DIY motion activated storage bin lights

EDIT: Video Here I get tired of fumbling around in the storage cubbies for my phone or garage door opener. The overhead light doesn't help much either, so I decided to make some hand activated LED lights that go inside the cubbies. When you stick your hand in there, you interrupt an IR beam that activates an led. This circuit works perfectly and never draws more than 50mA. All values listed are pretty flexible, but let me know what you find and I can let you know if it will work and what value resistors will give you the best operation. This requires only 5 components and all can be found at RadioShack. If you can solder a resistor to an LED, you can do this easily. EDIT: Schecmatics added D1 - IR Emitter, 1.5-2V, 50-100mA (wavelength around 850nm) [Any emitter out of an old TV remote will most likely work] D2 - IR Detector/Phototransistor/Photodiode, C-E voltage 30V, E-C voltage 5V, light current 20-50mA (make sure the bandwidth range matches D1, ex. 750-980nm) �Reverse voltage > 20V (car voltage with some safety room), forward voltage close to but > D3 (around 5V is perfect) and current drain at saturation greater than D3 LED power drain; �ex. D2 = 5V, 30mah (150mw) @ saturation {>} D3 = 3.3V, 25mA (82.5mw). �This will cause current to flow through the least path of resistance, which is D2, until the beam is blocked and D2 shuts off, causing current to flow through D3 and produce visible light D3 - LED White , 3.3V, 20-40mA (or any color you want) R1 - 560-680 Ohm, 1/2 watt resistor �Set to D1's required voltage drop (1.5-1.8V) R2 - ~470 Ohm, 1/2 watt resistor �Set to D3's required voltage drop Total current draw = 37mA (light off), 34mA (light on). Breadboarding...these were rough drafts. Pay no attention to the circuit layout

Soldering and such... EDIT: this project is just 2 simple circuits. �Circuit 1 is just an infrared light emitting diode (LED) and a single voltage drop resistor. �Circuit 2 is a regular LED for lighting (can be any color you want) and it's voltage drop resistor. The LED is bypassed by the DETECTOR when infrared light is present. It's that simple ........................................................................ Circuit 1 - IR Emitter � D1 - 1.5V, 50-100mA (wavelength must match the detector that you choose) � R1 - 680 Ohm, 1/2 Watt resistor Simply solder a resistor to either leg of the emitter and wires to both the resistor and the other leg. Just make sure to keep them straight. The anode is (+) and the cathode is (-)**. Cover the resistor and connections with shrink tubing. Make sure you keep your wires straight. **[You can get this info from the package, but you can also tell by looking; the anode leg is longer and if you can see inside the emitter (a clear emitter from an old tv remote, for example), the (-) cathode is the side that is connected to what looks like a tiny satellite dish and the anode (+) is connected to a tiny wire that runs to the center of the tiny dish.] Cut grooves for wires... EDIT: If you keep the wiring and components tucked forward and below the edge of the shelfs lip like I have here, no modification to the dash frame slot is needed because there is a space created there when the shelf is fully inserted. ........................................................................ ...... Circuit 2 - Lighting LED � D3 - LED of YOUR choosing � R2 - Resistor (Value depends on D3) Solder the resistor to the Anode leg and solder wires to both the resistor and the other leg of the LED. A third wire needs to be soldered the the Anode of the LED before the resistor (This wire will run to the collector lead of the D2 detector). � D2 - IR Detector, 3-5V, 30mA or greater (total power draw must be greater than that of the lighting LED at the same voltage) Collector is connected directly to the (+) Anode of the lighting LED. *** All (-)Grounds are common. Solder in main power wires for (+) and (-) and power from a switched source (stereo or dash lights). Solder in an in-line 1A fuse for safety. I connected mine to the ring light on the cig lighter. This way, the circuit is only active when the dash lights are on. Since the circuit only draws 37mA, it's not going to affect what you wire it in to. Ignore the extra resistor on bottom in this picture...I was still experimenting. Completed wiring harness/circuit...

Fitted... The IR beam is offset slightly to the right, and the LED shines from the upper left corner to the lower right corner for maximum light distribution. I experimented with several different set ups and settled on this because when I put my hand in the cubby, I don't want my hand to block the light and I want to be able to see into it as well. So, with my hand off to the right the light coming from the left, this allows me to activate the light while still having a clear view of what's inside

This was just a rough draft that I slapped together a while back, but thought I'd share. I've since refined and perfected the design and will post pics soon

Pretty cool mod. Seems like a lot of trouble, but you are clearly having fun with it. Nice work!

Very cool mod!

Awesome! Could you throw a capacitor on the detector output to have a timed fade when the detector opens? I really should've taken more ee courses in college.

Awesome! Thank you

I vaguely remember something about an RC circuit creating a delay (as the capacitor discharges). Could provide a fade.

Quotes source post: 11139643

Absolutely. This also eliminates any flicker caused by momentary breaking of the beam I'll revise the schematics and directions for those who want to do a tiny bit more work.

Very slick. I don't have this problem in the 911, but I do have a cubby in my truck that I always wished had a light in it, looks like I have a solution to that problem now!