Laser Pointer controlled flashlight

Projects General Guidance
1

I am a complete beginner and I know there are these things out there, so please guide me to the right sources!

What I want to do:
Switch a flashlight on and off remotely using a laser pointer. (I have an abundance of zoomable led flashlights at my disposal)

Questions:

  1. Can I power the 3.5v .27A flashlight directly from the arduino without any extra power source (other than the power to the arduino)?

  2. Can I make the entire unit portable by powering the arduino with a 5v 2.1A portable battery charger?
    2a) If so, is it worth it if I want to use it for 4 hours at a time?

  3. Do I even need an arduino to do this?

Thank you in advance!! :slight_smile:

3
  1. "DC Current for 3.3V Pin 50 mA" https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardUno
4

Delta_G:
3. Not really. Seems to me like a phototransistor might be all you need. Maybe an extra transistor, I don't know how much current the pt's can switch. Never used them before.

Would I be able to toggle the light on and off, or would this simple setup only allow me to turn it off when it was receiving the laser pointer input?