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Electronics Project

This document provides instructions for building a laser pointer activated alarm circuit using a 555 timer IC. The circuit uses a CdS photoresistor and resistor to form a voltage divider that detects the laser light. When the laser is blocked, the photoresistor's resistance increases which triggers the 555 timer to activate the buzzer alarm. A switch is used to turn the alarm on and off. The circuit is powered by 3 AA batteries and assembled on a printed circuit board.

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levi'c
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64 views

Electronics Project

This document provides instructions for building a laser pointer activated alarm circuit using a 555 timer IC. The circuit uses a CdS photoresistor and resistor to form a voltage divider that detects the laser light. When the laser is blocked, the photoresistor's resistance increases which triggers the 555 timer to activate the buzzer alarm. A switch is used to turn the alarm on and off. The circuit is powered by 3 AA batteries and assembled on a printed circuit board.

Uploaded by

levi'c
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Step 1: Parts

Here are the parts that you will need for this project:
Laser Pointer
Printed Circuit Board
555 Timer IC

IC Socket (optional)
3-12 Volt Buzzer
Switch
CdS Photoresistor
2 resistors
3 AA Batteries
3 AA Battery holders
Jumper Wires
Heat Shrink Tubing

Step 2: How the Circuit Works

This alarm circuit is yet another way to use a 555 timer IC.
The light sensor that detects the laser is a CdS photoresistor (R3). This is wired
in series with standard fixed resistor (R2). These two resistors form a voltage

divider that is used to activate the IC. The value of R2 should be approximately
the same as the resistance of the photoresistor when you are shining the laser
pointer directly at the light sensitive face. Because the output characteristics of
photoresistors varies considerably from one to the next, you need to measure it
with a multimeter. So connect the photoresistor to the multimeter and shine the
laser pointer directly at it. In my case, its resistance was about 100 ohms. So I
used a 100 ohm fixed resistor for R2.
When the light beam is interrupted, the resistance of the photoresistor increases
dramatically. As a result, the voltage at pin 6 also increases and goes above the
reference threshold. This causes the output pin 3 to go LOW and activates the
alarm.
To turn off the alarm and reset the system, a (single pole double throw) switch
disconnects the speaker and sends the LOW signal from the output pin 3 to the
trigger pin 2. The system is now deactivated. To reactivate it, flip the switch back
to the original position. The alarm will remain off until the next time that the light
beam is interrupted.
The supply voltage can be anything from 4.5V to 18V. I chose to use 4.5V (three
AA batteries) because this is the same voltage that is used by the laser pointer.
This gives you the option of powering the laser pointer with the same battery
pack as the alarm circuit.
The resistor R1 acts as a pull-up resistor for pin 2. It helps to prevent false
triggering from static electricity. This can be any value. In many cases it can be
left off without causing any problems.
The alarm that I am using is a piezo buzzer. Any buzzer can work as long as it is
rated to operate at the appropriate voltage.

First assemble the circuit on a breadboard to test it. Set the switch to connect the
buzzer. Without the laser shining on the photoresistor, the alarm should sound.
Flipping the switch the other way should turn off the alarm. Now shine the laser
pointer on the photoresistor and flip the switch one more time to reactivate it. As
long as the laser is centered on the photoresistor, the alarm shouldn't sound. But

when you move the laser away, the alarm should go off again.
If everything is working properly, solder it all together on a printed circuit board.
The board that I used is a general purpose IC board. These are really convenient
for circuits that are built around small ICs like the 555 timer. I also used an IC
socket to attach the IC. This makes it easy to change out the IC but it is not
necessary.
The batteries are mounted in individual AA battery holders. The three battery
holders are soldered together in series and the end leads are soldered to the
circuit board.
When attaching the photoresistor, I mounted it with the leads sticking out about
one inch from the board. This makes it easy to make small adjustments to the
position of the photoresistor after it has been mounted in place.
Once the whole circuit is soldered to the board, test it again to make sure that
everything is working properly.

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