My unconventional switch was inspired by the mere fact that I keep forgetting to put my drinks on coasters. It was a genuine problem me and my roommate started having but I thought to myself "but if there was an indicator of the coaster being used then I would know! Enter the electronic coaster. I attached a jumper cable to the coaster that would conduct electricity through the can which would then reach the resistor and power on the LED. For as long as a metallic can was ontop of the metal coaster, the light would turn on, if it wasn't, it wouldn't. For my own safety, I removed all fluids from the actual can and dried it. I was very happy that I could create an actual electronic circuit on my own, using my own brain and it only inspires me to create more.
My switch is based off of a fairly popular game that people will play at sports bars or pubs usually and can even be found in a few restaurants. The game is called ringing the bull and the objective is to drop a ring that is tied with a rope to the ceiling from the perfect height so that it swings across the room and lands on the hook at the other end. So I though it would be cool to make my switch as a replica of the game but with a little added bonus at the end for the victorious player to enjoy. The way it works is that there is a jumper cable right behind the hook and another attached to the ring and so once the player successfully lands the ring on the hook the two jumper cables will also be connected via these two conductive metal items. Thus lighting up the LED and giving the player a nice surprise when they win.
I decided to make one of the pots in my apartment into a light switch for this project. Although the idea may be a bit unsafe, it is possible to determine whether or not the pot is closed while over heat. In fact, it is possible to see whether the pan is open or closed when off of heat as well. The way the switch was built, the LED lights up once the pot and its lid connect, that way one can know if the pot is being covered or not. This can be useful when cooking at night or in a dark area. For example, when boiling pasta for a late night dinner, one can feel free to prepare a plate with the helpful light emitted from the switch.
Youtube Demo Link (if the embedded video doesn't work): https://youtu.be/FxMdLH46MGE
For my unconventional switch, I sought to solve a problem that personally benefited me. I have an Atari 2600, a game console that dates back to the early 1980s, but due to its age and poor design, the power switch has worn out. As a result, the system will only work if the power switch is in the perfect position. A piece of aluminum foil is fixed to the upper part of the power switch groove (the “sweet spot”) for the positive clamp to be fixed. The switches on the Atari are also made of aluminum, making them conductive, acting as a perfect vessel for the negative clamp. Once the switch touches the foil, my circuit is completed and the blue LED powers on. Any shifting will interrupt the circuit, meaning that the switch is not in the right position, even though it was flipped up. Even though this indicator I made is just a temporary fix for a more technical problem, it provided me with an opportunity to explore circuits for the first time, and to think critically about how to apply this new knowledge to solve a problem.
My idea for a switch was to use a metal coaster to detect when a mug was sitting on top of it. This would trigger a light to turn on in this case, but the overall idea was for it to activate a warming plate of some sort in order to heat the mug and its contents. I, unfortunately, could not find a metal coaster and tried to substitute it with a coin, a mason jar lid, and a candle lid, all to no success. The coin was too small, the candle lid was not conductive enough, and the mason jar was both too small and not conductive enough. I resulted in electrical taping the wires to the candle jar lid and also a piece of aluminum foil to the bottom of the mug. This obviously was not ideal, so I apologize. Alternative outcomes for the device could be to play a sound or dispense a reward when the coaster was used, congratulating the person for using a coaster, which is surprisingly rare for some people to use.
I created a switch that lit up an LED when the neck of the saxophone made contact with the body of the saxophone. The instrument overall is almost entirely conductive, save for the material underneath each valve. Because of this the LED will light up when the neck is slightly attached to the body, which is fine since air flow will be secured when attached. As long as the neck is connected to the circuit, the body clamp can be placed where the user wants due to the convenient conductivity of the body. The light created can be used to creatively light up your sheet music during those long rehearsal hours.
My switch is an index card with that reads "You Complete Me <3" where the positive and ground alligator clips are attached to either side. The user completes the circuit by placing their finger with a piece of tin foil attached touching the two alligator clips, lighting up the green LED, becoming a part of their circuit themselves. In order to make the 9V battery work, I attached a 330 ohm resistor to the positive alligator clip. Since the green LED needs a 3.2V flow to power, the 330 is 80 ohms more of resistance than needed, but still provides a bright light.
