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Another Arduino Laser Tripwire

by Jonathan Robson on February 27, 2009 Table of Contents Another Arduino Laser Tripwire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intro: Another Arduino Laser Tripwire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 1: Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 2: Build the Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 3: Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 4: The Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 4

http://www.instructables.com/id/Another-Arduino-Laser-Tripwire/

Author:Jonathan Robson author's website

Fish farmer, stagehand, ballet shoe maker, theatre production manager, science museum exhibit design and fabrication manager, project manager and art director of the Beijing Aquarium rainforest exhibit, film extra, architecture tour guide and urban planning researcher.

Intro: Another Arduino Laser Tripwire

This is my version of login258's laser tripwire at http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino_Laser_Tripwire/ I've made a couple of modifications: the laser is now independent from the Arduino so that it can be placed anywhere in the room and I've changed the LED to a buzzer.

LASERS ARE DANGEROUS AND CAN DAMAGE THE EYES. IF CHILDREN ARE USING THIS INSTRUCTABLE ENSURE THEY ARE SUPERVISED BY A RESPONSIBLE ADULT AT ALL TIMES.

Image Notes 1. Arduino controlled "mine" 2. Laser emitter unit

Step 1: Parts
You will need: Laser emiter, 3v battery and on/off switch OR Laser pointer and electrical tape Arduino Photocell (a big one because it makes an easier target) 2 10k resistors peizo buzzer Battery to power the arduino with a jack breafboard Various short jumpers Elastic bands Blu-tac Bored kids Wet sunday afternoon

http://www.instructables.com/id/Another-Arduino-Laser-Tripwire/

Step 2: Build the Circuit

Connect the peizo's positive wire to pin 11 via a 10k resistor and ground wire to ground on the breadboard. Connect one leg of the photocell to the 5v pin on the arduino. Connect the other leg to analog pin 0 AND to ground on the breadboard via the second 10k resitor. Connect ground on the breadboard to ground on the arduino. Plug the battery (I used 12v because that was what was to hand) into the arduino power jack when you want to use it away fronm the computer but to get it up and running it can take power through the USB for now. Strap it all together with an elastic band. If using a laser emitter wire it to a 3v battery pack and add lots of blu-tac to make aiming it easier later on.

Image Notes 1. power for the arduino 2. Photocell 3. Peizo buzzer

Step 3: Calibration
Photocells differ so you need to calibrate yours to your laser. Run the following sketch from Login258 or use the one on the arduino website at http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Calibration void setup() { pinMode(4, OUTPUT); Serial.begin(9600); } void loop(){ digitalWrite(4, HIGH); Serial.println(analogRead(0)); } With the sketch running press Serial Monitor on the arduino window and make a note of the numbers that appear in the bottom of the window with the laser on the photocell and when it is off (ambient light).

Step 4: The Code

Upload the following sketch but adjust the value in the "if" statement to suit your photocell. Pick a number a bit above the ambient light number. This may need tweaking later, or, just pull a curtain or shrpud the photocell to lower the ambient light in the room. /* Jonathan Robson Feb 09. Laser tripwire activates a buzzer. adapted from http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino_Laser_Tripwire/ */ int buzzPin = 11; // buzzer connected to digital pin 11 void setup() { pinMode(buzzPin, OUTPUT); // sets the digital pin as output } void loop(){ if(analogRead(0) < 850){ // this number depends on calibration of the photocell digitalWrite(buzzPin, HIGH); // turns buzzer on delay(1000); // waits for 1 second digitalWrite(buzzPin, LOW); // turns buzzer off } else{ digitalWrite(buzzPin, LOW);

http://www.instructables.com/id/Another-Arduino-Laser-Tripwire/

} }

Related Instructables

Arduino Laser Tripwire by Adum24

Arduino Laser Tripwire by Login258

Arduino Laser Security Shield by Bitline

Twittering Laser Tripwire with Webcam Capture by action_owl

laser tripwire Nerf sentry bomb by doby162

DIY Laser Dj with Arduino (video) by dragunov89

Comments
17 comments Add Comment

jm1820 says:
Thanks for the very helpful instructable. Just wondering, if I could seperate the photocell and Arduino board, by about 20 metres (using wire) ? Its just that I want to have the photocell at the top of my driveway, and the buzzer inside my house. I have no idea, if a length of wire, would affect the voltage output of the photocell - anyone have a clue ?

