ITP Blog
Designing the Absurd
Remote-controlled Device
Ideation
We initially had a few ideas:
- Remote-Controlled Toothpaste Squeezer: A device that squeezes toothpaste onto your toothbrush remotely, saving you the effort of doing it yourself.
- Remote-Controlled Toilet Paper Dispenser: A device that dispenses toilet paper remotely, so you never have to reach for it yourself.
- Remote-Controlled Book Page Turner: A device that turns the pages of a book for you with the push of a button.
- Remote-Controlled Toilet Seat Warmer: A heated toilet seat with remote control, so you never have to sit on a cold one again.
- Remote-Controlled Toilet Seat Lifter: A gadget that lifts and lowers the toilet seat with the push of a button, eliminating the need to touch it.
- Remote control for remote controls: It's hard to find your remote control. The solution is a remote control attachment that’s controlled by a separate remote control for you to find your remote control easily.
- Remote controlled Door Knocker: This remote control will knock on someone’s door for you (thinking further).
After discussing further we decided to go with a whole new idea,
Technical Stuff
Upon making the IR sender and receiver work, I decided to implement it using two Attiny 85 microcontrollers to save space. It is powerful enough to do what we want and it makes the circuit so much simpler and smaller.
We decided to use an electromagnetic module and attach a metal piece to the door so that it can be held in place and when a button is pushed the module will lose its magnetic field for a few seconds so that the door can be opened.
We 3D modeled and printed a container for the button to be in the proper height and also we have the curved edges to lead the ball towards the hole.