When thinking about the type of switch I wanted to make, I had to think in line with my skills and budget, I went scavenging around my house, and tested various things, and turns out I don't have anything that is truly conductive that can work as a ground. I was able to use my laptop however to create this switch and it took me forever to figure the wiring out.
I thought a syringe was an interesting base to make a switch
out of. It provides a simple way to engage and disengage the circuit as well as
keeps the switch isolated from outside interference. The ends of the connecting
wires are unlikely to be disturbed because they are surrounded by plastic. With
both ends secured with tape or glue, the circuit ends up being very stable. The
plunger of the syringe is just covered in basic aluminum foil which contacts
both wires in the syringe chamber. Knowing how many resistors to use was
tricky, and I ended up needing to include resistors both in series and in
parallel.
While I was thinking of what I wanted to do for this assignment I was eating Hershey's kisses. I thought, "Hey, the wrapping is conductive, I should use this as an idea!" and so I did. Eating way too many Hershey's kisses has always been a problem for me. Since it's so easy to keep eating one after another I came up with a solution for that! Every time you eat a kiss, you wrap up the foil and toss it in the container. When enough pile up in the container, it will make a electrical connection lighting up the red light telling you to stop eating kisses for a week! I very much enjoyed making this because I got to eat a lot of kisses.
For the project, it stated that it can follow an inquiry into either aesthetics or problem solving. I am very much a man of aesthetics, specifically the aesthetics of the hyper-advanced prosthetics found in media like Deus Ex, Cyberpunk 2077 and other futuristic sci-fi media. I always imagined that I could make those kinds of electronics, so two aluminum rings touching to turn on an LED is as good a place to start as any.
The circuit is as follows: starting from the 5.03 V supplied by my Arduino, it goes through 3 resistors: 2 that goes for 330 ohms and 1 for 220 ohms, to get a total of 890 ohms. Following my calculations as seen in my schematic, the desired resistance was 830 ohms, so it's only off by about 60 ohms. What follows next is the switch, comprised of my two aluminum foil rings, which is then connected to the white LED, with a forward voltage of 2.75 V, than it goes to ground.
For this assignment I created a lit Locker. I used the door
as a switch, and I achieved this by adding copper contact points on the door
and around the door frame in order to turn the LED light on and off.
The main component for my project is the relay switch and I
used it to open and close the circuit. When I open the door, the relay powers
off and the light turns on. When I close the door, it powers the relay and
closes the circuit for the LED which then causes the light to turn off.
My switch uses a medication container and aluminum foil with the purpose of being a more visual reminder for someone to take their medication by having the LED lit when you have not taken it yet. The LED turns off once you open the container. The jumper wires are attached to the aluminum foil inside and the aluminum foil on the lid where the two are connected. My reason for making this is that sometimes people forget to take their medications, and the brightness of an LED is a good visible reminder.
I created a switch that lights an LED when a game piece connects the two bridges. In Carcassonne the ferry expansion adds lakes with bridges that can connect existing roads, I’ve used a mage piece as it has more weight than a ferry but in a non-prototype setting actual ferry pieces would be used. The purpose of the switch would be to easily display when a road is connected, if the road isn’t connected the LED is off but if the road is connected the LED is on. This would allow players to see if roads are connected no matter where they are sitting or how chaotic the board gets.
My switch uses a slightly browning banana as a switch for
the circuit. The positive part of the circuit was stabbed into the banana, for
maximum security for the jumper. The other end is on the stem of the banana,
and leads back to the start of the circuit. Most people probably don’t know
that the banana is about as conductive as your finger, depending on how moist
the inside of it is. Due to the conductivity of this banana, who’s insides have
begun to slightly mush, the current is able to pass through with relative ease
to help power the LED.