Mar 4, 2010. 6:01 PM REPLY

dodich says:
Why not place a reflector 20[m] away and keep all the electronics together. Just a thought.

Aug 25, 2010. 12:23 PM REPLY

TOCO says:

Feb 20, 2010. 11:39 AM REPLY is there a way to make the buzzer turn off when someone crosses back through the trip wire. That way if it is used for security it wouldn't turn off until the person leaves.

gaurangb says:

Jul 21, 2009. 4:21 AM REPLY dear from where i will get circuit for install photosell and buzzer to dedtect beam braking conditions. gaurangb@rocketmail.com

james.mcglashan says:
did u get the arduino at the maker shed or some were else and did u kno u can get an arduino mega it is so good i want 1.

Apr 4, 2009. 10:59 PM REPLY

helloworld1 says:
what are the benefits from the arduno mega to the denou...(dont know its name)

May 28, 2009. 7:26 AM REPLY

james.mcglashan says:
it has many more pins and has more other pinsim not an exbert so goto http://makezine.com.com/ for more info p.s u need to look in the podcasts to find the 1 a little tricky to find

May 29, 2009. 12:43 AM REPLY

helloworld1 says:
oh right did not know that thanks

May 29, 2009. 8:49 AM REPLY

james.mcglashan says:
a lot more info on this page http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKSP5

May 30, 2009. 5:06 PM REPLY

james.mcglashan says:
there is evan a vidio lol

May 30, 2009. 5:08 PM REPLY

Login258 says:

Feb 28, 2009. 7:50 PM REPLY Thanks for the credit! I'm glad my Instructable actually made some sort of impact. Someone commented on mine and said that two photoresistors would work well, one for ambient light and one for the laser, so that's a good suggestion for you .

http://www.instructables.com/id/Another-Arduino-Laser-Tripwire/

GreyGriff says:

Mar 17, 2009. 9:47 PM REPLY Mr Login258......I just stumbled onto your little experiment. I have a need and I figured you seemed a lot smarter than I and could tell me if it is possible, how small could the devices be and how much would each cost? I want a laser beam that goes between 20" - 36" or maybe even 48" and when broken makes a noise. I need small....maybe the laser in one section and the "guts" in another place? Cost......are we talking $5, $10, $25 or $50? How do lasers perform outside; wind and sun? My email is rjones.chodrowrealty@gmail.com.........Dinner on me if you can help.

Login258 says:

Mar 18, 2009. 7:14 PM REPLY You could make one pretty cheap. Well really, it depends. For the first one it might cost $50 total, but after that each would be less than $10. Only because the tools needed to program the microcontroller are a bit pricey. Distance isn't a problem, and it could be about the size of a thick cellphone (receiver) with a completely separate battery powered laser unit. And dinner definitely isn't required for my help. Mar 18, 2009. 1:37 AM REPLY Beats me. I live in Shanghai. I get them for about 3 dollars at the electronics market down the road. Wind doesn't affect lasers. Sunlight does. At night I lose sight of it after about 3 blocks.

Jonathan Robson says:

inventorjack says:

Feb 28, 2009. 10:45 PM REPLY Another thought is that since this is probably going into a case of some sort, drill a hole in the case for the photoresistor, and recess is into the case a bit so that ambient light is less of a factor.

Jonathan Robson says:

Yes, recessing makes it a lot more flexible as to where you can place it.

Mar 18, 2009. 1:38 AM REPLY

amando96 says:

Mar 7, 2009. 8:32 AM REPLY i placed a thermistor instead of the LDR, now i have a very sensitive temperature diference measurer :D next step, get an LCD, and make thermometer :D

http://www.instructables.com/id/Another-Arduino-Laser-Tripwire/