Comments on: Arduino mouse trap

By: Bleser

Bleser — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:31:53 +0000

cool picsxxx

By: Edward

Edward — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:13:49 +0000

“add a chansaw and some explosives. that makes any project better. :)”

and less legal!

By: me?

me? — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:05:56 +0000

Add a chansaw and some explosives. That makes ANY project better. :)

By: richard

richard — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:06:15 +0000

Dear Sir/Madam
My Name is richard from witley and Sons Co.I want to order some mousetrap from your company.and i will really appreciate if you email me with the types you do carry Instock and are available for prompt sale.also let me know your terms of payment.
Thank you and reply at your earliest convenient
regards
richard

By: draeath

draeath — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:01:47 +0000

Hang the bait down a single copper wire strand, which passes through a spring. While still, no contact between the wire and sprint, but as soon as the trap is nudged (or the bait is touched) it swings in any direction… and closes the circuit.

Bad diagram:

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By: willilittlefire

willilittlefire — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 18:43:00 +0000

this country gramma thinks this is a real good idea. now… can u add a way to track the mice pathways and with this info, plan multiple traps along their trails? oh ya, what are u using for bait?
good idea, wish u were my grandson.

By: Lochan

Lochan — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:01:37 +0000

Gee, we’ll have some robotic mice sometime. Wait until they beat the trap! :D

Nice play.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:30:58 +0000

What about a piece of steel wool through a hole in the cheese/crackers? Seems easy enough, and you know the little guy is going to be messing with the food.

By: nubie

nubie — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:27:32 +0000

I see others have mentioned this, but the switch could just close the contact on the motor itself.

(although as I typed that I realized that the “switch” could just release the “door” on its own.)

I guess he didn’t want to kill the mouse, but I like mousetraps.

I keep meaning to hack a mousetrap so that I get an LED or some kind of warning that it has sprung. They are usually placed in an out-of-the-way location and you can forget to check them after a couple months.

By: Ishmael Rufus

Ishmael Rufus — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:28:54 +0000

Add glue.

By: Kyle McDonald

Kyle McDonald — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:23:36 +0000

I love all the responses to this. It reminds me of the “How does * replace a light bulb?” joke. I’d have to go with foil contact as the easiest solution, capacitive sensing as the second easiest (as far as having non-specialized components go).

By: ex-parrot

ex-parrot — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:22:38 +0000

This did not need a microcontroller. It barely needs any active electronics at all. A latching relay and a limit switch would have done it, or a 555 in one-shot mode at a stretch.

By: awhaley

awhaley — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:36:14 +0000

I suppose while we’re talking about all the foil contact plates… you could also consider just hooking a neon sign transformer to the foil… and then the tupperware is just there to contain the singed mouse carcass. ;)

Though I do like the irony of using a ps2 mouse to sense an actual mouse.

And yes, it IS doing something with a micro that doesn’t require a micro… but if he goes with more advanced sensors in the future, or finds an advantage to adding a delay after the detection before the mechanism activates… I could see the project outgrowing the simple “when this line goes high, set this line high” stage. Now… doing capacative sensing or adding a delay without using a micro would be a much cooler (though still not too difficult display of hackery.

And for the person who remarked about not understanding capacative sensing… I’m sure there are tutorials out there… basicly you build an RC oscillator, where the mouse( or your finger) could come into contact with the capacitor part, and you time the circuit’s oscillations. When someone touches the capacitor, it takes longer to charge as now there’s more capacitance in the system. The delay indicates a sensor event.

By: Dan Fruzzetti

Dan Fruzzetti — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:17:30 +0000

Make the floor conductive (foil) and slightly concave (using a plastic can lid, upside-down). A contact just slightly touches the foil on the floor when there is no weight on the plastic. It can be as soft a floor as you like, so the weight of a mouse will easily trip it. The “nominal” position for this circuit is closed, so when the switch opens, the serve yanks out the dowel.

By: free4all

free4all — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 02:56:58 +0000

yes yes …use a “”LAAZZZER”" and kill the mouse