Basically, I want an Arduino to power up whenever a "creature" enters viscinity (at least within up to 3 meters).
I would really like this to be able to keep monitoring for at least 4-8 weeks, without having to replace batteries. I don't want to use more than 1 or 2 18650 Liion cells.
Couple of methods that I believe would work:
- Changes in light-conditions.
- Sound.
- Small vibrations in the ground.
Approaches to conserve power:
- Checking for changes in light at most every 30 seconds (boot the Arduino, and power off quickly).
- Checking for 1 second for sound, every 10-15 seconds.
- Vibrations in the ground using an accelerometer?
The ideal solution does not run the Arduino at all, unless a trigger causes it to run. When the Arduino starts, it will have to turn itself off again to resume monitoring mode.
What approach should I go for? I'm not very good with electronics, and would like to avoid configurations involving transistors, resistors and so on - unless stricktly required.
Is it possible/easy to wire an Arduino Pro Mini to run directly off a 3.7 V battery, bypassing any power hungry voltage regulators?