Triggering Street Lights

Pretty good idea, have any of you tried this?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Trigger-GREEN-Traffic-Lights/?ALLSTEPS

-Ross

 

I have seen the magnet thing mentioned but I don't know that it works or not.

A coil of wire with a bit of juice run through it will work, but it's more of a hassle.
~

 

I would rather do an electro magnet via coil of wire that way people would see you push a button at a light and when the light instantly turns green they would think you are a GOD that solved all of life's hassles.
They will ask you important questions,and you will know the answers.

 

I have been wanting something like this. It sucks pulling onto the sidewalk to hit the Walk Button just to get a light.

 

Doesn't it just recognize the magnet as it would a full size auto???

 

To true!

 

I want to say no, because the sensor is an inductive loop and permanent magnets essentially don't display any inductance (at low frequencies).... but I'm not positively certain.

[edit]
.....In fact, I don't even think you'd need to hook the coil of wire to any power... Just connecting the coil ends to both ends of a capacitor should do it... Hmmm.....
~

 

In that thread about "Miracle Lubricant", I mentioned the two cattle magnets that have followed me around for thirty years. I am sure they have more than 6 lbs. of magnetic pull !!

They are oblong, weigh about two ounces, shaped like a "bolus", have HIGH power to weight ratio. You take a balling gun, insert one per animal, and they collect all the nails, rusty wire, etc that a cow vacuums up grazing, stay in the upper stomach for the lifetime of the animal to prevent "hardware diseases", weigh enough where they never pass through the animals digestive system.

These magnets look perfect, my vet supply catalog says prices run from 1.89-3.00 each, a large animal veteranarian should have them.

I'm going to test it, there is ONE light in Cullman that bugs the tar out of me !! The shape of the bolus should fit perfect on one of my basket legs.

THANKS ROSCO !!

 

I always thought those strips sense weight,that the weight of a car pinches the metal. So every time I come to a light,I pump my brakes hopping my car and the light turns green.
On my motorized bicycle,I do bunny hops.

 

Yeah, I assumed it was weight too but recently realized I don't know a lot about a lot of things. That veterinary magnet thing sounds promising; thanks Bama and you Rosco for the thread.

 

I am heading to Richmond tomorrow to mow MCI....They have an electric gate that is tripped by some sort of buried wire.....I am assuming like the traffic light sensor....I know I can trip it with my truck, and I have tripped it with my zero turn riding mower but for me it was always a pain to have to ride the mower out the gate when all I needed was my weed eater outside the gate....FYI the metal of the weed eater was not enough to trip the gate to open it....I will bring my magnetic sweeper (the thing they sell at Lowes that is basically a magnet on the end of a stick used to pick up nails etc on constructions sites without having to bend over)....I will report my findings on this tomorrow PM....Stay tuned!
Andrew

 

hahaha! that is great you made my day!

 

Hi All,

Back from Mowing MCI and....NO...The magnet idea did not work (at least with the magnet I had (see my other post above)....It is interesting to note that the man that opened the gate for me rides a scooter and said that they had to make an adjustment to the system so that it will open the gate with his scooter on the "grid".....Maybe I need a way stronger magnet? Hmmmmm....Anybody else out there try a "better" magnet?

Andrew

 

i tryed this aswell,and NO it dont work and i used a neodymium n48 magnet 1in cube with a 100ib pull force and waited until the only thing that would change the light would be the magnet {no car,s no people,no pushbutton,either direction,}and it didnt work.

 

any success story?

 

Maybe I'll drop by Radio Shack today and see what they've got, I know in the past they sold little spools of (overpriced) magnet wire.

Just connecting the ends of the wire in a big coil might work, but a capacitor in there might do even better. The Radio Shack site doesn't seem to list any aerogel caps.
~

 

HI,

I am not sure that there is an easy way to "trip" the light other than asking the powers that be (I guess the local department of transportation) to calibrate the sensors differently so that they will trip with a scooter or motored bike.....The scooter riding employee at MCI had to ask the powers at MCI to recalibrate their sensor (make it more sensitive) so the gate would open to let him in.....

Andrew

 

Bummer of the week...guess I still have to do the ol' "cut left behind the strip mall, up the alley, zip out a half block up, beat ALL those cars waiting for the arrow".

I just wanted it to work so I could win wagers at the cattle barn, where one of the slowest trip lights sits, only busy on sale-day Thursdays, (best cheeseburgers in town).

I could sit on that light and let 10 trucks/trailers amble thru in a solid parade, instead of barely one ol' farmer in a beat up Ford, carrying one skinny mule, who takes two tries to get into the intersection.

 

I tried one coil, it did not work but there's still some hope....

This page-
http://www.humantransport.org/bicycledriving/library/signals/detection.htm
says the loop frequencies are usually 20-30 kHz, so you'd want something tuned to resonate at higher than that, say 40 or 50 kHz.

The coil I was using was way too many/too small turns, and it was just shorted, where I think it needs a capacitor in there.
~

 

Y'all my want to read this as well, its got some good stuff!

http://www.humantransport.org/bicycledriving/library/signals/green.htm

-Rosco