Hi,
I have a lot of hollow plastic "bricks", which is for kids to jump between.
I'm looking for teh best choice of sensor for registering if a child has jump to brick/ standing on it.
What would you use and have you tried it before ?
Thx in advance 
Soren
What do you define as "best"?
Paul
Jumping "on" and "standing on" are really different; you can detect the shaking/impact. Just standing on something implies measuring the strain/deformation on an object... like a bathroom weight scale.
Impact is straight-forward using an inexpensive knock sensor.
Accelerometers may be feasible if sufficient displayment occurs when step-on.
You could explore RF frequency shift such that a piece of copper foil/circuit board would be the antenna. Basic Theremin concept.
You could explore using stiff spring switch(es) on the bottom of the brick such that the switch is connected when weight is applied... like an inverted foot-switch.
Sensor list resource:
https://www.thegeekpub.com/wiki/list-of-arduino-sensors-and-modules/
Thanks alot for input, I will surely check it out..
I was also wondering, if its possible to use a photoresistor and glue'ing it to the inside..
Since the plastic is a bit translucent.. But not sure if it would work
well definitely will not work in the dark.
There are IR optical devices that may well satisfy your needs ... I use 'em on homemade clocks ... wave my hand to change the display mode.
It more like, what would be the most stable sensor to use, within a reasonable pricerange.
Interresting
Do you know, if it will that work through semi tranlucent plastic ?
It is the word reasonable that is a value judgment. We have members here that due to their location have restrictions on what they can buy and at what price. So to them buying a Arduino Micro would be unreasonable.
As you will probably want to use one sensor per block, and not want a wire to each block then you would be looking for a proper capacitive sensor (not the Arduino library one) and some sort of radio connection, like a BlueTooth module.
You are right..
I was hoping to put a 'nano' type arduino along with sensor..
And teh having them communicate to a 'master' using Bluetooth or wifi.
so reasonable would be hopefully less the microcontroller itself..
IR is unaffected (unattenuated) by some translucent plastics ... the milky type used on IR outside lighting for example. I believe this to be similar to HDPE... high density polyethelene.
Easier to point you to a reference:
https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/407900/what-plastic-like-materials-allow-ir-to-pass-through-them
This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.