I created a switch that would allow the user to know if they are strumming all the way through each string of the guitar. Strumming was certainly a difficult step for me when I first started playing string instruments, and so I was inspired to create a visual for those who are learning. Essentially, one wire is attached just under the lower E string on the neck of the guitar, and another is attached to a pick wrapped in aluminum foil. When the pick and the lower E string connect, an LED lights up, letting the user know they have strummed all the way through each string. This is also an excellent way for the user to see if they are touching it, even if there is no sound ringing out.
Hello all, my unconventional switch is one involving a sure-fire way to ensure that your cigar box is fully closed in order to keep and humidity away from your precious cigars. In order to achieve such, there is a switch connected to the lid and base of the cigar box allowing it to light the LED once the connection is made via closing the box. Said LED only light up when the box is FULLY closed indicating that it is keeping all external factors such as air or humidity outside of the box away from the cigars. Given that most cigar boxes are wooden over time they tend to wear down and may not fully close all the way on a gentle shut. Given this an indicator such as my switch would allow for one to be absolutely certain the box is fully closed and that all is well.
For my unconventional switch, I decided to make use of the instruments I have in my home and make a drum switch. My switch follows both an aesthetic line (music) and functionally solves a problem. The drum switch allows people to be able to replicate a pattern on the drums by hitting the drum piece that corresponds to the color. To make this possible, I connected one part of the switch to a drumstick and the other part to the ride cymbal using aluminum foil as a conductor. Once the pieces come in contact, the LED lights up.
The switch in action.
To find the appropriate resistance for the green LED, I used the formula R=Vsupply-Vforward/Idesired. The volt supply of the power source was 4.96 and the forward voltage of the LED was about 1.92. To find I, I divided the Vf by the base resistance of 1KΩ. Calculating the desired resistance, I got about 1583Ω. I used a series of 1K, 330, and 200Ω resistors, which gave me 1150Ω.
This snap fastener switch lights up a green LED when the wallet is closed. It does this by closing the circuit when the metal portions of the fastener affixed to the inside of the wallet are connected; though it only does so when they are properly snapped together. It adds another source of feedback for when the wallet is closed alongside the actual snap sound that is made. The light is a more effective indicator in that it is not present when the wallet is partially shut but not secured; the sound can sometimes be created to a lesser degree when one side of the fastener clips the outer edge of the other. While not especially suited for this particular style of wallet, it would be multi-purpose. Allowing for a user to see at a glance if the wallet is properly secured and also drawing attention to the wallet in a potentially cluttered space such as a purse or drawer.
So Jimmy is like any other normal cat, he like to play with any small loose knick-knack that is just laying around for him. A lot of those can be expensive or important if they are related to PCs at all. So I obtained a little chest to store them in and lock away "his toys." What if I forget to close it though? Thus, my entry into the Unconventional Switch assignment it a latch switch that turns on an LED when the latch to the little chest is closed.
The switch itself is connected to my circuit playground microprocessor through my computer. It sends v5 into my bread board through the vOut port. It passes through a 100 ohm resistor and an alligator clip that is attached to the latch. There is a piece of aluminum where the latch connects and is connected by an alligator clip back to the bread board. It finally passes through the red LED, and back out into the ground.
Here is my unconventional switch that activates an LED when I complete my sandwich. I am utilizing the conductivity of the ham, aided by its liquid preservatives, to complete a circuit. I am using a power supply that outputs ~4.9V, a white LED with a forward voltage of 2.688, and my lunch. I used the ideal LED amperage of 0.02mA to arrive at a desired resistance of 110.6 ohms. I used a 100 ohm and 10 ohm resistor for this circuit. However, it wasn’t until after the fact that I realized that the ham will have an innate resistance, reducing my need for accuracy.
Schematic with measured values, ideal resistance top left
The circuit on the left and the switch on the right.
The switch uses a jar of coins to complete the circuit. The positive side of the circuit is buried in the jar. When a coin attached to the other side of the circuit touches one of the coins in the jar, the circuit completes and the red LED gets power and lights up. Since all of the coins are made of metal, they all conduct electricity and pass the current between each other. This is why the circuit completes itself despite the fact that the two coins that the wires are attached to are not touching each other.
