I am a noob when it comes to using the Arduino but I do have a good electronics and computer background. I am planning on building a project for a Halloween display at our house this year and need some advice on what parts would be best to get.
The plan is to build a laser tripwire that when triggered would send a signal to a control unit that would trigger lights, fog machine, sound effects, etc. I have found instructions for building the laser tripwire but I am not sure what type of wireless transceiver to use to get the command to start the display to the control unit. Xbee was my first choice but I also don't want to spend hundreds of dollars if there is a cheaper alternative. The distance involved is less than 10m so is something like the On Shine 433MHz transmitter/receiver suitable? Ideally, I would like the laser trip wire to be direction sensitive so the display only starts when someone comes to the door not when they are leaving. I think this is just a matter of using two laser pointers and two photoresistors and only transmitting the start signal if beam one (the one closest to the road) is broken.
The control unit I am less sure about what is needed. I am not sure what would be needed to interface the Arduino to allow it to switch on and off the lights, fog machine, etc all of which will be running at 120V.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!