It starts with a PCB, a PIR sensor, and a diffusion dome... The rest is just power delivery and regulation. Easy!
If you’ve been reading the blog very very regularly, you’ll have spotted that back in December, I wrote about a Christmas present Noah and Michael (the guys who have been helping me develop and design the Triggertrap v1 and Triggertrap Shield) gave me the Triggertrap Motion.
Now, Triggertrap Motion was part Christmas present (It even had a cute little hanging tab so it could be hung from the Christmas tree!), and part proof-of-concept, showing that by adding your own sensors, you can expand the Triggertrap to do nearly anything you want to.
In this case, the Triggertrap Motion turns the Triggertrap into a burglary-alarm style motion detector, taking photos when it senses movement. Cool, eh?
Where can I buy one?
We aren’t currently planning to make the Triggertrap Motion available for sale -But we might, if there’s enough interest (are you interested? Leave a comment!)
How can I make one?
You can easily make your own motion detector, it may not be quite this pretty though.
It isn’t particularly hard to build your own: Use a PIR sensor (that’s Passive Infra-Red sensor. For the TT Motion, we used a D203S Pyroelectric Infrared Sensor), and adapt the electronics so its output falls within the parameters the Triggertrap expects – see the Auxiliary Mode section in our user manual for more specifications and information…
Once you’ve got it all wired up, you hook it up to the Triggertrap via the Aux port, and you use the settings menu in the Triggertrap’s Auxiliary mode to choose how you want to take your photos:
- Threshold: Choose a triggering threshold based on the readings you’re getting from your PIR sensor
- Triggering Type: Chose “on Rise” to trigger the camera whenever movement starts. Choose “on Fall” to trigger the camera whenever movement stops. Choose “On Change” to trigger the camera whenever movement stops and starts.
- Delay: Add a delay if you want there to be a delay between detecting movement and triggering the camera.
I’ve just been playing with the Triggertrap Motion PIR sensor connected to my Triggertrap v1 prototype, and it works like a dream. Best of all, by using a passive sensor, you don’t need to use a laser beam to sense motion – it does it all itself! Bloody awesome stuff.
The final, completed Triggertrap Motion device - powered by 3x AAA batteries, Designed by NoMi design, and lovingly hand-assembled by yours truly.
And finally…
A quick timelapse (created with the Triggertrap v1 prototype, with a 2-second interval) of the assembly of the TT Motion:
of course we’re interested…..
Looks cool. If you are not planning to offer this for sale, you could publish the part list together with the layout of the PCB so other people could make it themself.
I would be interested as it would be great for photographing water droplets and wildlife
PRobably wouldn’t be fast enough for water droplets (use the laser sensor for that!!) but ‘definitely’ on the wildlife!
Yes please! A plus for wildlife photography!
Surely interested, but I’d rather see this in operation on your video than being assembled!!
I’ve been a tinkerer for 50 years …but have no interest in etching my own boards these days. Perhaps a pre-made PCB and parts kit would be the way to go.
This would also be great.
Are you interested?
YES!
Most definitely interested!
I just did a search on eBay using this search term: “Pyroelectric Infrared” …LOTS of results.
They are just a few dollars each, usually with free shipping from Hong Kong.
Would any of these be usable with trigger trap?
Yup, in theory any PIR sensor should work – but you do obviously need to wire it up so the output you get is readable by the Aux sensor on your Triggertrap!
When I found out about the TriggerTrap, this was one of my first ideas for a must-have accessory. It would be very valuable for wildlife photography, to complement the robust but technically limited devices like e.g. the Bushnell TrophyCam with a high-quality DSLR. As opposed to the Laser Trigger, no setup of an external laser would be required, making the whole system less intrusive and more robust (albeit at the cost of accuracy).
A motion sensor is definitely a logical and worthwhile extension to the TriggerTrap!
Any chance you could provide an itemized parts list for this one that corresponds to the PDB ? The circuit itself is easy enough to figure out from the PCB layout ….
pre-made PCB and parts kit would be great
absolutely interested.
So where can I buy this, how much? If you are making one, consider building one for me also. You can reach me at gregscott.artistwebsites.com. Quick I need one before the birds start to molt. I don’t need it before I get my triggertrap, though.
Hey guys…see my post on IR modules at this link:
http://www.c141heaven.info/c141heaven/ir.html
I’ve got photos and a short video showing the IR concept in action. Now…just have to wait for the TT to arrive to put it to use.
Yes, I’m interested…
I also am interested. I fear there is no way i would be sufficiently competent to assemble one myself – just watching the video made me curl up in a little ball of fear and ineptitude, but I would love to be able to buy the facility for non-laser motion detection
Very interested
I too am interested, this could be a very useful addition for some projects I am working on for capturing photos unattended. Count me as interested.
I’m interested in buying one
I’m looking for an alternative for the low quality Bushnell Trophycam. Without a PIR detector the triggertrap would be useless for me. So, VERY INTERESTED!
I would be very interested in buying one for wild life photography!
YES! I`m very interested.
Most definitley would want one, or at the very least a kit!
Any news about the PIR detector? I’m waiting…
Count me in also. Would like to catch humming birds in flight.
John
I am really interested to buy one.
Unfortunately, it’s not for sale… Yet :-) Please keep an eye on this notification list to be notified when something new happens!
G’day Haje,
I’m about to do a major shoot re birds I’m very keen if you would be kind enough to list the parts for the TT Motion. Better still a video on how to put one together would be awesome too for those of us who are not gifted in electronics. Would it be possible to retro fit/manipulate a motion light sensor you find in most homes? I am sure there are many photogs that would love to have this in their kit bag.
Cheers,
Steve
I’ interested also – any updates???