Light Alarm Invention Fair Project

Straight from the Tulley Tinkering Lab! ( http://www.tinkeringlab.com )
The Light Alarm is a device that listens for your regular alarm to go off, then uses a motor to turn on your light switch. This helps you to wake up if the alarm clock isn't enough to get you up and out of bed.

The key parts of this device are:
1) A circuit to amplify the output of a condenser mic from 0-3mv up to 1-2 v, enough to trigger a digital logic circuit
2) A NOT gate to make that signal compatible with a timer chip
3) A 555 timer chip (well, a 556 dual timer chip), that sends out a positive voltage for 2 seconds
4) A transistor and relay circuit that turns that 2 second pulse into a KNEX motor on-switch
5) A second 555 timer circuit and some transistor logic gates that stop the system from turning on again for 10 seconds after the first trigger.

The whole build was a lot of fun and successful in the end, as this video shows. Robbie even got to experience "Magic Smoke" along the way as one of our transistors decided to give up the ghost.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• invention fair
• science fair
• alarm
• electronics
• gadget
• tinkering

[jtulley1]

Yeah, we've finally got it onto its own circuit board... but it doesn't work. :( I've triple-checked all connections. I hope I didn't overheat something when soldering. We haven't decided on an enclosure yet, and also haven't figured out what to do instead of the K'Nex motor.

There ARE some instructables that have circuits that activate on a phrase, which I have since seen. It'd be cool to build one of those.

[DanteCosplayer]

Thats really cool would be great once you put make the circuit board and everything would be cool if it was inside the the box of the on switch for the lights that that way it be more easy to use and have the choice.

Even cooler if instead of a clap a phrase would make them go on =) like lights on and lights off.

Cool invention cant wait to see the final version.