Homemade (DIY) Switches

You can make your own tilt switch with a metal ball and a few nails, and by wrapping some wire around the nails. When the ball rolls to one side and rests on two of the nails, it will connect those wires.

You can make a momentary switch with a clothespin by wrapping a wire around each handle. When the handles are squeezed, the switch is closed.

Alternatively, you can wrap the wires around the jaws of the clothespin, and put a piece of cardboard between them to keep the wires from touching. Tie a piece of string to the cardboard and tie the other end of the string to a door. When the door is opened, the string pulls the cardboard out, the wires touch, and the switch is closed.

Because all of these sensors are digital, any of them can be used in place of the pushbutton that you worked without having to make any changes to your sketch.

For example, by using the circuit and sketch from “Using a Pushbutton to Control the LED”, but replacing the pushbutton with a PIR sensor, you could make your lamp respond to the presence of human beings, or you could use a tilt switch to build a lamp that turns off when it’s tilted on one side.


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