Created October 27, 2019 © GPL3+

Glasses Finder

Create a place to store your glasses so you can find them easily at night.

BeginnerFull instructions provided4 hours134

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Things used in this project

Hardware components

Resistor 1k ohm

LED (generic)

Microchip ATtiny85

SparkFun Ultrasonic Sensor - HC-SR04

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Soldering Iron Tip, 30° Sharp Bent

Story

Overview

If you wear glasses with heavy prescriptions it may be hard to find your glasses at night. It may be in the same location every night but there is always that moment when you're reaching around trying to find it. I wanted to create a self contained system that could easily light up your glasses without turning on all the lights in the room.

Materials

I wanted to make the device as simple as possible. I decided to use the ATtiny85 due to its low power consumption and capabilities. I also used an LED and an ultrasonic distance sensor. I also used MDF for the case.

Case Design

The case has to:

Hold large glasses
Have a port for the ultrasonic sensor
Have a hole for an LED to shine on the glasses
Have a space to discretely hide the program

I used Carbide Create to make the design. The files are attached in this project.

1 / 2 • Design of the case

This will result in the following result:

1 / 5 • Starting with engraving

Circuit Design

I tried to make it as simple as possible so follow the circuit below. Placing it on a very small breadboard and it should fit in the case designed. I used a LiPo battery but you could wire it to a plug and then wouldn't have to worry about battery life. This lasted three days on a 500mA battery.

1 / 2 • Schematic

Programming

Because I used the ATtiny85, I used SparkFun's Tiny AVR Programmer. You can follow their guide on how to use it - https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/tiny-avr-programmer-hookup-guide/?_ga=2.162942908.1042667328.1572384673-140107291.1524005299

The program I made can be found in the attachments.

Here are images of the completed design:

1 / 4 • Completed Assembly

Video of the completed design:

Video - enjoy

Schematics

Code

ATTINY85 Code

/*
This is for the hackster.io AARP contest

I am using the:
HC-SR04 Ping distance sensor
ATTINY85
LEDs
Resistors

All this sketch does is determine the distance and then if the distance is 
within 10 inches turn on the LED for 10 seconds
This will allow the user to wave their hand in the general vacinity and be 
able to find their glasses
*/

// Setup pins that we are going to use
#define trigPin 1
#define echoPin 2
#define led 3

// configure the pins
void setup() {
  pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(echoPin, INPUT);
  pinMode(led, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  // setup a long type called duration and distance
  long duration, distance;
  // turn the trigger pin off for 5 microseconds
  digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
  delayMicroseconds(5); 
  // turn the trigger pin on for 10 microseconds
  digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);
  delayMicroseconds(10); 
  
  // Turn the trigger pin off again
  digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);

  // wait for the echoPin to go high and determine that time
  duration = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH);
  // convert the time into distance in inches
  distance = (duration/2) / 74;
  
  // if the distance is between 0 inches and 10 then turn on the LED for 10
  //seconds else turn it off
  if (distance < 10 && distance > 0) {
    digitalWrite(led,HIGH); 
    delay(10000);
}
  else {
    digitalWrite(led,LOW);
  }
  // delay 250ms and then start over
  delay(250);
}

Credits

Alex Merchen

22 projects • 37 followers

I'm an EE with a Masters in ECE. I like building things.

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Glasses Finder