Hi, so my project that I would want to create is for Halloween. I have this old rocking chair, I would like to have it rock when someone passes in front of it. I know I would need a motion sensor switch, a micro controller, a fairly strong very slow motor, probably a stepper. I can create a holder for the motor and attach to the motor a weighted swinging arm with a strong gauge fishing twine attached to the top of the chair. I would want to motor to make one or two turns then reset until the switch is tripped again. I’m fairly new at this sort of thing, so if anyone can recommend specific supplies I would need and a particularly code or tutorial that I could follow, I would be very grateful. Thank you!
Hello @Joshrod453
Welcome to the RobotShop forum!
That sounds like a fun project and you are in luck because I have seen that some other people have had similar ideas:
He deals mainly with the mechanical part, i.e. the motor and the structure needed to achieve the movement. So you can check that in the videos I linked but I thought this tool could help you select the motor you’ll need:
About the electronics, you already mentioned the things you’ll need: a motion sensor (a great option would be a PIR sensor but you could also use other IR sensors) and a microcontroller, a great option is an Arduino because you can find many useful tutorials online, for example:
https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/electropeak/pir-motion-sensor-how-to-use-pirs-w-arduino-raspberry-pi-18d7fa)
You will also need a power supply and maybe a motor controller (if you want to control the speed of the motor) or a relay if you simply want to power it on and off. He actually mentions a LED and DC motor controller in his video as well. And since you mentioned you’re new to this type of projects, I also suggest checking the “How to Make a Robot” tutorial series.
I hope this information can help you out
Let us know if you need further assistance 
Hey. Thanks so much for getting me off in the right direction! I’ll check out all of these pages and go from there. I’ll let you know if I have questions. Seems exciting, I’ve always wanted to get into electronics, but I never really knew what to make or how to get started, so thanks again.
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Thanks so much for getting me off in the right direction!
You’re welcome 
Seems exciting, I’ve always wanted to get into electronics
Well, this seems to be a very fun project to get started with. I hope it turns out amazing. Oh, and if you want you can share the result in the Robots section. You can even find some cool halloween projects in there as well, like this one:
Sounds good. I’ll start checking it out over this weekend and make a gameplan. If all goes well I might post it. Thanks again!
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