The 'Insanity Bringer' Ringer

Intro: The 'Insanity Bringer' Ringer

The Insanity Bringer Ringer (IBR) is a diabolical little device designed to annoy and ultimately drive your victim crazy. As far as electronics go this thing is cheap and simple to make. Here's the idea:

Have you ever heard a ringing in your ears and you can't tell if its actually real or if its just in your head? The IBR's job is to simulate that. It consists mainly of a light sensitive switch and a buzzer. It rings when it is dark and shuts off when there is light. When the victim goes to bed and shuts their lights off they will activate the ringing. The victim may become annoyed and want to find the source, but when they turn on the light to start looking, the IBR shuts off. Hopefully the victim will figure its just in their head and go back to bed, starting the cycle again.


I was originally going to call it The Sleeper Beeper but it seems that name is taken for a drowsy driver prevention system. :P

STEP 1: Circuit Design

I'm not that great at designing electronics but this is what I came up with. Basically the ambient light sensor (TEPT5700) triggers the 2N3904 which will turn the buzzer on or off. Ideally R1 and R2 should be pots. R1 adjusts the sensitivity of the light sensor and R2 adjusts how loud the buzzer will be. 

Cue bad paint schematic!

STEP 2: Parts Needed

This is what I used to make the IBR:

(1) Buzzer (easiest to just get one with an internal driver, mine is a CEP-2224)
(1) Vishay TEPT5700
(1) 2N3904 NPN transistor
(2) 1Mohm trim pots
(1)  9 volt battery
(1) Battery Clip
(1) small piece of proto board

STEP 3: Build It!

I cut the protoboard down to about the outline of the 9volt battery, then I laid everything out and soldered it up.

STEP 4: Hook the Battery Up and Try It Out!

I just taped the battery to the underside of the board. Not pretty but it gets the job done.

I measured the circuit current and it was drawing about 50uA in light and about 100uA when dark. I believe an average 9v has a capacity of around 500mA so this means this device can ring continuously for about 200 days. :P

STEP 5: Hide or Disguise It!

Find a good place to hide it, or if you're really crafty, try to disguise it into something. Just make sure the sensor is peeking out.

Comments

[noah279878582]

one time, i made a simple light detector, and made a small alarm clock. when its dark, the alarm clock turns on its alarm time (6:00 for school) and so when ever 600 came around, i would wake up on time :D one tiny problem though, when daylight saving times messed it up, it would get bright outside at 5:55 (for example) and would turn off the alarm clock before 6:00 came by :P i was late to school on those days...................

[ilpug]

you could make one that would shut off when the lights were turned OUT,  (with a big battery to last several days at least,  or even better, hook it up to a plug.) then hide it in a busy waiting room, to annoy many people at once. at the end of the day, when the lights were turned off, it would stop. the best part is, for someone to actually find it and dismantle it, they would have to crawl around the entire room in front of a bunch of people and make themselves look really stupid. You could even hide one in a bathroom... in the bottom of a vase of flowers, a potpourri box, or in the air intake of the bathroom fan. The more inaccsessible the better. put in a motel or dorm room before you leave to annoy the next inhabitants, or even better, in a compartment of a sleeper train... just some ideas.

[ExtremeYoshiFan]

Put it in a dorm, hide it IN THE LAMP, then it will drive people crazy, and have an infinite power source, and when the lamp comes on, the beeper goes off(rechargables FTW). So it charges during the day, and shuts off at night. I would buy one in an instant.

[[corosive]]

this is amazing. i normally only surf the nerf part of this site, but i love that buzzer. bad cat! bad!! throw it out of the house!!

[yellowcatt]

Nicely evil device. I know that it would be more work but how about adding a time delay? Putting two of these in a room with the buzzers on slightly different frequencies could be even more annoying.

[nikeman76]

Its awesome.

[RelientOwl]

Is the sensor the same one they use in solar panels light outdoors? I think they are!

[iglesia777]

 Very cool & simple idea.

Couple questions: Where did you get the mini pots from?  And can I use a little speaker instead of a buzzer?  What's the difference?

[travis7s]

Electronics suppliers will have them. Example:

Digikey - 490-2972-ND

The difference is you need to build a driver circuit to make a speaker make the noise you want. You can get a buzzer with it built in so all you have to do is apply power.

[pmac93]

Excellent simple circuit design.  I didn't even need to buy any ICs, and it only took 5 parts.  5/5

[Whiternoise]

+5 too

This is just inspired...  deserved to win 1st imo!

[janw]

Oh yes I love this one!!! It would surely drive me insane!

What I love most about it is that is is so easy to build and understand for electronics newbies. And it is cheap too ;)

Great Instructable surely worth 5 stars.

( I guess you might like my entry in this contest too. It is a pretty similar idea only it works with IR)

[JenStar4V]

 I've done this before and it's awesome.  I used a protoboard and taped it under a desk drawer.  If the person you're pranking isn't too bright, consider taping a "HIGH VOLTAGE" sign on the device.  Worked for me. :)

[Adum24]

5 stars! Absolutely amazing!

[Highlordomega]

One Idea to make it last longer is to hide it in something near a window. So that during the day (while the sun is shining) it stays turned off and it only comes on at night while they attempt to sleep.

[Random_Canadian]

Sir! I am in your debt!!!

Back many years ago my friends and I used to prank each other by setting a digital watch alarm then dropping it in a heating vent. The alarm would run just long enough to wake you up but not long enough to to locate it.

I totally forgot about this one until I saw your post...

[Lord_Merlin]

 This is one of the most delightfully evil and subtle pranks I have seen.... I bow to your evilness. 

[McMoogie]

Pure, delightful, evil.
Naughty Kitty!

[sopzman]

It looks like "K" won't be "hearting" "T" for much longer!

[Koosie]

Brilliant idea!

What a vicious kitty!