Category: Sunrise-Sunset Light Switch

How can the Serial Monitor display actual light sensor data? Figure 2-7. Sunrise-Sunset Light Switch circuit schematic.

This project demonstrates the power of electronic sensors to detect physical stimuli such as light, sound, and pressure. With a slight modification to the sketch, messages can scroll across a Serial Monitor. The Arduino IDE has a Serial Monitor for displaying the messages produced by the Arduino. You can access the Serial Monitor by following these two… Continue reading Sunrise-Sunset Detector with Serial Monitor

The Sunrise-Sunset Light circuit operates like the Smart Switch, except you don’t have to use a mini pushbutton to start the timing function. The mini pushbutton has instead been replaced with a light sensor called a photocell. A photocell is a variable resistor that changes its resistance based on the amount of light touching its surface. Light… Continue reading Circuit Theory

You can build a Sunrise-Sunset Light Switch by modifying the Trick Switch device. The main change you will make is to remove the mini pushbutton and replace it with a photocell. You will also add a green LED to pin D13 of the Arduino. Refer to the Parts List for all the electronic parts required for… Continue reading Let’s Build a Sunrise-Sunset Light Switch

Figure 2-1. Sunrise-Sunset Light Switch circuit built on a full-size clear breadboard (the 100 uF electrolytic capacitor and the red and green LED negative pins are wired to ground)

Resistor-Capacitor Timing Basics Designing and building new electronic devices is quite easy when you know the secret ingredient to rapid design. The technique is to take an existing electronic device and make a small change to it. For example, the Trick Switch project can easily be changed to a noncontact device by adding a sensor. With… Continue reading Introduction