I am totally new to all of this, and believe I can figure most things out pretty well. I want to build this squirt gun to keep the cats of a food prep space, but there is not enough info for me to buy and build this thing. Can anyone fill in the details so I can get what I need? Does it need programming? Thank you so much for you help, in advance.
Link: https://makezine.com/projects/motion-ac ... gun-turret
Auto Squirt Gun help
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Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
- adafruit_support_mike
- Posts: 67454
- Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:51 pm
Re: Auto Squirt Gun help
The project you linked triggers the squirt gun any time the motion sensor detects something.. dog, cat, human, or otherwise. It also has no aiming mechanism, so I'm not sure how well it will work as an animal stopper.
You could build something similar using an Arduino-compatible board like our Metro 328:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2488
a passive IR sensor:
https://www.adafruit.com/?q=pir+sensor&sort=BestMatch
and one of our relay breakouts:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/4409
The project can get more complex from there, going all the way up to a computer vision and a pan-tilt armature:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1906
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1967
You could build something similar using an Arduino-compatible board like our Metro 328:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2488
a passive IR sensor:
https://www.adafruit.com/?q=pir+sensor&sort=BestMatch
and one of our relay breakouts:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/4409
The project can get more complex from there, going all the way up to a computer vision and a pan-tilt armature:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1906
https://www.adafruit.com/product/1967
- DJDevon3
- Posts: 210
- Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2019 11:02 am
Re: Auto Squirt Gun help
My thoughts too. The guide made that project 10x more complicated than it had to be. Solder in a PIR sensor directly before or after the trigger switch. That's literally all that needs to be done. You don't need a microcontroller for a PIR sensor only the correct voltage. https://www.adafruit.com/product/189 This project can be completed with 1 PIR sensor and a soldering iron.
- adafruit_support_bill
- Posts: 88096
- Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am
Re: Auto Squirt Gun help
Not sure about that. It depends on the circuitry inside the squirt gun. I suspect that it is pretty basic and that the motors are powered directly via the control switch.Solder in a PIR sensor directly before or after the trigger switch. That's literally all that needs to be done.
The output of a PIR is just a logic-level signal and not at all suitable for directly switching current to a motor. You don't need a microcontroller, but you would need a transistor to switch the motor current and a diode to protect against the inductive kickback. See Dave's tutorial here: https://learn.adafruit.com/transistors- ... -2998941-9
You can substitute the PIR output for the Arduino digital pin in the schematic.
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- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sun Sep 01, 2013 5:09 pm
Re: Auto Squirt Gun help
WOW, thank you so much. There just wasn't enough information in the original link, and I don't (yet) have the skill to intuit the details toward the end result.
Cheers
Cheers
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- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sun Sep 01, 2013 5:09 pm
Re: Auto Squirt Gun help
AdaFruit_Support_Mike
The Metro 328 is out of stock. Is it expected soon? Would it need to be programmed for my application? As I mentioned I am new to all of this Arduino stuff, so I need some detailed infor to assemble. Thank you in advance for all your help.
The Metro 328 is out of stock. Is it expected soon? Would it need to be programmed for my application? As I mentioned I am new to all of this Arduino stuff, so I need some detailed infor to assemble. Thank you in advance for all your help.
- adafruit_support_mike
- Posts: 67454
- Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:51 pm
Re: Auto Squirt Gun help
You can sign up for in-stock notiication on the product page. Beyond that, we don't do ETAs. There are too many parts of the supply chain we can't control.. especially now with the global chip shortage and shipping mess.. and *way* to many people on the internet who think 'estimated' means 'guaranteed'.daniamyx wrote:The Metro 328 is out of stock. Is it expected soon?
The Metro Mini is still in stock if you want to use that:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2590
It's a smaller version of the same circuit as the Metro.
Yes. We have a series of tutorials to help you get started:daniamyx wrote:Would it need to be programmed for my application?
https://learn.adafruit.com/category/learn-arduino
There are also more than a thousand projects for people to use as reference or inspiration. Even if you don't copy a project completely, you can use parts of it, like this one for a Halloween pumpkin that uses a sensor to detect people nearby:
https://learn.adafruit.com/halloween-pumpkin/overview
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.