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Optical Buttons?

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ShinAce:

Update:

My sister moved back into town unexpectedly, but I've finally gotten around to converting a pushbutton to optical. The idea was just sitting on a breadboard at first.

I now have 7 optical microswitches that I can plug and swap into pushbuttons. The photo-transistor and LED are just hanging off the body of the microswitch(held by their soldered leads), yet it still slips into a pushbutton like any other switch. I've used all 3 tabs: one for 5 volt, one for ground, and finally the third is an active signal. The signal is analog and throw sensitive. But I'll pass it through an IC, convert it to true digital and clean it up.

I'll be back with more in a few days, I still need to build the case.


EDIT: I've drawn up the schematic so that you peeps can see how this was done. There's a schematic clearly showing the electronic aspect. Then there's a diagram showing how I chose to wire it to a switch.

www.geocities.com/alainprice/diagram.jpg
www.geocities.com/alainprice/schematic.jpg

I'm going to wait until I get a chance to install the switches and play a few games before posting pics and comments. So far, they're great. The sensitivity can be adjusted in a number of ways. Each one draws under 3 mA, and they can be hot swapped for on the go fixes. But what are the odds of an optical switch needing replacement?

ShinAce:

And some pics. These things are crude, but show much promise.

IntruderAlert:

What's inside the modified microswitch now?

ShinAce:

A 10k resistor between COM and NO. The normal guts have been removed.

IntruderAlert:

 8)
..can't wait to hear how your tests turn out

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