WTF So I'm using my engineering powers for evil again.

gee

Finally a new goddamn title
Sep 29, 2012
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Behold my most recent electronics project, just completed. The world's most useful TV remote.

cSo10.jpg


It's a small box, 5x3.5x1.5cm. It has a pushbutton, a USB jack on the back (not shown) and eight high power infrared LEDs on the front. When you push the button, the LEDs blast out 136 different power-off codes for TV sets. So far I haven't found a TV that it won't turn off.

This is based on the TV-B-Gone design (http://www.tvbgone.com and http://www.adafruit.com/products/73) but mine's smaller, rechargeable and a bit more powerful.

Here's an example of what you can do with it:



I've gotta hit up the mall tomorrow for a couple of christmas items, this will make being there a hell of a lot more entertaining.
 
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They are at a massive tech conference, and not a single person thinks to just check and see if it got turned off.


Jesus christ we're stupid stupid animals.
 
They are at a massive tech conference, and not a single person thinks to just check and see if it got turned off.


Jesus christ we're stupid stupid animals.
No, they're tech geeks. Things don't just turn off by themselves. Therefore it must be that there is a far more substantial issue with the screen. Probably will have to replace the LCD screen or the flux capacitor. Perhaps there is a network issue and they need to replace the buildings cabling.
 
No, they're tech geeks. Things don't just turn off by themselves. Therefore it must be that there is a far more substantial issue with the screen. Probably will have to replace the LCD screen or the flux capacitor. Perhaps there is a network issue and they need to replace the buildings cabling.

I'm a tech geek.

First thing I do if something has gone black is press the power switch, or at least check the 'power' LED to see if it's active.
 
No, they're tech geeks. Things don't just turn off by themselves. Therefore it must be that there is a far more substantial issue with the screen. Probably will have to replace the LCD screen or the flux capacitor. Perhaps there is a network issue and they need to replace the buildings cabling.

Completely wrong.
 
Gee, what exactly did you do to make this? It looks prepackaged.
Lets see...

- Designed schematic and PCB using Cadsoft Eagle
- Ordered blank PCB from Seeed Studio
- Ordered a bunch of electronic parts and the case from digikey, and infrared LEDs from mouser.
- Bought a 250mAh li-poly cell off eBay, originally intended for a RC helicopter.
- Drilled holes in the case for LEDs, button and USB port with a manual milling machine at work. Case is a Hammond 1551FTBU - http://www.hammondmfg.com/dwg9TBU.htm
- Put everything together.
- Wrote microcontroller firmware using Atmel AVR Studio, using IR codes stolen from the adafruit TV-B-Gone kit.
- Programmed the microcontroller with an AVR ISP MKII programmer.

I design electronics for a living, and I put in the effort to make a finished product out of it. I probably won't make a "how to build it" thread, because I don't expect anyone on here to be putting together fine pitch SMT.

The adafruit kit does 99% of what my device does, and it's cheaper and a hell of a lot easier to put together than mine: http://www.ladyada.net/make/tvbgone/
 
Pictures of the guts. Board on the right is a 2nd one I'm putting together to send to my brother in south korea. TVs there are unavoidable - even the nice restaurants have TVs on the wall.

CxATW.jpg
 
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