The human eye cannot discern flicker with a frequency greater than roughly 30 Hz. A light turning on and off faster than this does not appear to be turning on and off. Instead it appears to have a constant intensity to the eye.
Human ears however are much faster, that is, better able to perceive a signal changing quickly in time. The human ear can detect frequencies from roughly 20 Hz to 20 000 Hz, provided those frequencies arrive as sound.
Now suppose there were an easy way to change light of time-varying intensity, into sound of time varying intensity. Then you could "hear" light that was flickering too fast for you to see it.
The humble silicon solar-cell can convert a time-varying light signal into a time-varying electrical signal. This small electrical signal can then be fed to an audio signal amplifier and converted into sound.
Human ears however are much faster, that is, better able to perceive a signal changing quickly in time. The human ear can detect frequencies from roughly 20 Hz to 20 000 Hz, provided those frequencies arrive as sound.
Now suppose there were an easy way to change light of time-varying intensity, into sound of time varying intensity. Then you could "hear" light that was flickering too fast for you to see it.
The humble silicon solar-cell can convert a time-varying light signal into a time-varying electrical signal. This small electrical signal can then be fed to an audio signal amplifier and converted into sound.
Remove these ads by
Signing UpStep 1: Parts:
1 audio amplifier (Radio Shack Catalog #:277-1008)
1 1/8-inch (3mm) headphone plug, can be mono or stereo
1 small Silicon solar cell with approximately 1 cm2 in area
1 1/2-inch PVC pipe cap
some wire, solder, epoxy, black paint, etc.
1 1/8-inch (3mm) headphone plug, can be mono or stereo
1 small Silicon solar cell with approximately 1 cm2 in area
1 1/2-inch PVC pipe cap
some wire, solder, epoxy, black paint, etc.
Visit Our Store »
Go Pro Today »
Just Kidding...but mine uses headphone:)-
Maybe even have 2 way line-of-sight laser communication.
Although it won't work well against the good optical bugs because a technician will just tune out the frequency of the tone generated tea light music.
Can I get an LED that plays the theme from "Get Smart" please?
Dunt da daaa DA!
Dunt da daaa Duh!
They are prob using the music chip as a template that produces a smooth flicker cycle they have tons of.
The second part is because our brains naturally like certain sounds, patterns and tones. We change them over time, but there is a larger portion of these tones and patterns in classical music. I believe Bach is the winner in that category.
In that way flicker would cycle would be more pleasing.
BTW, I think the solar panel from a calculator is typically 3 or 4 cells wired in series. See picture. That fact might be important, or it might not be.
(http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Listen-to-Light/#step9)
Somewhere (SciToys?) I have seen this idea as half a laser-communicator. A microphone is used to add a flicker to a laser pointer's beam, which is focussed on a distant solar-cell, and an amplifier is used to turn the flickering output back into sound. Not hi-fi, but cool.
It would also be cool if you could post some mp3 or wav files of different sounds you have produced - what does that version of Fur Elise sound like? How annoying can a strip-light be?
(http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Listen-to-Light/#step9)
Really?
Can you post a video recording of this sound?
(http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Listen-to-Light/#step9)