Newbie making alarm system from scratch

[ehmoja]

Hello,

I'm totally new to DIY and I'm making a very basic alarm system from scratch. I would rather not be specific about the details but I basically need to make a rig which continously sends out sound signals and if the signal bounces off anything in its range (kind of like a radar), makes motor vibrate. I would also like it to vibrate at an increased rate, the closer the object is.

I would appriciate any links or any help as to what kind of hardware i would have to buy, how muhc it would cost, or, even better, how i could go about making it. I have tried using google but it's hard to google when you don't know what exactly you're looking for.

Maybe i should mention, the whole rig should be as small as possible and will be powered by batteries.

 

[OwainDIYer]

Ultrasonic doppler detectors for intruder alarms were popular a few years ago.

http://www.4qdtec.com/ultra.html

 

[Hoover]

Hmmm interesting

So basically :
Small
If the beam is broken you would like it make the motor vibrate and the intensity of vibration to reflect how close the object is.

This sounds to me more like anengineering project rather than an intruder alarm, or specialist kit.

Cool i see you have an answer they dont seem to be so popular

Do you now why, I am interested?

 

[OwainDIYer]

Here we go:

Worn like spectacles the iGlasses provide vibration feedback when you near a potential hazard at head and chest height. When you approach obstacles such as over grown branches, hanging signs and baskets the frequency of the vibration will increase

http://www.rnib.org.uk/shop/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=me1401

And an open source project

http://www.designbuzz.com/wufu-glasses-use-ultrasonic-waves-to-create-tactile-images-for-the-blind/

 

[ehmoja]

thanks a lot Owain, for the link. If i can find the hardware used to make that, it will greatly help me with my project so i'll look into it. Also, hoover, i think making it so that it reacts when the beam is broken will be harder. i think the sonar method is more practical here.

 

[bernardgreen]

Look at the sensors fitted to the rear end of some cars to assist when parking.

 

[A2018]

Take a look at these the range is quite limited but it depends on just what you are trying to do

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Ardui...al_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item4acaa181fb

There is plenty of examples on the web as to how to use them and connect to an arduino also examples of how to connect a motor to an output and control its speed. You will need to learn how to program it but there is plenty of information on the web

take a look here as well

http://www.arduino.cc/

Heres a example using ultrasonic modules

http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Ping

and heres an example for motor speed control

http://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/Tutorials/HighCurrentLoads

 

[A2018]

Forgot to suggest have a look at motors for the vibration on mobile phones they are tiny, and if you do go down the arduino route for the microcontroler look at the nano boards as they are a lot smaller than the full sized board.