35.
Sequential Device Control using TV Remote Control
This circuit lets you switch on and switch off up to nine devices sequentially from your TV
remote control [33].
36. Make your own Electric Bug Zapper
None of us likes bugs at home. To kill these flying insects, they should first be attracted
and then electrocuted. Bug zapper is one such device with a high-voltage electrocuting
circuit and an insect-attracting UV lamp of 365 nm wave-length. This ultraviolet
fluorescent lamp is mounted in the middle of the cabinet and a pair of carefully spaced,
electrically insulated, charged wire grids surround the light. When an insect comes close
enough to the mesh pair, an electrical arc is formed, the dielectric breaks down and
current flows through the insect’s body. Electrocuting the insect doesn’t require it to
touch both the wires as an arc forms in the air gap over 1800V [34].
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37. Twilight Lamp Blinker
During sunset or sunrise, the ambient light is not adequate to lead you through the open doorway
or make your way around obstructions. To avoid any mishap, here is a twilight lamp blinker that
you can place near obstructions [35].
38. Emergency Photo Lamp
This emergency light can be powered either by a rechargeable battery (like 3.6V Ni-Cd) or a non-
rechargeable battery (3.0V CR2032). The white LED (LED1) glows automatically when the
power fails and you are left in dark. The quiescent current of the circuit is very low and the
battery is practically used only when the LED glows [36].
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39. Sound-Operated Intruder Alarm
When this burglar alarm detects any sound, such as that created by opening of a door or inserting
a key into the lock, it starts flashing a light as well as sounding an intermittent audio alarm to alert
you of an intruder. Both the light and the alarm are automatically turned off by the next sound
pulse [37].
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40. Electronic Street Light Switch
Here’s a simple and low-cost street light switch. This switch automatically turns on the light at
sunset and turns it off at sunrise. The automatic function saves electricity besides man-power
[38].
41. Little Power-Hila Vinegar Battery to power a calculator !
LCD calculators draw very little current. This vinegar battery easily runs these devices.Take the
back off of an inexpensive calculator, remove the battery extend the two battery wires out the
sides then reassemble [39].
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42. Standby Power-Loss Preventer
Electronic devices consume some power even in the standby mode, i.e., when they have been
switched off using a remote handset but not the mains power switch. For instance, when a CRT
TV or PC monitor is in use, it consumes 80-100 watts of power. In the standby mode too, it draws
a few watts of power. Thus if you leave these devices in standby mode for a long time, they may
inflate your electricity bill [40].
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43. Hum-Sensitive Touch Alarm
Radiation signals from mains wiring can travel a few metres of distance. These can be induced by
the electromagnetic field in the human body also [41].
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44. Touch Alarm [42]
45. Versatile LED Display
This circuit uses an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) to display various light
patterns on LEDs. Since bicolour LEDs (comprising green and red LEDs) have been used,
display is possible in three colours (green, red and amber) [44].
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46. HDD Selector Switch
Using the switch-mode power supply (SMPS) of your personal computer, this add-on
circuit lets you switch between three hard disk drives (HDDs) and also ensure that
nobody else can open your protected HDD. It is quite useful for protection from hacking
and spying [45].
47. Multiutility flash light
This multiutility flash light consists of three sections: a flasher, a sound-to-light display and a
white LED-based flashlight [46].
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48. Long-range Burglar Alarm Using Laser Torch
Laser torch-based burglar alarms normally work in darkness only. But this long-range
photoelectric alarm can work reliably in daytime also to warn you against intruders in your big
compounds, etc. The alarm comprises laser transmitter and receiver units, which are to be
mounted on the opposite pillars of the entry gate. Whenever anyone enters to interrupt the
transmitted laser beam falling on the receiver, the buzzer in the receiver circuit sounds an alarm
[47].
49. Twi-light using white LEDs
This sunlight-controlled lamp uses a light-dependent resistor (LDR) as the sunlight sensor and a
total of 25 high-brightness white LEDs. Separate resistors are connected in series with each row
of the LEDs [48].
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50. PC TIMER
Primarily intended for installation into a desktop PC, this versatile timer with adjustable time
output provides controlled ‘on’ time for PC peripherals like printers, scanners and desktop
reading lamps. As it is designed for an input voltage of 12 volts, it may also be useful in your lab
[49].
51. Infrared Object Counter
This infrared object counter can be installed at the entry gate to count the total number of people
entering any venue. For example, it can be used at the railway stations or bus stands to count the
people arriving per day or week [50].
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