Gadget Master

From Alan Parekh's tome of knowledge, comes the stair lighting kit.

The lighting control unit is microcontroller based, so a self-contained computer controls the device. The stair lights are connected to the control unit and an Infrared transmitter and receiver are utilised at the top and bottom of the staircase to generate a beam of invisible light.

When a person (or even a pet) comes across the beam of light, the lighting control unit triggers the staircase lights to turn on. The controller launches a soft start to the lights so they turn on nicely rather than disturb the whole house with a floodlight which will have your cool cat reach for his sunglasses. The controller also keeps track of which beam was broken and turns off the light after the person has walked past. The lights fade out slowly to provide an aesthetically pleasing effect.