Posted by hevans66 on Monday, October 19, 2009
In the past, NerdKits has shown you a 14MHz freezer, a pseudo-random Valentine's Day card, and a USB-connected digital bathroom scale -- so why not a haunted candy bowl? For this special spooky Halloween project, we've put together a Halloween Jack-O-Lantern with a capacitive sensor that glows when you reach your hand in.
The technology used for our proximity sensor is the same technology that is used in laptop trackpads and smartphone touch screens, just implemented with a somewhat more MacGyver twist. We use two sheets of aluminum foil to create a capacitive proximity sensor. The sensor trips when a hand is near, and lights go on to surprise and scare the unsuspecting trick-or-treater!
As always we bring you the concepts behind the project, and all the source code and implementation details so you can keep your DIY spirit alive and keep learning electronics.
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