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Step 5The sensors - sound, tap, and light
Next in line are the sensors. The light sensor is the simplest to construct. The wire going off to the right connects to the arduino. More info on WHICH pins the sensors connect to is in the next step.
The sound sensor is a little bit harder, but not ridiculously complex. PLEASE NOTE: I have not shown a voltage divider circuit here. The 2.5V in the schematic has to be provided via something called a 'voltage divider'. It is a very, very simple circuit consisting of multiple fixed resistors, or a pot (potentiometer). Use a 50K pot for this circuit. Google 'voltage divider' and look at the wikipedia entry for help on constructing one.
EDIT 9/27/08: I ditched this sound circuit and instead used one salvaged from a sound-activated light-up pendant. The circuit here doesn't work to well; I'm not sure why, but the design is flawed ;something is not quite right. I noticed the circuit from the pendant uses an SMD LM386 op-amp. I just soldered before the resistors going to the LEDs, VCC, and GND. Then all I had to do was manipulate the values in the software a little, and presto! better working sound-responsive mood light.
At the current time, the video of the light pulsating to music is when the original circuit was used. Maybe I'll upload another showing the improved design (it looks more like it's responding to the music due to the new circuit).
I was unsure how to solder the piezo element, so I guessed and soldered it as shown. It works, though. The polarity of the piezo does not matter. The resistor is on the breadboard (not shown).
Another IMPORTANT NOTE: The values for these circuits WILL differ from yours, so you WILL need to do some tweaking in the code. If you have any questions on these values, feel free to let me know.
The sound sensor is a little bit harder, but not ridiculously complex. PLEASE NOTE: I have not shown a voltage divider circuit here. The 2.5V in the schematic has to be provided via something called a 'voltage divider'. It is a very, very simple circuit consisting of multiple fixed resistors, or a pot (potentiometer). Use a 50K pot for this circuit. Google 'voltage divider' and look at the wikipedia entry for help on constructing one.
EDIT 9/27/08: I ditched this sound circuit and instead used one salvaged from a sound-activated light-up pendant. The circuit here doesn't work to well; I'm not sure why, but the design is flawed ;something is not quite right. I noticed the circuit from the pendant uses an SMD LM386 op-amp. I just soldered before the resistors going to the LEDs, VCC, and GND. Then all I had to do was manipulate the values in the software a little, and presto! better working sound-responsive mood light.
At the current time, the video of the light pulsating to music is when the original circuit was used. Maybe I'll upload another showing the improved design (it looks more like it's responding to the music due to the new circuit).
I was unsure how to solder the piezo element, so I guessed and soldered it as shown. It works, though. The polarity of the piezo does not matter. The resistor is on the breadboard (not shown).
Another IMPORTANT NOTE: The values for these circuits WILL differ from yours, so you WILL need to do some tweaking in the code. If you have any questions on these values, feel free to let me know.
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