Installing a activation motion sensor.

[Darth Midian]

Hi everyone. I have a friend who has an F/X Vader replica. His sister gave it to him for Christmas three years ago. It's still in the box. What he would like to do is display it in his living room, but he wants to install a motion sensor on it so when people walk by it it turns on. I was wondering if that was possible, and what would be the best way to install one if possible? Thank you in advance.

[TimeRender]

If it were me, I would use a power adapter to bypass the battery altogether, then just use a store bought wall outlet motion sensor.

[Darth Midian]

That sounds simple enough. Thank you.

[Skottsaber]

I'm sure it would get very annoying very soon, though. Or at least for me it would :rolleyes:

[Darth Midian]

I'm sure it would get very annoying very soon, though. Or at least for me it would :rolleyes:

I agree with you. That's what my friend wants to do with it. His wife thinks that if he doese do it, it will scare their two cats and dog, and then they'll just keep activating it making her crazy. :shock:

[Rhyen Skytracker]

You can also wire a manual switch in series with the motion sensor, that way the switch would have to be on before the motion sensor would work. Another thing you will have to worry about is that the saber will not turn off until the motion sensor times out.

[TimeRender]

Rhyen, I'm pretty sure the saber already COMES with a manual switch which would have to be on. Doesn't the Vader saber have a latching switch?

[Rhyen Skytracker]

But it would have to bin in the same circuit as the motion sensor for it to work properly. It would have to be in series with the motion sensor. If you wire it in parallel then both the switch and sensor will bring it on and that defeats the purpose of disabling the motion sensor when the switch is off.

[Darth Midian]

Wouldn't the saber go off when the motion sensor timed out?

[TimeRender]

Yes, the saber will go off when the timer times out. Rhyen, no you are wrong. If the saber has a latching switch and you turn it on, then connect a power supply with a motion sensor to the battery terminals, when the sensor goes off the circuit will be connected and the saber will turn on. If the saber switch is off and the motion sensor is tripped, nothing will happen. You don't need another switch. It would be totally redundant.

Edit: It occurs to me that you may not understand what I was suggesting to him to begin with Rhyen. I advised him NOT to wire the motion sensor directly into the saber. By using an external sensor in place of the power supply he will simplify the build, prevent a heck of a lot of dead batteries while the saber is being displayed, and avoid making irreversible changes to the saber. He won't be wiring ANYTHING in parallel to the saber switch. He is merely bypassing the need for a battery.

[Rhyen Skytracker]

I gotcha now. It will work ,but you will lose some of the saber functions that way. The problem you will have doing it that way is when the motion detector times out with the switch on you will not get your power down ramp effect and the power down sound will not work. That is why I suggested wiring the motion sensor in series with the saber switch. You would have all the functions and sounds that way.

[TimeRender]

Wiring it in sequence will open up about a few different cans of worms, and I'm not really qualified to tell you how to solve the problems that will cause. I can, however, identify what those problems will be. First of all, motion sensors require a small but constant power supply, so running it on battery power is still out of the question. Second, as Rhyen mentioned before, you will want to install a cutoff switch so the thing doesn't go off when you don't want it to. If you want to make this a permanent display piece (which may be necessary as I will explain later) then the saber's original power switch will no longer be necessary and you can disconnect it from the sound board and wire it in sequence between the battery and the sensor, turning it into the power cutoff switch. Third, installing the sensor into the hilt itself will require some empty space. If you plan to use the saber only as a wall display piece, you can sacrifice the battery chamber altogether and install the sensor in there. I'm not sure how you will get the sensor to fit otherwise, so if you install the sensor into the hilt you may HAVE to convert it into a display-only saber. Fourth, you're going to need to drill a hole in the saber so the sensor can "see" out. That shouldn't be too hard, and a small hole between the grips shouldn't be too obvious.

Personally, I'd rather sacrifice the power down effect when it is in display mode if it meant I could continue to use it as a prop, but that's totally up to you.

[Rhyen Skytracker]

You can use a relay off of the motion sensor in series with the saber switch. That way both devices would have to be made for it to come on and the power down would work too. Plus, with the relay you keep the constant power on the motion sensor. That is if you want to keep the power down effects. Personally I am with time render. It is not worth all the trouble just for a power down effect. I wanted to just show you how you could keep all the effects with a motion sensor.

[Darth Midian]

Thank you guys. My buddy is just going to keep it simple. But I know he'll just keep it in the box in his basement. When I was over at his house this past summer, it was the first time he has taken it out of the box since he got it for Christmas three years ago. If it wasn't a Christmas present from his sister I would offer to buy it from him. Again, thank you both for your time, advice, and input. May the force be with you.