So, LEDs can act as light sensors? That blows my mind.
All LEDs have photoconductive properties, if you reverse bias them (swap anode and cathode). Thing is, conductivity is not that high except under very bright conditions, so for practical use in a project like Mousey, IR LEDs work best, or obviously, a proper photodiode, photoresistor, or our mouse IR emitters (which are actually IR phototransistors). Here’s an excerpt from the Solarbotics.net website about the light sensitivity of FLEDs (Flashing LEDs): Ben’s use of this circuit for a photopopper takes advantage of an interesting feature of FLEDs — they are photo-sensitive. In particular, light shining on a FLED causes that FLED’s SE to be inhibited (to perform more poorly). So if you’re building a phototropic FLED -based BEAMbot, you may have problems in bright light (both SEs in your ‘bot are being inhibited, so neither side of your ‘bot wants to fire) — you can address this by partially shielding your FLEDs with heat-shrink tubing, or some paint (be careful here, you’re trying to
