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Preliminary Button Idea and Blue Boring-ers

A project log for Sonic Screwdriver Remote Upgrade Project (SRUP)

My attempt to upgrade/customize my Eleventh Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver universal remote control.

darcueidDarcueid 10/30/2014 at 11:272 Comments

Apparently, the actual Sonic Screwdriver TV prop has a button on the leather grip area that the actor presses to activate the Sonic, but it's cleverly never shown in the TV show. The Wand Company believes that it was not intended for the overall look of the Sonic, and I agree with them. So instead of placing a button on the leather grip area, like I've seen in most Sonic Screwdriver modifications on the internet, I was thinking about adding a Force-Sensing Linear Potentiometer Strip (FSLP) under the leather-like grip area. Maybe not that exact one I posted in the link above, but something similar that is a bit wider. I'll also have to consider the operating temperature and power usage; it gets really cold where I live. According to one company's website: FSLPs are rugged, moisture resistant, low power consuming, and can be used with fingers, stylus, or gloves even in harsh conditions. So bonus marks there if that is all true.

Might set up the sensor to adjust the frequency of the Sonic sound to something like the more force you apply the higher the frequency of the Sonic Screwdriver sound. Not sure if this is plausible tho, because I'm not really certain if you can remove the leather-like grip layer without damaging it.

Anyway, it's just an idea that popped in my head, if it turns out to not be feasible then I can probably live with just using the gesture controls.

Discussions

davedarko wrote 10/30/2014 at 11:49 point
Interesting idea, haven't seen this before and made me actually think of not using buttons but capacitive elements for my 9th?/10th?/11th? (well the one Tennant used... ) inspired build. I have to work on that again.

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Darcueid wrote 10/30/2014 at 13:13 point
Capactive would be nice to use since its usually more durable and reliable than resistive, but I believe it currently costs more, utilizes more power, doesn't work with gloves (unless you have modified gloves), and doesn't function well with moisture. Winter is coming very soon where I live so the snow and glove wearing doesn't bode well with capacitive input. There might be a third alternative somewhere, but I'll probably look into that later when I've progressed more in this project.

I'm glad my idea got you thinking of alternatives to using buttons. Your Sonic Screwdriver project is actually one of the main things that inspired me to start my own Sonic project.

P.S.: Tennant was the 10th Doctor. Good luck with your project, I look forward to seeing how it progresses. :)

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