Ambient Light Sensor - Until recently it has been tough to find a light sensor with a logarithmic response curve; the useful TAOS sensor line doesn't even include one.

Enter the Sharp GA1A1S201WP chip, with a built-in log amp, When it's in an extremely dark room, it reads zero on the Arduino's 10 bit A/D, when it's taken outside into direct sunlight it reads around 960 (which is not even saturated yet - maybe in the tropics it would hit 1023). Other values are in between.

The AMBI light sensor has a spectral response similar to the human eye, which means the sensor is highly accurate when used this way and can capture an astonishingly wide range of light values (3 to 55000 lux). It performs very similarly to a light meter, and works at up to +7V, or down to 3 volts, and operates accurately across a wide temperature range between -40 and +85 C.

One thing that should be said is that the output of this sensor is current. This current is converted to a voltage by a 50K load resistor. So you can't really power anything such as an LED with the sensor, it's only really useful for running into an A/D converter. Also the spec sheet recommends a 27K load resistor and we have used a 100K resistor, to get a little more sensitivity on the dark end. If you are using this outside in direct sunlight, you may want to add another 50K resistor in parallel with the output, so the sensor does not saturate (go to maximum).

The sensor produces a voltage output, so all you need to do is run the output into an A/D converter, such as analog pins on an Arduino. It is not a high current output, so don't try to drive anything with this sensor directly, you must hook it up to an op amp follower if you want to use the voltage for something.

Here's the one-line Arduino code:
Serial.println(analogRead(0)); // print out value of light sensor on analog pin 0

The board comes with all surface mount parts fully assembled and a loose 3-pin male header.

Applications

• General photocell replacement
• Weather stations
• Robotics: light seeking / avoiding
behaviors, proximity (by light obstruction), motion sensing
• Room occupancy detection and or light adjustment
• Calculating camera exposures

• Supply voltage: -0.3 to +7.0V
• Output current: 1 mA
• Operating temperature: -40 to +85 C
• 3-pin interface: GND, +5Vin, and readout
• The GA1A1S201WP Data Sheet is available.
• The AMBI Sensor Cheat Sheet is available.

The Dallas Semiconductor DS18B20 One-Wire Temperature Sensor 12 bit precision in a TO-92 case. Readily useable with most versions of PICAXE(R) firmware, Basic Stamp(R) 2P, and Arduino, Sanguino, Freeduino, and Parallax Propeller.

• The DS18B20 Data Sheet is available.

Qty = 1

Qty = 3

Qty = 5

Qty = 10

Waterproof SS DS18B20 Temperature Sensor, High-quality stainless steel anti-rust waterproof package (Exact SS Type is not known) SS housing (6 * 30mm), overall length to end of wire 100 cm. 3.0V ~ 5.5V power supply, 9 to 12-bit adjustable resolution, Wide temperature range -55 degC to +125 degC, Output leads: red (VCC), blue or yellow (DATA), black (GND)

• The DS18B20 Data Sheet is available.

Qty=1

Qty=3

Isolated AC Current Sensor, This a little current sensor was designed with the idea of providing an isolated current sensor for mains voltages. It uses some Hall Effect Sensors with a lot of gain applied, to sense the magnetic field generated by current in a wire. The sensor can distinguish a 10 watt load at 120 volts, which means that it can sense a change in current of around 80 mA. The sensor output is just an analog voltage which is proportional to the current sensed.

This sensor runs at either 3.3 or 5 volts and is easy to calibrate. Just plug in a known resistive load such as a lamp, and read the output voltage from the sensor. The output is fairly linear - although maybe not perfectly linear. A gain control allows changing the gain over a range of about 3 to 1.

The sensor should find uses in sensing whether appliances are plugged in and running and calculating energy usage. It interfaces seamlessly with Arduino and Propeller.

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Multi-purpose Male-Male Pins, strips of 40 pins. Package of 3 strips

CableMaker, 40 pin flat ribbon cable with standard female ends. The ribbon cable comes in either 30 cm or 20 cm length. You can use it to make many different cables. You can quickly rip off sections with different numbers of wire. You receive 40-pin Pin Strip with each cable. Use the Pin Strips here to make any female end into a Male Pin. Plugs neatly into a breadboard, Arduino socket etc. The colors go in the standard ColorCode sequence so it's easy to organize things. There are 4 sets of 10 wires in brown-to-black (1 to 10) seqeunce. Or just strip off individual wires to use as jumpers.

20 cm

$3

30 cm

3 Wire Sensor Cable, 30 cm long with standard .100" spacing on one end connector and single wires with female ends on the other end.

Pkg of two(2)

Pkg of five(5)

4 Wire Sensor Cable, 30 cm long with standard .100" spacing on one end connector and single wires with female ends on the other end.

3-Wire Signal-Power-Ground Cable Extension - Black/Red/White wires with .100" spaced female sockets (Molex KK) both end. Has uses for servo extension, serial LCD connector, audio board connector, single wire sensors (signal, power, and ground)

• 22 AWG 3-conductor silicone-shielded cable
• 0.1" spacing single row connector for power, ground and signal
• Female/female terminations
• Uses Molex series 70058 #16-02-0087 terminal or equivalent and Molex #50-57-9003 housing or equivalent
• ROHS compliant
• Black-Red-White pliable coated wires with a tactile feel
• purchase, separately, above, Multi-Purpose Male-Male Pins to effect a gender change

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Big Blue Button Tact Switch, 12mm x 12mm spacing, PCB solder-in or BreadBoard push-in - package of three(3) switches