PROJECTS Cell Gate Opener
the remote’s circuit board, use a jumper wire to
determine which contacts on the pushbutton will
activate the remote when jumped—on mine it
was the top right and bottom left. You’ll see the
opener’s LED light up when you get the right
ones. If you’re near your paired gate or garage,
it’ll open or close too.
Next, snip an end off of each of two 6" jumper
wires (leaving a “male” end on each one), strip
off about ⅛" of the insulation, and solder each
one to each of the two contacts you’ve identified,
respectively (Figure
B
).
You’ll now have two leads with male pins
coming off the remote controller board. Like
before, touching these wires together will trigger
the remote (Figure
C
) —which is what we’re
going to make the Boron do for us electronically.
If you put the case back on, you’ll need to make
an opening for the wire leads you’ve just added.
I left my housing off to camouflage it slightly if
someone finds it.
3. CREATE THE TRANSISTOR CIRCUIT
We’re going to use an NPN transistor as a switch
to open and close the circuit on the remote
opener. This is a little simpler system than
using a relay, which many DIY garage openers
use. In basic terms, the two outside leads of the
transistor will jump the pushbutton when you
apply a voltage through the transistor’s middle
lead, and thus will transmit the “open” signal.
Put the Particle Boron on a breadboard, toward
the top with the pins spanning either side of the
center channel (Figure
D
).
In the bottom left corner of the breadboard,
one row below the Boron, plug the three leads of
the transistor into three rows of the breadboard. I
put the flat side of the transistor facing the Boron.
Leave an open column to the left of the transistor
(Figure
E
).
Plug the remote’s new jumper wires into
the breadboard, in the holes to the left of the
transistor leads (Figure
F
). Put the wire from
74 makezine.com
B
D
C
E
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