Halloween '14 pics!

fade

fade

Staff member
Well. I feel like an idiot. I thought I fried my PIR, and I had given up on it. The active IR sensor I homemade only had a range of about 4-5 inches. The PIR will see down the driveway, so I really wanted it. Anyway, there was a forum on Parallax's website, and the engineers who actually work there are really responsive. We found my problem. Apparently the sensor revision I have goes haywire with a load on the output, unlike the newer ones. I did not know this, having only triggered microcontrollers with it before (a standalone AVR and an Arduino). Anyway, I'd thought of this already and had tried a 3904, but that didn't change a thing. Subbing in a MOSFET did, though. Now it works like a champ, and my parts count dropped tremendously. Here's a quick video of it now:

 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

BErt said:
They say dress for the job you want and not the job you have, so I went to work like this today

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Applying for the position of Pumpkin King?[DOUBLEPOST=1414772526,1414772496][/DOUBLEPOST]
Celt Z said:
You two look great! I hope you got a full-body picture of both you so we can see the details on the dresses. (And post it!)

Decided to go simple with Li'l Z's costume this year and make sure he has one that didn't get him over-heated easily. Plus, it's also jammies he can wear later on.

Little Bruce Lee
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That is painfully adorable.
 
fade

fade

Staff member
fade said:
Well. I feel like an idiot. I thought I fried my PIR, and I had given up on it. The active IR sensor I homemade only had a range of about 4-5 inches. The PIR will see down the driveway, so I really wanted it. Anyway, there was a forum on Parallax's website, and the engineers who actually work there are really responsive. We found my problem. Apparently the sensor revision I have goes haywire with a load on the output, unlike the newer ones. I did not know this, having only triggered microcontrollers with it before (a standalone AVR and an Arduino). Anyway, I'd thought of this already and had tried a 3904, but that didn't change a thing. Subbing in a MOSFET did, though. Now it works like a champ, and my parts count dropped tremendously. Here's a quick video of it now:

Click to expand...
The best part about this project is that I used the super-bright LEDs, and a beefy power supply. So all the kids who make eye contact with the "monsters" get free LASIK.
 
Dei

Dei

Halloween pet peeve: Parents who sit in their car and creepily follow their trick or treating kids down the street. IT'S NOT EVEN THAT COLD! GTFO AND WALK WITH THEM!
 
fade

fade

Staff member
fade said:
Well. I feel like an idiot. I thought I fried my PIR, and I had given up on it. The active IR sensor I homemade only had a range of about 4-5 inches. The PIR will see down the driveway, so I really wanted it. Anyway, there was a forum on Parallax's website, and the engineers who actually work there are really responsive. We found my problem. Apparently the sensor revision I have goes haywire with a load on the output, unlike the newer ones. I did not know this, having only triggered microcontrollers with it before (a standalone AVR and an Arduino). Anyway, I'd thought of this already and had tried a 3904, but that didn't change a thing. Subbing in a MOSFET did, though. Now it works like a champ, and my parts count dropped tremendously. Here's a quick video of it now:

Click to expand...
I'm going to write up an Instructable for this one. If anyone wants to vote for me in the Halloween contest, it's open until the 10th. I doubt I have any chance to win, but it will be fun to try. I'll link it when I'm done.
 
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