Using phone vibrate mechanism to activate external device

[RedNinja]

Hello there

I would like to use an old cellphone vibrate motor output to turn on an external device,
I've manage to locate and solder two wires out of the phone (+ and - of the motor), and successfully receiving the correct outcome on an LED when I make a call to the phone.

I would like to phone to activate the garage door opener remote that I have.

The phone operates on a 3.7VDC 1200mAh battery, while the remote control is 12VDC 23A.

The remote control operates using momentary button.

I was wondering how can I wire it (possibly using a transistor?) so that when the phone rings and the vibrate is active, the remote control will transmit its signal.

Kind regards.

 

[CocaCola]

The problem with a garage door remote is that with each press the door will go up or down... Thus you need to take the multiple pulses of vibrations and knock it down to a single pulse... Can't say if that is an option in the firmware of your phone or not, if not things get harder as you will need to make a circuit that does that single pulse conversion... If this is not a problem you can simply use a small reed relay to interface the two systems... A transistor will work if you bind the two power supplies but the isolation provided by the relay is IMO a better solution...

First order of business taking the multiple pulses and turning it into one momentary pulse, if you can do it in the phone firmware you have it easy, if not you will need to design/built a circuit to do the interface...

 

[RedNinja]

Thanks for your reply,
As a matter of fact, the issue raised is no concern, since my gate operates as "push to open" and has a 15 seconds delay to close. The remote control can only open it (no matter how many pulses it transmits).

I guess this simplifies things.

 

[CocaCola]

Then just hook a reed relay up to the vibration motor output wires, and the other side of of the relay bridges the remotes push button contacts...

 

[(*steve*)]

I think there's a circuit to do something similar to this in this month's Silicon Chip magazine... Hang on, I'll go and check for you.

...A few scant minutes pass...

No, it's in the February issue.

As it exists, it just sets off a louder alarm, but it's a digital signal that you could do anything you want with.