Arduino Mouse Trap

Hi people!
For this Challenge, I created an Arduino controlled Mouse Trap to capture any unwanted pests that may wander into your space. The project is complete but I have one more addition that I will try to make. More about this at the end.

Step 1: Make the Box for the Trap

Here is the basic trap box. The wire mesh was cut and bent to the shape. Size is 3" x 3" x 6" [7.5cm x 7.5cm x 15cm] long . The mesh is McMaster-Carr #9219T173. You get a 12" square piece. I cut out the piece as shown with a Dremel. Here is the pattern that I used.

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Step 2: Make the Door and Hinge

The door is a piece of polycarb that I had in my scrap box. It is 1/8" x 2" x 2". The hinge is a 1/8 dia. x 1-3/4 lg. tube that is glued to the Door top edge. The Hinge Pin is just a rod that fits inside the Hinge Tube. The Hinge Pin is glued to the TrapBox so that it is free to open and close.

Step 3: Servo Mount and Tie Rod

Servo support and IR sensor holders were also recycled from other previous projects. You
can make one from plastic or wood. The Servo support is a piece of phenolic. The Servo is just a Micro-Servo available from almost any electronics ebay vendor. Same with the IR Led and IR receiver. I bought them years ago, probably from Digi-Key. Again any ebay electronics vendor has them. Just get a pair matched to the same IR wavelength for best results.

At the bottom of the Door, I glued a short piece of tubing to fasten the Tie Rod from the Servo to. A wire was bent to go between the Servo Horn and the tube. You will have to adjust the Servo open and closed position in the sketch to get the Door open and closed correctly.

Step 4: Fritzing Schematic, Sequence of Operation & Code

Electrical/Electronic Parts List:

* Arduino UNO w/USB cable

* Micro Servo

* Breadboard

* LCD Display 20 x 4 Lines w/I2C backpack (4-wire connection to Arduino)

* IR Transmitter and Receiver Set

* 1k-1/2 watt Resistor

* 10k-1/2 watt Resistor

* 4.5v Battery Holder for Servo power

* 9vdc Battery for Arduino, LCD and Sensors

* Jumper Wires

Mouse Trap Operation Sequence.

1. Arduino is plugged into a 9v battery starting the sketch.

2. Servo moves to the start position which opens the door.

3. The Arduino checks for Door Opening and IR Sensor alignment

4. The condition of these checks appears on the LCD display.

5. Now the Arduino waits for a mouse to enter the Trap.

6. When a mouse enters, it should move towards the bait at the far end.

7. Just before the bait is a IR Transmitter and Receiver to act as a break-beam.

8. Breaking this IR beam activates the Servo to close the door.

9. Now your pest is trapped.

Step 5: Videos

Here are (3) videos of my Arduino Mouse Trap. As you can see in the videos, I had to use a toy mouse to demo the Trap. A live one was not available. All together I had about 3 hours in building this project. It was fun and I will update the project eventually. I have on order a ESP8266 board. I may be able to send a message to yur phone when the Trap is closed and a mouse caught.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my Instructable.