible	Search for seismic sensor, or vibration sensor on the net. __________________ I'm no electronics god, i just talk too much.

24th July 2005, 11:50 PM	(permalink)
evandude	december 2004 issue of EPE online magazine, "super vibration switch". http://epemag.com/projects.html they claim it will detect a pin dropping on a wooden floor 2 meters away, and detect footsteps from virtually any distance. sounds good enough to me. I have the issue, let me know if you're interested in seeing it. __________________ EEgeek.net

25th July 2005, 02:50 PM	(permalink)
upand_at_them	Evan, Do you subscribe to EPE? I'm in PA and would like to subscribe, but they don't say anything about a paper subscription or shipping to the U.S. Mike

25th July 2005, 02:55 PM	(permalink)
evandude	I am subscribed to the online version of EPE. It works better for me, because I would never be able to keep track of all the issues if they were paper copies, instead I have them all as PDF's. If I need an article on paper, there's always printers :lol: not to mention, the online subscription is cheap. (like $15 a year if i recall correctly) and quite frankly, the issues are rather hit-or-miss, so I don't think I'd be subscribing if it cost significantly more than it does. Some issues have "must-have" projects that are really cool and make it worth subscribing, but some issues don't have a single interesting project in them (to me at least). __________________ EEgeek.net