One wonders why such considerations are not taken in the purchasing of hardware toys? That is, how ethical it is given the conditions for the workers who take the compounds from the earth, refine it, and the factory workers who make the end product. Not to mention the environmental impact.
Did I mention that I could be very wrong about the cooking her part and that the bennefit of the implimentation I described is that it could easily be strapped onto her wrist with velcro?
I'm assuming this will need to be mounted on or near her hand as that is all she can move. I'm also assuming that battery power is a requirement as in the given situation she may not be in bed.
One small problem with IR is that if she covers the emmiter or detector her hand still gives off IR radiation and the switch may not close. Also, there's the problem of cooking the poor woman's hand from the IR LED if not tuned properly.
A simple photodetector could be put near a nightlight or an LED to trigger the switch. Radio Shack, among other electronics retailers, sells a project box the size of a matchbox. An LED and a Photodetector could be mounted on the outside of this with four wires (telco wire?) going to a seperate box holding the battery's, buzzer, and possibly a relay that keeps voltage from going to the LED except when the photo resistor is covered to conserve battery life.
Let's see, find a nice controled environment that provides adequite protection and possibly a few computers and books to entertain us?
Hrm, that's not quite right; I do that every day.
Slashdot Mirror
Example: Ammount of tantalum in a product?
No? Shoot.
One small problem with IR is that if she covers the emmiter or detector her hand still gives off IR radiation and the switch may not close. Also, there's the problem of cooking the poor woman's hand from the IR LED if not tuned properly.
A simple photodetector could be put near a nightlight or an LED to trigger the switch. Radio Shack, among other electronics retailers, sells a project box the size of a matchbox. An LED and a Photodetector could be mounted on the outside of this with four wires (telco wire?) going to a seperate box holding the battery's, buzzer, and possibly a relay that keeps voltage from going to the LED except when the photo resistor is covered to conserve battery life.
Let's see, find a nice controled environment that provides adequite protection and possibly a few computers and books to entertain us? Hrm, that's not quite right; I do that every day.