Economical night-time lighting, not only for seniors

It's some idea too, although in my opinion it lacks a bit of finesse , but will get away with industrial electronics.
I don't mind the simplicity, but the design brief was quite different, hence the implementation.

In my bedroom, the motion detector did not work at all. First of all, what I wanted: soft lighting, easy to switch on when it's dark... but sometimes you have to get up. The lights on the bedside tables are a bit too strong, and with the model I have you have to search for the switch in the dark. I first tried a ready-made light from Castorama or Leroy, a motion detector integrated with a low-power LED. I placed it under the bed. It worked as it wished, sometimes it wouldn't switch on, other times it would 'self-start' on a dangling piece of duvet.
I finally solved the problem a couple of weeks ago as follows, by:
Acquiring touch switches for the LED strips, with brightness control, by the way. Two - for each side of the bed, so that the nicer half also has its own independent "lamp". At Castorama circa £20/pc. Maybe on the internet, e.g. at A-services (domestic or Far East) would be cheaper, but I didn't want to wait.
Such:
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https://www.castorama.pl/wlacznik-dotykowy-ze...em-do-paskow-led-bialy/5901508318657_CAPL.prd
Plus a metre of 12V led tape for each side of the bed (source of purchase: Ant, they sell there by the metre, price a few zloty/m for the lowest brightness of 200 or 300lm/m, because I specifically wanted it to "natively" shine as weakly as possible). In addition, 2 dedicated 1m aluminium profiles for LEDs (Castorama, about 50PLN for both). I had a recycled power supply from a defunct SAT decoder. The set was completed with 2m of 2-core cable, ⌀ 5mm connectors, which I also already had (Castorama switches-dimmers, as you can see in the photo, are in this "power supply" standard of 5mm). The total cost of the "work" approx. 100PLN.
I fixed the profiles with the LEDs vertically with double-sided tape at the back of the "headboard", or whatever that part of the bed is called. In my case, it is shaped like a large vertical rectangle, so assembly was trivial. I taped the switches to the sides of the bed frame in convenient locations.
Overall, it turned out pretty well. The LED strips can serve a decorative role in the evening. To switch on/off, all you have to do is 'tap' your hand on the appropriate spot. Getting used to where, it took... it didn't take, it came straight away. I find this much more reliable than all sorts of motion detectors. In addition, you can adjust the brightness - and very well, because in practice at night, the smallest that a castorama dimmer allows is sufficient.
And most importantly - the whole thing was approved, and even pleases the more beautiful half .
Anyway, as they say, pictures can replace 1,000 words. The left side of the "headboard", the right side is analogous:
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I will not publish the schematic so as not to offend fellow forum members
Oh, I did not measure the power consumption of the power supply at idle or during operation. To tell the truth, I didn't even think about it. Switching power supply, so I'm thinking idle up to 1W, and probably less. But even if it draws this watt, somehow these few zlotys a year I will survive .

P.S. I know: there are ready-made LED strips on sale in various lengths, with a touch switch already built in. All you have to do is stick it on, connect the power and you're done. However, in my case - specifically the location of such a strip somewhere at the back, behind the "headboard". - I didn't know if it would pass the test. Especially when it came to the location of the switch. You would have to reach somewhere "behind the headboard". Here I was able to place both strips and switches where I wanted. And with an hour of "DIY" it was .

speedy9 wrote:

I also don't quite understand what the point of a supercapacitor is. It charges from the power supply anyway, so the amount of energy taken from the mains is the same as with a direct supply. It unnecessarily complicates the circuit.Such a driver for an LED strip with external light detection and motion detector, powered from a 5V micro USB charger on Ali costs £15. Probably not worth knocking down an open door in such a case.

Just using a supercapacitor is cool. If he can power this circuit as the author suggests for up to 6 hours.

As for breaking down an open door, in the sense of not building it yourself because you can buy something on ALi..., on an electronics forum such words? .
In the words of Sheriff Adamczychy:
"Our noble economy is based on the fact that we export grain to the west and import luxury goods. As a result, we do not need to develop technology. When I told an Italian friend about our economy, all he said was:
"Polako, stupido - the granary of Europe, that is". .

I, too, am invariably surprised by this approach, but I guess it stems from the fact that for some it is only important to achieve the goal itself regardless of the method, while for others the method of achieving the goal is also important.

As always, there is the Otwock school and the Falenice school, and they never agree .

yego666 wrote:

I, too, am invariably surprised by this approach, but I guess this is because for some it is only important to achieve the goal itself regardless of the method, while for others the method of achieving the goal is also important.

