Printable View
I looked all over for this, but decided to post this just to see what I can find out. I saw a commercial for a Delta faucet on youtube. It was an interesting method of turning it on, by only touching it with any part of the human body. So my question is......can or does anybody make something like this? Fire away!
Unless I'm mistaken, that's the same tech that Apple uses for their touch-sensitive screens, trackpads, and iPod clickwheels. I'm not sure how easy that tech is to use in sabers, but it might be cool. It also might get extremely annoying, however, as you'd constantly turn the saber on and off whenever you touched the switchplate.Quote:
Originally Posted by djobitwan7
However....
If you could make the entire hilt touch-sensitive, you could have an auto-shutoff switch, so that when you dropped your saber, it'd shut off, just like lightsabers are often wired to do.
Ironically enough... this kind of thing happened to me by ACCIDENT back in 2005 (during prep for BOP I).
Phil Raupach (Cael) and I were working at his home to wire up some kind of FX conversion. At the time, we had the switch leads "bare", attached to no switch of any kind. Just testing things. Anyhow, I started fooling around with the leads, crossing them and uncrossing them--sort of "hotwire" style or whatever.
Then, as I was tucking the leads back inside the hilt so that we could slide the components back out again and complete the work... I found that touching the saber hilt a certain way actually turned the thing on! For a minute I was surprised, but soon realized that SOMEhow *I* was completing the connection via my hand/body(???), and that the leads were both touching the hilt or something.
To this day, I don't remember EXACTLY what was going on, but... it was definitely something we repeated many times to be sure it wasn't just a fluke. It was weird to just "touch" the saber and have it go on.
But besides all that... Jeff Parks was using a touch switch for a long time--long before any of this. On his EL sabers I think. I only know that because Eva Vanecek's grand-daughter showed me her Parks EL saber... which had a touch-switch.
It is easily done with a reed switch. Maybe Gundamamniac will chime in here.;)
Capacitance or Resistance switches might be better for sabers.
Reed switches could be a great idea for a 'magnetic ring' safety lock [i.e. only someone wearing a magnetic ring can operate the device] for a 'child-safe' 'smart gun' IRL though.
I remember way back there was a device called a 'Magna-trigger' module could be installed in S&W K, L & N frame revolvers so that only a wearer of a samarium-cobalt ring could fire it...some Police gurus like Massad Ayoob liked the idea for use where 'gun grabber' risks were high...but it never caught on with police or correctional departments because of cost. IIRC it worked on a principle similar to a reed switch but for mechanical locking/unlocking of the revolver mainspring it was installed onto not electronic switching.
And it also functioned well as a 'drop safety' which reed switches would for sabers too...I just wouldnt want to have to wear a ring that might scratch up my saber's finish so imo either capacitance or resistance switches might be better for saber use.
Capacitance would have the advantage it could be sealed behind a non magnetic surface.
Resistance would be particularly good for a drop safety.
Or maybe you could use both with a capacitance type for the 'on/off switch' and a resistance type as a 'safety interlock'?
The only downside I can see other than complexity and perhaps space issues is that it could interfere with spinning unless a slight delay circuit was added on the resistance switch ...and another might be useful on the capacitance switch to prevent inadvertent switching off...or maybe the same delay function added into future drivers/soundboards.
Saber tech keeps evolving...something for the future maybe?
The reed switch hat LDM mentioned would be an awesome way to go.