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Building a TV remote with an IR finder

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anuragaks10

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U know how we always waste some time finding the remotes coz we were lazy to put it in a proper place. I have thought of a solution :

An IR finder. I am thinking of building a universal remote and use its IR transmitter to find anything (within IR range) which has the tracker chip (I place it on them).

So it's like a remote which can also find (and if time permits, locate) objects using remote's IR.

Idea was originally aimed at finding the tv remotes but since these kind of finders are so abundant in the market, so im trying to build something standalone.

I would very much appreciate for any opinions from you guys about it's feasibility,complexity, appeal etc. (basically a sort of review). Also if you think I can add more (pertinent) features to it, I welcome that too.

Cheers
:)
 
Yeah, they use the same chip Thingy inside it what beeping Key Rings have. You could drill a hole in the remote and install it inside.

I remember when these "beep-beepy" things first came out years ago, my freind left his keys somewhere in doctor's waiting room, and all the people thought he was round the twist for walking in and whistling at them!

Maybe the REALLY SMART invention to make is a "beepy-beep-thing Beeper", you hold in your hand, to beep errantly-placed beepey-beep thing(s).

Trouble is, what if you lose the beepy-beep beeper?

anuragaks10 help us out here!!!
 
This advanced item with at least two pieces will solve all these problems. No need to whistle, it's a transmitter cum receiver so a misplaced item can be found out by the another item which has the tracker attached. cool!
#1 Lost Key Finder & Remote Control Locator

By the way, anuragaks10, IR signals are blocked by obstacles and cannot be used for tracking the missing objects. You need sound operated or RF tracker.
 
I heard at the factory where they make these they have sonic industrial accidents... They have to call in a special emergency response unit with hearing protection and a huge megaphone loudhailer and shout: "shut-da-f###-up!!!" through it. If anyone whistles in the workplace there they are instantly dismissed.
 
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I heard at the factory where they make these they have sonic industrial accidents, they have to call in a special emergency response team with hearing protection and a huge megaphone loudhailer and shout "shut-da-f###-up!!!" through it. If anyone whistles in the workplace they are instantly dismissed.

If the device "whistled back" when you whistled at it, that could well be a problem :D chain reactions of whistling would be unpleasant.
 
Phillips/Magnavox had this feature built into some of their higher end televisions in the US market place around 12-13 years ago. If you couldn't find the remote all you had to do was turn the set on using the power button on the set and it would transmit via RF to a receiver built into the remote. The remote would then beep until a key was pressed on it. Or maybe it was RCA, that was back when I was repairing TV's for a living.
 
So why would the remote not just be in the same room the TV was in?
When my remote goes missing its in the recliner cushions or the couch cushions.
 
Hey everyone...thanks a lot for your input.

Some changes to the idea :

-> A remote holder is attached to the TV.
-> There is a small IR receiver device(in the remote holder) which can be detached and used to search for the remote. let's call that device 'rat' (won't call it mouse ;-)
-> The remote must use the same IR transmitter to communicate to the tv and 'rat', thereby reducing the need to put two transmitters.
-> The signal sent to 'rat' can be periodic to save energy from continuous transmission.
-> When looking for your remote, simply take the rat out of your holder and find it using LEDs on the device.
-> There is only one transmitter (which is in the remote) and only one receiver (which is in the 'rat', not counting tv's receiver here)

now there are some serious pitfalls and challenges to this approach :

1) IR is directional
Using RF would only add to the cost, complexity of the device although would attain much better results. The idea here is to use the same Transmitter. IR cannot help if your remote is under the mattress, basically anything thicker than IR penetrating range.
so why should i use IR ?
Well, the goal here is small - find the remote. One can buy various kinds of detectors, finders in the market but the essence to have an integrated product which can be tracked (even if you have to work a little harder)

2) What if the 'rat' also goes missing ?
(or as marcbarker said :
what if you lose the beepy-beep beeper? )

This is more 'lose-prone' owing to its smaller size. I am still thinking about how to tackle this one. Any suggestions ?

Once again, thank you for your time and comments.

PS : I am doing this as a small project in undergrad course so there are a lot of constraints.
 
The biggest problem I'm finding with your idea is that if something's in IR range, it's also in visual range. If an IR beam can find your remote but you can't, you may have a problem ;)
 
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I see your point ( gosh how could I have not think of that ? )
If I put RF then it's like any other generic RF tracker. There will be no novelty. I have already nominated this idea to my lecturer so I cannot change it to something else now.
I need to relate to somehow TV remote tracking.

Thanks for your help.
 
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If you don't want to use RF, what about sound? Why not make the remote control play a sound when you clap at it? I believe a piezo transducer is sensitive to sudden sounds like clapping. Though the fact that it's most likely to stay in the same room as a TV, which is known to emit various annoyingly similar noises, may be a potential problem.
 
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