XmasBits
The Christmas season is full of music, lights, and animated scenes of the holiday. What better time to put your open hardware to work at home?
littleBits modules quickly create a colorful and animated Christmas scene
Lead Image © torky, 123RF.com
In our house during the winter holidays, we place a colorfully lighted Christmas tree on a platform, and under the tree, an HO model train circles, trailing cars filled with tiny gifts, carolers, and a winter scene. On the stand with the tree, Santa's bell-ringers play holiday melodies. This year, I want to automate the train, lights, and music so that every time someone walks in the door, they are welcomed into the house with a little Christmas spirit.
At first, I thought of using a sound sensor to pick up the sound of people stomping the snow from their boots, but you can never be certain of snowy weather in Kansas. Another option was to set up a motion sensor, but the front door is not well situated to exclude other daily traffic in the household. Finally, I decided to use a sensor that identified an open door event. To set up this project quickly, I chose to use littleBits [1] (see the "About littleBits" box).
Design
The plan is to sense a door opening, send a signal to the Christmas display, and turn on the lights, music, and model train. To indicate when the door opens, I use the roller switch [8], and to communicate between the door assembly and the power assembly, I decided to use the wireless transmitter and receiver. Each circuit – at the door and at the power strip – needs a power source. The "Parts List" box shows the littleBits I use for each part of the project.
[...]
Use Express-Checkout link below to read the full article (PDF).
Buy this article as PDF
Express-Checkout as PDF
Pages: 6
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)
(incl. VAT)
Buy Raspberry Pi Geek
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Related content
-
Control your littleBits projects with a homemade wireless remote
Make a custom handheld wireless remote control with littleBits Wireless Transmitter and Receiver bits and slider, knob, button, or toggle bits.
-
Create a call button for a family member in need
Help a bed-ridden housemate with a call button that lets you know when they need help.
-
Using logic bits to make decisions
One group of littleBits modules allows you to evaluate conditional situations at different points in a circuit without resorting to programming.
-
Build cool stuff with littleBits, a Pi, and some Lego Bricks
Connect the littleBits Arduino module to a Raspberry Pi and you open a world of projects and a world of fun.
-
Designing and building an automatic cat feeder
A few littleBits electronics and a lot of cutting, fastening, and fitting finally delivers a working automatic cat feeder.
