Motion Sensor + Bubble Machine!

Motion Sensitive Bubble Machine!

I make the kids dance for bubbles!  With no solder, I used littleBits and a 5 volt relay to hack my battery powered bubble machine.  littleBits connect together magnetically, and I used a hacked wire bit and a breadboard for the relay.

 The basic circuit is power + motion trigger + timeout + led + hacked wire bit + 5 volt relay + bubble machine

This is what my hacked wire bit looked like when I connected it to the relay.  I soldered three wires to what littleBits calls a "branch" bit so that I can connect them to any breadboard.  I taped off the red voltage wire (not to be used here) and plugged in the middle signal wire and bottom ground wire into the relay.  Another option could have been to actually cut a "wire" bit and use those wires to insert into the breadboard.  That would have made this hack completely solder free, which is important for those who don't like to handle a hot soldering iron.  I actually burnt my hand in December before I had the right equipment; "helping hands" really do help!

For the other half of the relay I needed to access two wires that I disconnected from the bubble machine switch.  First I drilled a hole close to the switch at the top of the bubble machine.  There I cut the two switch wires.  Further down I drilled another hole so I could pull the wires through.  Of course I removed the bubble machine batteries while I was cutting and pulling wires - only to put them back in when the circuit was assembled.  Then I connected those two wires to the relay with alligator clip wires and I wrapped the alligator clips with black electrical tape to prevent a short. 

Finally I covered the littleBits with plastic wrap so bubbles won't get them wet.  If the motion trigger is a tad too sensitive, you can cover it with duct tape or craft materials.  The littleBits website has tips and tricks on how to adjust the motion trigger sensitivity and direction.

I haven't put this project in a project box, but maybe I should?  I entered this project into two instructables contests, and a clean presentation in a box could make the difference.  Maybe I'll do that...