DIY Motion activated storage cubby 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

IR emitter and detector - http://www.radioshack.com/radioshack-infrared-led-emitter-and-detector
White LEDs - http://www.radioshack.com/5mm-high-brightness-white-led-2-pack
LED resistor calculator for the IR emitter and white LEDs - LED Resistor Calculator



D1 - IR Emitter, 1.3V, 150mA
(1.2-2V, 25-150mA [Any emitter out of an old TV remote will work])

Q1 - IR Detector, C-E voltage 70V, E-C voltage 5V, light current 20-50mA
(make sure the bandwidth range matches D1, ex. 750-980nm [any IR detector from RadioShack will work, but just buy a $2-$3 matched emitter/detector set for D1/Q1 there])

D2, 3, 4 - LEDs, White , 3V, 20-40mA (or any color you want)

R1 - 470 ohm 1 watt resistor
(330-680 ohm, set to D1's required voltage drop [1.2-2V])

R2 - 1000 ohm, 1/2 watt resistor
(330-4700 ohm)
{This value determines both the allowable distance between emitter and detector and LED brightness}
a) Higher value = gap between emitter and detector can be greater, but LEDs will be dimmer;
b) Lower value = gap between emitter and detector will be smaller, but LEDs will be brighter. Do not go below 330 ohms.

Total current draw = 22mA (light off), 18mA (light on).


The below picture is correct. Pay attention to the color bands on the resistors and the orientation of the IR emitter, IR detector and LEDs.

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 - 1.2-2V, 25-100mA (wavelength must match the detector that you choose)
• R1 - 470 Ohm, 1 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.

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Circuit 2 - Lighting LED
• D2, 3, 4 - LEDs of YOUR choosing
• R2 - Resistor (Value depends on D2, 3, 4)

• Q1 - IR Detector, 3-5V, 30-100mA.
(Collector is connected directly to the (+) Anode of the lighting LEDs)

***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 22mA, it's not going to affect what you wire it in to.

Fitted...
http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...A108B0B7F8.jpg


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 ;)

The light doesn't show up well here, but I'll get some good pics when I put it back in.
http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...C1E82E1C8B.jpg

Disregard......

I'm still toying with circuit values, but if anyone is interested, I can post directions.

Won't anything you place in the cubby activate the light as well?

That is why the sensor is all the way out on the edge ;)
If you block the IR light beam, yes. Personally not a problem since I never have anything that large in there.

I'm just doing the top one for now to see how I like it.

Haha brilliant, in all senses ;)

I'm a huge fan of your DIYs Charles, keep them coming!

Thanks Fred ;)

Schematics added to first post. Video coming soon...

Brilliant +1. Please post the schematics when you get it worked out.

Some pictures before reinstalling.
Excuse the workbench...it's a workbench :o

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...6F4BC20D25.jpg

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...A67A5A5588.jpg

This doesn't show up well in pictures, but the nice even glow made a huge difference! :)
http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...33828BFF7F.jpg

Thanks for sharing Charles.

And they sell rubber mats for cheap these days.... for your workbench's topper :p

(I had to find something to complain about hehe)

Here it is installed :cool:

Is it just me or do all of my pictures look pixelated?

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...5A4D1D7FCC.jpg

Done, installed, works awesomely, and video added to first post.

:cool: :cool: :cool:

Great idea and install! The dark pictures have some grain because of the low light but the other pictures look normal to me:cheers:

This is too cool. You need to sell kits before someone else patents it and sues you. This is the type of thing that becomes an option and then standard equipment in a few years. Way to go.:cheers:

^ I was just about to say the same. Possibly something that we'll see in every vehicle's compartments in a few years. Again, brilliant

So, I was driving the Boxster the other night for the first time in a while and reached into the storage bin for my garage door opener, expecting to fumble around searching for it blindly, when the light came on automatically! :eek:

I had seriously forgotten all about this mod and love how flawlessly it still works. This is really a must have (yes, I am patting myself on the back :p).

