At least I can go to bed and not worry that I will wake to a huge ball of ABS string

Short Youtube video explains it best...
https://youtu.be/qurxaVsJYio
The cost sounds great, all we need is how to program the Picaxe 08m2 and what firmware to put on it along with aStevolution wrote:I will have to sketch out the circuit diagram then.
The laser is a cheap (£1.29) red laser module off Ebay. The Picaxe 08m2 chip has a simple program loaded that simply modulates the laser with a simple code that the IR receivers read.
This stops false triggering whatever the ambient light.
Components are probably £15-£20 tops I would think. Most expensive bit was the IR leds on the receiver.