[islandlabs] Possible project: compass belt

[gwern0 at gmail.com]

So for a while I've long wanted to do this: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/9hhyi/building_a_compass_belt/

(The idea, if you don't want to read the articles, is that by hooking a buzzer up to a compass, your brain slowly rewires itself and gives you an eery second sense w/r/t direction and positioning.)

The project seems pretty simple. I think one could do it by taking the analog compass from here http://www.imagesco.com/catalog/DigitalCompass/DigitalCompass.html which says 

"The 1525 Analog Compass measures the direction of the horizontal component  of the earths field.  For practical purposes up to a 12 degree tilt, as with any compass is acceptable.  The output closely resembles a sine-cosine set of curves which cross at approximately 2.5 volts and peak at around 2.88 volts and floor at 2.12 volts.  Each output will drive up to 4 mA."

And coming up with a circuit which turns on the buzzer at around 2.88 volts (it doesn't matter what direction that indicates, as long as it's consistent, if I understand the research right). But I'm a complete beginner at circuits which is why I showed up to the first meeting. Thoughts on this?

-- 
gwern

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