so our project that is going to be assigned in the few weeks and will be due late may has some fun tasks, but i'm looking for some ideas to make it over the top

we have to build a model house(24" by 36" i believe) and wire it with a few light bulbs, a doorbell, and switches, and such...all basic stuff
we also have to use a motor in any way we want(like open a garage door, run an elevator, etc)
i'm interested in some unique ways to use a motor in a model house, or anything else you would wire into a model house if you could


our last project was really over the top making a machine, that i want this one to be equal or better

 

How about an escalator in place of stairs? Or a passive solar house that turns on a pedestal to follow the sun (a light source) for maximum insolation? Have bump-out guest rooms?

 

Scale model ceiling fan? Functioning air-conditioner or heater? Sump pump?

As far as "anything else," what about burglar alarm, surround-sound home-theater, and/or LAN & phones?

 

Perhaps make some ceiling fans, or make a rocking chair, rock (but that might give it a haunted house look)

 

haunted house feel would be pretty cool though,

all those ideas sound really sweet, i guess the only limit for our group will be time and maybe money

i was thinking about solar panels to run the house, so revolving to follow the light source would be cool(though i've never heard of a real house doing that)

 

One guy that made a passive solar home had the whole south wall hinged at the bottom. He could lower it down to reflect in the maximum amount of light. I think it was Amory Lovins.

 

Peltier chip could provide AC. Heat provided by the same Peltier chip. You'd want a ventilation system and proof it's working with some temperature sensors. Couple this with some sort of solar system. I just say a 'let it droop' style polished sheet metal one that allows the metal to sag to what ever depth it will with gravity then you stick a collector at the focal point.

Lazy susan to make a turntable house, yes it exists. You'll need a motor control with position sensor and maybe a sun tracker.

All the 'lamps' should be LEDs and with PWM brightness control.

Every scrap of electronics run by some sort of renewable energy, have a storage system and also be able to connect to the 'grid' aka wall wart at need.

Independent control of the LEDs so that you can flash them to a funky beat.

 

for the motor idea, i was thinking you could build some mini blinds, out of strips of paper, or even strips of laminated paper, and string them together with some sewing thread, then use a servo, or small motor wired to a switch on the wall that lets you automatically open the blinds in the rooms. That would be cool kinda like the house bill gates built

 

That would be cool kinda like the house bill gates built

One of my friends helped wire the Gates residence. Visitors are issued RFID badges and are asked to fill out questionnaires regarding preferences of temperature, lighting, and music. The house adjusts environment in rooms accordingly.

How an RFID might be miniaturized to work in a model, I don't know. But it would be a cool project.

 

i like the blinds idea, if we can make it work on small scale

as far as saving power from a solar source, what is the best method, just chargeable batteries?

and is there a semi-easy/cheap way to centrally control all these different motors and switches, that we could then program or control remotely...this is not necessary, but it would be cool to put our house in a sort of demo mode before or after the presentation with the lights blinking and everything moving to a beat like mrmeval suggested

 

Hi,

i was thinking about solar panels to run the house, so revolving to follow the light source would be cool(though i've never heard of a real house doing that)

First time I read about a rotating house was in the sixties

If you Google "rotating home", http://www.rotatinghome.com/ will be the first of more than 2 million links.