In my opinion, as they say: it depends. If I had to make the bed backlight described two posts above not from ready-made products, but carve out by myself, for example, these switches / touch dimmers, or make some circuit which will save a few zloty per year (and maybe even less), or solder a chain of single LEDs I would rather never get started. The days when I was actively sculpting something from scratch, so to speak, were over 30 years ago. But those were different times, often when you wanted something you had to make it yourself .
On the other hand - if we're talking about a hobby, something someone just enjoys doing, not necessarily on the cheap or for a quick result, then.... then there is actually nothing to talk about. Any way is good then, and even more so if it works and satisfies the creator.... I don't know if Fellows have seen TEN topic - a guy amateur invented from scratch and built a calculator on.... TTLs. Now he is building a computer using the same technology. To me this is irrational, pointless, breaking down an open door, a waste of undoubted talent, etc. But the guy clearly just enjoys it, I guess he already thinks in the TTL way And above all he himself makes no secret of the fact that this is his hobby. And already

I have expressed my opinion and I will repeat it: a bad idea, impractical and, in addition, disfiguring the room.
To be constructive, I will suggest, you need to use a proximity sensor. Simply install it in a bedside lamp. When reaching for a glass of water, all you have to do is wave your hand in the vicinity of the bedside lamp and you're done. Practical, no disfiguring cables, plastic gadgets etc.

Stanley_P wrote:

My opinion, as they say: it depends. If I had to make the bed backlight described two posts above not from ready-made products, but carve out by myself, for example, these switches / touch dimmers, or make some kind of circuit that will save a few zloty a year (and maybe even less), or solder a chain of individual LEDs I would rather never get started.

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For me, whether I make something myself or buy something off-the-shelf is purely down to doing electronics as a hobby. The fact that I can do it better or build in functions that are missing in off-the-shelf solutions, or make a device that will fulfil multiple functions - these are secondary and usually not decisive conditions.
Hardly any self-built device will be cheaper or nicer than a ready-made one. Economics killed the sense of making anything a long time ago. Fortunately, people still feel satisfaction from digging something out of a drawer and making something that performs a useful function for almost nothing.
Thanks to the no-win attitude, etc., such are the electronics graduates we have today, mostly "engineers" whose only contact with a soldering iron was in the labs. .

Jawi_P wrote:

Hardly any self-built device will be cheaper or nicer than a ready-made one.

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But more functional already is. Just like with a tailor-made suit.

Not long ago, this was mentioned in a topic. If everyone approaches the topic on the basis of "it's not worth it, too much work..." etc, then(...). Diy is not a marketplace where there is price pushing. It's a section where people present their ideas, often completely unprofitable, where they have had to spend many man-hours prototyping and fighting against the odds. But they are driven by passion and that 'something' that pushes them forward. "It didn't work? I'll try something else." Buying a readymade won't give as much fun as a self-built device.... And if DIY is in decline in society (and from my observations this is slowly happening), then you can already prepare an application to your colleague gulson to close this section....

efi222 wrote:

This is a section where people present their ideas that are often completely unprofitable, where they have had to spend many man-hours prototyping and fighting against the odds. But they are driven by passion and that 'something' that pushes them forward. "It didn't work? I'll try something else." Buying a readymade won't give as much fun as a self-built device.... And if DIY will collapse in society ( And from my observations this is slowly happening), you can already prepare an application to your colleague gulson to close this section...

I agree with you. It's just that these days it's probably worth modifying the DIY approach a little. Given that you can nowadays buy a lot of off-the-shelf modules or devices cheaply, it's really not worth focusing on building copies of them, reinventing solutions and on top of that not necessarily having full functionality. Instead, it is worth inventing and building devices that have functions that are not found in off-the-shelf solutions. It's all about DIY fulfilling the function of filling in functionality gaps. And furthermore, if I need ONE function, and there are devices on the market that have 20 others that I don't need, and on top of that a lot more expensive, then I develop my device.

Fact. Times have changed and the idea of DIY has changed too. It used to be that this movement was very active, because there was nothing on the market, or the price of a ready-made product was prohibitive and you had to combine on your own.
I myself try to build devices that are not on the market, or are there but do not meet my requirements.
But... somewhere maybe this old DIY remained in my head and hence these earlier arguments .

DIY makes sense even when it duplicates ready-made solutions.
The two devices recently presented by the Author of the thread I have judged critically, not only because he has made something that can be bought, but because he has made something that is not fully thought through. Something that has more disadvantages than advantages.
The first project - a trivial amplifier for an elderly person. Trivial, so with so many flaws that it was better to do something else and for the hearing impaired person to buy a second-hand BTE hearing aid. You can buy such cheaply - here I pre-empt the criticism that they are monstrously expensive, because new ones are like that. The prices of new hearing aids are cosmic and unreasonable, and this means that the people who most need these hearing aids cannot afford them even with the subsidies of the National Health Service.
The design presented in this thread does not appeal to me because of its questionable practical and aesthetic qualities. People spend a lot of money on interior design, not to incorporate gadgets with protruding cables on which the motion detector hangs or to mount cheap plastic switches in the headboard. For the workshop, garage, etc., you can construct as you like, but a DIY construction with the intention of installing it in the flat should at least be aesthetically pleasing. Hanging wires, sensors etc. are neither practical nor aesthetically pleasing.
All this does not change the fact that if someone wants to, they can duplicate ready-made solutions at will and create even without enclosures or concern for safety, aesthetics or sense, and no one can forbid them from doing so. If someone presents such a design in a public forum, he or she must also expect to read critical assessments.