I would do this mod if I had a cubby! Seriously, I think you need to drive more, you are working too hard;)

I think you could a]have substituted "chubby" for "cubby" in your statement. Obviously OP has a serious chubby for his ride, lol:p

Yes... this is a must
 

I can hardly wait to do this once I'm back in the states and have my car again. It is going to be very near the top of my list. Glad to hear that it is still working well for you... a sure sign of your quality of work!

Hey buddy! I hope things are going well for you! :)

It's a small mod, but definitely one of my more useful ideas. It's one of those things that you do and just forget about until you need it. The great thing about this is that you don't even have to know you need it because it knows for you :D

I may have to do this for our new Highlander. It has a cavernous center console that has no lighting. This concept would be perfect for that. Now I just have to motivate myself and put it on the endless list of projects:rolleyes:

Has anyone else made one of these yet? I made another one last night in about 20 minutes just to prove to myself that it does indeed work. :D

I changed my design a little; I'm using three LEDs in series now instead of just one for better light distribution.
http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...2CC8629CAD.jpg

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...7D1D8F1A07.jpg

This picture shows all components and their correct orientation.
(Edit: Picture and links to parts added to first post)

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a.../pictorial.jpg

If I had a cubby, this would be tops on my list. Very nice mod:cheers:

Not only easy and fun to DYI, it's functional ;) little things sometimes lol

I'd like to use blue LEDs. Any suggestions and how does it impact R1 and R2?

The emitter circuit is independent from the LED/IR detector circuit, so R1 will not be affected.

The slight change in voltage drop across a blue LED compared to a white LED would not be significant enough to need to change values of R2.
R2 directly affects the balance between the allowable distance between the IR emitter/detector and LED brightness (higher value = allowable IR emitter/detector distance increases, but LEDs are dimmer; lower value = allowable IR emitter/detector distance is decreased, but the LEDs are brighter).
You may need to play with the value of R2 a little bit to find a good balance for your semiconductors, but the values I posted should be just fine.

Blue 5mm LEDs

My emitter is tinted and my detector is clear. I assume that doesn't matter as long as the emitter is on the bottom and the detector is on top with the lights?

No, the tint doesn't matter.

It's 2 separate circuits, so doesn't matter which is on top or bottom as long as the LEDs are shunted by the detector (don't get the emitter and detector mixed up).

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...alcircuit1.jpg

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...ictorial-1.jpg

What I would like to see would be an extra, colored LED (blue in your case) towards the back, giving a nice glow all the time. I have this in my MINI. Brightness would be in keeping with the rest of the dash.

Started the harness tonight, will finish tying the grounds together tomorrow. First time I've ever soldered. Need to figure out how to test it nexy, guess I should I have thought about that sooner, lol.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a11...magejpg1-4.jpg
Emitter and 470 Ohm (200+270) resistor

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a11...magejpg2-2.jpg
Detector and 1k ohm resistor

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a11.../imagejpg4.jpg
Bottom

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a11...magejpg3-1.jpg
Top

Very cool ;)

You'll definitely need to test it before installation to make sure that your R2 value is good. Do you have a spare battery around or maybe a 14.4 V rechargeable battery for a power tool?
Spare cigarette lighter adapter that you can splice the wires into?

I suppose you could always test it in the car before reinstalling it completely.
To set the emitter and detector, I used hot glue. You can then warm the glue after it has set with a heat gun or similar to move and aim them better if necessary.

Edit: if you used the IR emitter and detector that I linked, as well as the resistor values, then you should be fine.

It's been a while...any luck, Coaster? :)

I have some spare storage shelves and was thinking of retrofitting them with the lights and posting them in the classified section...any interest?

Yes sir, there is interest.
Where do you plug the power? On the switched telephone wire?

You can draw power from any 12VDC source ;)
I used the cig lighter's illumination ring power so that the circuit is only powered when the headlight switch is on (at night or dusk/dawn), but the circuit draws so little power that it wouldn't hurt anything to have it on any switched power source (phone accessory 12V).

I've ordered components for 10 storage shelves, so hopefully they will be here by the weekend. I'm going to try to do a core exchange, but if that doesn't fly, I'll just sell them outright. :)

Choice of LED color or will they all be the same? Estimated cost - with and without core exchange. Is it one cubby or two ?

Thanks