Need help on a make project - solar chimes

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Need help on a make project - solar chimes

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cyenobot 03-19-2007, 12:35 PM
Hello philly makers!
I'm looking for a little help on a project I'd like to do but lack the knowledge of electronics to start. I'm hoping that it's a small easy project, but maybe that's because I don't know enough about it... Here's the pitch...
I want to make a solar windchime (for lack of a better word). Basically a mash of a beambot and a project I saw on the make blog (I think that's where I saw it).
What I'd like this "bot" to do is to have a small motor (I'm thinking a pager motor, but am open to other ideas)... that is hooked to a small solar panel, so that I can take a glass bottle drop the pager motor inside the bottle (perhaps tilt it so the motor hits the side of the glass). Then set this on my windowsill or hang from a hook. Then throughout the day the motor would just randomly vibrate on the glass to [hopefully] make a pleasant sound. It doesn't have to be a bottle either, I was also thinking of sections of copper pipe or an old windchime to produce various pitches.
Some things that would be nice to have... an on and off switch. Some sort of sensor that I could leave it on 24-7, but it would sense when it's dark out and not make a noise during the night. (I know the sun's not out, but I'm thinking like streetlights, or headlights from passing cars). Maybe some sort of control to adjust the frequence of how often it would make a noise too would be nice, so it's not just an incessant clatter.
So, I'm looking for someone who can tell me what parts to order, (where to order), and possibly help to explain how to solder them together. I'm new to soldering, but I think I could do this.
Thanks for any feedback.
Jef
If it's easier to email feel free: cyenobite [at] gmail [dot] com

Re: Need help on a make project - solar chimes

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joshkopel 03-19-2007, 7:39 PM
Jef,

cool idea
i think the beambot we ordered from solarbotics would be a good choice as long as it gets direct sun
did you build one at the beam meeting?
(and if so did you ever get it working?)

given the performance we saw i would not worry about headlights or street lights ;-)
you could attach something to the shaft of the motor as a striker, and either put it in a bottle (i like that idea), or hang it next to a bottle and let it just hit it from the outside

if you want to check their web site for other kits (they have a bunch) it is http://www.solarbotics.com

josh

Re: Need help on a make project - solar chimes

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cyenobot 03-20-2007, 12:58 PM
Thanks for the reply Josh. I did get the beambot project, but could never get it to work. I even desoldered a handful of the connections and re-soldered them to no avail. I had a friend (no electronics experience) look over the instructions to make sure I had followed them correctly and he said it looked like I did. So I'm not sure why it never worked.
I guess then the only modification then that I would want to do is add some sort of timer to control how frequently it would sound off. But, this would give me a good starting point.
Thanks
Jef