Simple Arduino PIR Motion Detector Module Demo

I know there are plenty of Instructables and tutorials on this already. My goal is to simplify everything down to the bare bones minimum required so a beginner (like me) can get it working before they get frustrated and give up.

To hopefully make this even easier I'm breaking this into two parts. The first part will be using the PIR Motion Detector (pic 1) alone to turn an LED on and off. After that's working, the second part will be to add your Arduino board and some simple code to pass control of the LED from the PIR module to your Arduino.

What are you going to need;

1. Power supply (you can use the 5v pin on your Arduino - I use an old PC power supply when playing)
2. Electronics breadboard (if you don't have one, get one - they're cheap and make things a whole lot easier)
3. PIR Motion Detector module (Amazon, eBay, Radio Shack, etc )
4. LED (a simple standard LED, steal one from one of your kids toys if you have to)

That's it for the first part, in the second part we just add

5. Arduino board
6. Arduino code

One thing I found right away is that the PIR Motion Detector module can't be plugged directly into a breadboard. The capacitors on the module's circuit board get in the way. I solved that by soldering longer pins on one module (pic 2) and used a three pin plug (pic 3) I had lying around on another.

Components: PIR Motion Detection Module purchased from http://www.icstation.com/index.php?cPath=79&aid=55

Here's a very stripped down version of code that will accomplish our goal of using your Arduino board with a PIR Motion Detector module. Ok, big leap here but I'm assuming you know how to copy and paste between programs. But here's a hint, highlight and copy the code below first, open your Arduino program, open a new file and select Edit, then click Select All, select Edit again, then click Paste. Save that file and upload it to your board.

If you get any compile errors make sure all the default code you see when you open a new file is deleted. Also make sure that all of the code below was copied and appears the same in the program as it does below (well, except for the word-wrap I see on my own notebook, download the PDF - the code looks better).

11/2/15 Update: I attached the code file. Right click the file, select SAVE AS and save it to a location where you'll be able to find it again. :-) It will also want to create a folder with the same name as the file when you save it - let it do so. Then just double click the saved file and (if your file associations are correct) the Arduino program will open with the code ready to go for you.

------------------------- COPY EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE ----------------------------------

//PIR Motion Detection Module demonstration code - not intended for practical use


int LED = 13; // The word "LED" can know be used throughout the program and will always reference pin 13
int Sensor = 2; // The word "Sensor" can know be used throughout the program and will always reference pin 2
int val = LOW; // "val" will be a variable used to store the state (HIGH or LOW) of the sensor

void setup()
{
pinMode(LED, OUTPUT); // We just told the program that LED (pin 13) will be used for output
pinMode(Sensor, INPUT); // And this tells the program that Sensor (pin 2) will be used for input
}

void loop()
{
val = digitalRead(Sensor); // To determine if "val" is HIGH or LOW this checks the state of the Sensor (pin 2)

if (val == HIGH)digitalWrite(LED, HIGH); // turn on the LED by applying voltage to pin 13
if (val == LOW)digitalWrite(LED, LOW); // turn off the LED by shutting off voltage to pin 13
}

----------------------- COPY EVERYTHING ABOVE THIS LINE -----------------------------

Now we're really done!! Have fun and don't stay up all night waving your hand in front of the PIR motion detector because you like watching the LED turn on and off.