Motion Activated Sign

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Discussion

badgerade

Original Poster:

667 posts

204 months

Monday 27th November 2023
quotequote all
Bit of an odd one for a Monday morning. I've got a sign like this from a 747:



My plan is to replace the old bulbs inside with LED strip, mount it above the downstairs toilet door and then add in some sort of sensor so it lights up when someone is in there.

I've seen LED strips with motion sensing which I think would do the job but now I'm starting to come up with other ideas. What I'd like to do is:

1) LED's on the outer 2 sections that stay lit, but on some sort of timer maybe so they're not on overnight
2) Bottom middle LED only light up when someone has gone into the room/switch off when they're done.

This has led me to looking at some of the SONOFF stuff, in particular this: https://sonoff.tech/product/gateway-and-sensors/sn... which seems to be more than just the normal PIR type sensor.

So couple of questions..

With that I'd need one of their zigbee hubs, but I'm not sure how I would be able to control LED strips, or if I could even set the strips up to do different things as per my 1&2 above?

Is there a better way of doing this? (using the sonoff stuff just for this seems overkill, but I could also expand it out for other things round the house).








Timothy Bucktu

15,579 posts

206 months

Monday 27th November 2023
quotequote all
Well, if I was doing this I'd just use a simple plug in timer socket to set the overall working hours, and a PIR module inside the bog to control the occupied portion of the sign.

PIR module: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193591237811?mkcid=16&a...

You'll need to add a simple 2n2222 type transistor or equivalent to actually switch the LEDs...just one transistor and resistor needed there.


Where did you get that BTW? I want one biggrin


Edited by Timothy Bucktu on Monday 27th November 11:14

badgerade

Original Poster:

667 posts

204 months

Monday 27th November 2023
quotequote all
Thanks, will have a look!

Timothy Bucktu said:

Where did you get that BTW? I want one biggrin

Edited by Timothy Bucktu on Monday 27th November 11:14
It came from here: https://planereclaimers.aero/shop/

Not sure if they have any at the moment, but they get new stuff in all the time..

Edit.. they do have them: https://planereclaimers.aero/product/british-airwa...

I didn't pay that much though - they've got a black friday sale on so wondering if they've bumped their prices up to cover the discount.

Edited by badgerade on Monday 27th November 11:36

ARHarh

4,141 posts

113 months

Monday 27th November 2023
quotequote all
For occupancy detection you will need something with MMwave presence detection like the https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155173718005 or Aqara FP2 depending on how diy You are. This could be integrated into various plugs sockets or sonoff realay via IFTTt probably, I have not played with these things for a long while as I use home assistant for these sort things. Don't rely on PIR for occupancy detection it is very unreliable.

I would be using an esp32 connected to the LD2410, and then using the esp to drive the LEDs, easy if you know how. Depending on the firmware you use it can easily be set to only operate at certain times. You could try Tasmota firmware https://github.com/arendst/Tasmota/discussions/179... This will allow you to set times etc and add the LED's etc and give a standalone web interface. There will be a steep learning curve though. Alternatively home assistant will handle it all easily.

eharding

14,097 posts

290 months

Tuesday 28th November 2023
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If you're going to invest some time in motion detection (ha!) for controlling the display lights based on the occupancy of the downstairs toilet, why not go the extra mile and hook up something like some MQ4 or MQ136 sensors to detect what else might be in there, and maybe add that into the light control logic, ranging from a considerate "I'd leave that for 5 minutes" delay to possibly alarm lights and a klaxon should the relevant concentrations reach potentially explosive or toxic levels?

outnumbered

4,315 posts

240 months

Tuesday 28th November 2023
quotequote all
eharding said:
If you're going to invest some time in motion detection (ha!) for controlling the display lights based on the occupancy of the downstairs toilet, why not go the extra mile and hook up something like some MQ4 or MQ136 sensors to detect what else might be in there, and maybe add that into the light control logic, ranging from a considerate "I'd leave that for 5 minutes" delay to possibly alarm lights and a klaxon should the relevant concentrations reach potentially explosive or toxic levels?
biglaugh

hidetheelephants

27,326 posts

199 months

Tuesday 28th November 2023
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Please make it produce random 'bong' noises and ideally a "cabin doors to manual" announcement when the door is unlocked.

h0b0

8,029 posts

202 months

Tuesday 28th November 2023
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Keep it simple. When the door is looked, lights come on for occupied.

If you do not have an appropriatye door lock, you can use this

British Airways G-BYGD B747 Door Mode Selector


Tymb

132 posts

101 months

Wednesday 29th November 2023
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Might be worth looking at the Quinetic stuff, could probably do what you want with a couple of the receivers and the wireless PIR.

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Quinetic/i...

uknick

930 posts

190 months

Wednesday 29th November 2023
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Why, oh why do I look at these threads. I now want a Jumbo's "No smoking/seat belts sign" to put in the car with its lights wired to the mood lighting.

Turtle Shed

1,723 posts

32 months

Thursday 30th November 2023
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Same here. Could have spent a couple of grand without batting an eyelid.

She's already overruled a Tornado droptank as a garden ornament.

miniman

25,990 posts

268 months

Thursday 30th November 2023
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I did mine with a microswitch inside the door latch.





I also have this