Creating a Sonic Screwdriver with an Arduino Nano, Part 1

I was pretty excited to hear about the release of a Sonic Screwdriver remote. But after watching the YouTube demo, it seems kind of lame. The appeal of the Sonic Screwdriver, used by the good Doctor, comes from its universal applicability to help the Doctor get out of sticky situations or rid general annoyances. A programmable remote just doesn't cut it.

For those in the US who have never caught an old episode of Doctor Who at 5:30 AM in the morning on PBS or watch the newer episodes on Amazon Prime, a Sonic Screwdriver is akin to MacGyver's swiss army knife, but only more futuristic - the BBC prop makers added an LED to show that it is from the future.

My disappointment in the Sonic Screwdriver remote (available on ThinkGeek) has inspired me to design a Sonic Screwdriver that is more true to fiction. I just can't see the Doctor sitting somewhere waving his screwdriver infront of an old Panasonic remote. In this post I will go my plans to integrate a TV-B-Gone into a Sonic Screwdriver. In future posts, I may show how to integrate other functions such as 128 kHz RFID technology (to open my apartment or work doors) and possibly integrating 13.56 MHz MIFARE technology (in DC we use SmarTrip for public transportation).